[Radiance-general] The sub-4K second benchmark barrier...

[Gregory J. Ward]

Mark is right -- two cores on one chip doesn't mean they both get  
used automatically.  The OS isn't quite that helpful...  The runsmp  
script that uses rpiece (I think?) is better than using rad -N 2,  
since the latter requires multiple views to even run in parallel.

-Greg

> From: Mark Stock <mstock at umich.edu>
> Date: November 15, 2006 1:59:07 PM PST
>
> Rob,
>
> As it stands, rpict will only open one process, which will only  
> load up one core.
>
> I would also like to begin collecting multiprocessor benchmarks,  
> but there was once confusion as to how to get a consistent  
> measurement across different platforms. Is rad with "-N" a better  
> or more consistent tool for preparing multiprocessor benchmarks, or  
> is the runsmp script in bench4 better?
>
> I already have a handful of benchmark runs using the runsmp script  
> (though it allows more variables such as NCPU and number of  
> subdivisions, both of which strongly affect runtime).
>
> Or is it likely that rpict itself will soon support pthreads?
>
> Any input would be appreciated.
>
> Mark
> mstock at umich.edu