Comments on: “Performance is not the problem,” a vote against multicore http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/ HPC News Without the Noise for Supercomputing Professionals | insideHPC Sun, 09 Jun 2013 01:54:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Too many cores, not enough brains http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86300 Too many cores, not enough brains Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:24:09 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86300 [...] An interesting view on this story and comments in this post on insideHPC. “Performance is not the problem,” a vote against multicore [...] [...] An interesting view on this story and comments in this post on insideHPC. “Performance is not the problem,” a vote against multicore [...]

]]> By: HPCer http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86270 HPCer Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:30:51 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86270 It's a fact of life that I (an HPC professional) am nowhere near as influential on processor companies as my Mom (a PC user). Multicore really isn't a revolution, more like a mainstream evolution that the HPC world must assimilate. That said, there's great opportunity in the "cheap" capacity that multicore can offer. If you really want to change the world, make a $25K box of cores easy enough for a small company to use for HPC. Sounds simple, but it really isn't. Microsoft sees the potential and they've finally started to overcome hubris that was holding their HPC back. A lot of academia is caught up in esoteric approaches for emerging platforms which might be more sexy in a proposal but are a lot further from the rubber meeting the road. It’s a fact of life that I (an HPC professional) am nowhere near as influential on processor companies as my Mom (a PC user). Multicore really isn’t a revolution, more like a mainstream evolution that the HPC world must assimilate.

That said, there’s great opportunity in the “cheap” capacity that multicore can offer. If you really want to change the world, make a $25K box of cores easy enough for a small company to use for HPC. Sounds simple, but it really isn’t. Microsoft sees the potential and they’ve finally started to overcome hubris that was holding their HPC back. A lot of academia is caught up in esoteric approaches for emerging platforms which might be more sexy in a proposal but are a lot further from the rubber meeting the road.

]]> By: John West http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86203 John West Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:08:14 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86203 HPCer - you have more succinctly framed in your first paragraph the point I was making toward the end of my post. You've also added on an angle I didn't, which is of course that performance _is_ the motivating problem in HPC. My only slight addition to your comment is that I'm not sure that multicore is helping our performance problem. The real shame I see is that codes only get 1-5% of peak on modern processors, and that number is getting worse, not better. If we're having a chip architecture revolution, I would rather have had one that lets us use more of what we're paying for. HPCer – you have more succinctly framed in your first paragraph the point I was making toward the end of my post. You’ve also added on an angle I didn’t, which is of course that performance _is_ the motivating problem in HPC. My only slight addition to your comment is that I’m not sure that multicore is helping our performance problem. The real shame I see is that codes only get 1-5% of peak on modern processors, and that number is getting worse, not better. If we’re having a chip architecture revolution, I would rather have had one that lets us use more of what we’re paying for.

]]> By: HPCer http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86196 HPCer Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:47:52 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/2008/08/25/performance-is-not-the-problem-a-vote-against-multicore/#comment-86196 I appreciate a contrarian opinion, but I think Jonathan is looking at this backwards. The history of computing and of technology in general is one of exponential growth enabling unprecedented benefit to society. It's too simplistic to say "Performance is not the problem". Performance is *always* a problem in HPC, and HPC is integral to technology advancement and competitive growth. In areas where performance is not a "problem", a lack of enabling capability growth would still be detrimental. I appreciate a contrarian opinion, but I think Jonathan is looking at this backwards. The history of computing and of technology in general is one of exponential growth enabling unprecedented benefit to society.

It’s too simplistic to say “Performance is not the problem”. Performance is *always* a problem in HPC, and HPC is integral to technology advancement and competitive growth. In areas where performance is not a “problem”, a lack of enabling capability growth would still be detrimental.

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