╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 2 of 20 »═╛╒═════════════════════════╡ SYSTEM CONFIGURATION ╞═══════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ The boxed area at the top of the screen is filled in by CORSPEED during hard-│
│ ware and software analysis operations. The three system configuration areas │
│ which are critical to proper operation of CORSPEED are Processor, Memory, and│
│ operating system. │
│ │
│ PROCESSOR INFORMATION │
│ │
│ Processor type and extension give you important information about potential │
│ computing capacity. While CORSPEED will show about the same level of Core │
│ Engine performance for either SX or DX class processors, DX processors are │
│ required for optimum floating point performance in graphics, drawing, and │
│ spreadsheet applications. Use the CLOCK information to confirm that the PC │
│ is operating at the proper speed. While CORSPEED will operate in all proces-│
│ sor modes, REAL mode generally provides the most accurate measurements. │
│ │
│ If the processor is doubly or triply clocked, a number may appear at the end │
│ of the processor type. A '2' means double clocking, etc. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 4 of 20 »═╛╒══════════════════════════╡ SYSTEM INFORMATION ╞════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ Accurate performance measurement requires that there be nothing else going │
│ on that might interfere with the measurement routines in CORSPEED. │
│ │
│ CORSPEED derives its information by directly manipulating all of the prin- │
│ cipal hardware systems. To do its job, CORSPEED must be operated at the │
│ equivalent of Intel's PL-0. While operating at the O/S kernel level, and │
│ actively interleaving with and preempting DOS interrupts, it is possible for │
│ the measurement primitives to accurately measure hardware operations at the │
│ electrical event level. │
│ │
│ FOR BEST RESULTS USE THIS TOOL ONLY ON DOS BASED PCs │
│ CORSPEED is certified to operate with standard MSDOS, versions 3.1 and up. │
│ Measurement activity will be adversely impacted in any operating environment │
│ that preempts PL-0, loads CORSPEED at an unpredictable address, or interferes│
│ with interrupt management. This means that CORSPEED will not provide satis- │
│ factory results under other operating systems including Windows [any version]│
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 7 of 20 »═╛╒══════════════════╡ UNDERSTANDING EFFECTIVE DATA WIDTH ╞════════════════════╕
│ │
│ │
│ One of the most important qualities of memory system design is how well it │
│ accommodates data and instruction transfers between processor and memory. │
│ While the electrical path is a constant, i.e. 32 bits for 486 and Pentium │
│ PC systems, the effective working width of the memory system is sometimes │
│ constricted by cache managment mechanics. When the time required to access │
│ 32 bit data is about the same as it is for 16 bit data it means that the │
│ effective data width is a full 32 bits. However, if it takes twice as long │
│ to access 32 bit data ( indicating that each 32 bit element has to be moved │
│ in two 16 bit tranches ) the effective data width is only 16 bits. │
│ │
│ CORSPEED analyzes both read and write memory access times and computes the │
│ effective data width for each in bits. The data width pictograms show the │
│ effective width of both the read and write channels. Read/Write pictograms │
│ are colored RED when the width is 20 bits or less, YELLOW for 21 to 27 bits, │
│ CYAN 28 - 30, and GREEN whenever the width is 31 bits or wider. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 8 of 20 »═╛╒════════════════════╡ HIGH PERFORMANCE MEMORY SYSTEMS ╞═════════════════════╕
│ │
│ CORSPEED can analyze core engine performance for both traditional dram based │
│ PC systems as well as the new high performance memory systems such as EDRAM. │
│ To compute core engine operating speeds for high performance memory systems, │
│ use the command line /e option. While this option is intended to provide │
│ improved accuracy for high performance memory systems, it is also useful for │
│ estimating the relative impact high performance memory would have on ordin- │
│ ary dram based PC systems. │
│ │
│ High Performance memory systems make it possible for main memory systems │
│ to perform as if they were one huge L2 cache. The performance benefits of │
│ extremely fast read-write capabilities are only part of the story, since HPM │
│ also eliminates processor stoppages due to L2 cache management as well. │
│ │
│ High performance memory gains its advantage by operating at nearly the same │
│ speed as the processor -- completely eliminating the overhead associated with│
│ L2 cache loading and unloading. High Performance memory systems will be in- │
│ creasingly important as CPU data bandwidth demands continue to grow. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 9 of 20 »═╛╒══════════════╡ HERE'S HOW CORSPEED DIFFERS FROM BENCHMARKS ╞═══════════════╕
│ │
│ This Core Engine version of Sofwin Laboratories' new SuperScalar measurement │
│ technology is the most powerful tool of its kind ever developed. CORSPEED │
│ extends 10 years of PC performance measurement tool development into multi- │
│ processor families, multi-tasking, and 32 bit operating systems. │
│ │
│ CORSPEED is a fully Pentium qualified, state-of-the-art SuperScalar measure- │
│ ment tool that reports how fast the core engine system of a PC runs in each │
│ of the four principal operating system environments. CORSPEED is also a │
│ multiple task emulator and high performance memory estimator -- making COR- │
│ SPEED, the most powerful, accurate, and useful performance assessment tool │
│ ever made available to the general public. │
│ │
│ But that's only the technical side -- CORSPEED can even compute the cost │
│ per megahertz of achieved performance for wide range of situations ranging │
│ from a single task DOS application to multiple tasks running under true 32 │
│ bit environments such as OS/2 and Win32. Here's a tool that Tells It Like │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 10 of 20 »═╛╒═══════════╡ HOW TO ESTIMATE HOW FAST MULTIPLE TASKS WILL RUN ╞═════════════╕
│ │
│ One of the most useful aspects of CORSPEED is its ability to accurately pro- │
│ ject the effective running speed for one or several tasks or applications │
│ running concurrently. To see how multiple tasks will impact your computer's │
│ performance use the /t xx option where xx is the total number of concurrent- │
│ ly running tasks or applications. CORSPEED defaults to 1 task, but it can │
│ project the impact of up to 16 applications running under OS/2 or Win32. │
│ While single foreground tasks are more typical of DOS and Win3 operations, │
│ CORSPEED projects the impact additional tasks would have in existing 16 bit │
│ operating system environments as well. │
│ │
│ Many will be surprised to learn that when two tasks are operating, the com- │
│ bined operating speed of both is less than that of a single task. The re- │
│ ason is that multiple tasks do more than share the processor time between │
│ them. Cache churning, time slice administration, and out of sequence int- │
│ errupt processing consume increasing amounts of raw computing power as more │
│ tasks are activated. Increased memory resources, especially if its high per- │
│ formance memory, is particularly important in multi-tasking situations. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 11 of 20 »═╛╒════════════╡ CORE ENGINE PERFORMANCE IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY ╞══════════════╕
│ │
│ Computer system performance is the result of many complex variables. As im- │
│ portant as processor type, clocking rate, cache facilities, and memory size │
│ may be, the two other principal computing theaters, video/graphics and mass │
│ storage [ disk ], are also critical to how fast programs will execute. The │
│ reason is, that for the moment at least, the video channel is typically only │
│ 20% as fast as typical core engines, while the disk channel is very often │
│ less than 5% as fast. Since video/graphics and disk access are increasingly │
│ critical to applications programs -- due to the popularity of graphics and │
│ DLL's -- very fast core engine systems can be dramatically slowed by poor │
│ performance outside of the core engine [ processor, cache, and memory ]. │
│ │
│ For example, as the memory resource demands of large applications, or mul- │
│ tiple tasks increase, so does the probability and frequency of virtual mem- │
│ ory swapping. Sofwin Laboratories Professional Tools, such as PCPOWER, have │
│ built in Expert Systems that can analyze the performance of every hardware │
│ system -- making it possible to project how the target computer will perform │
│ under different loads and operating system environments. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 12 of 20 »═╛╒═══════════════╡ THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPERSCALAR TECHNOLOGY ╞═════════════════╕
│ │
│ 1994 marked the beginning of the SuperScalar revolution. Beginning with the │
│ Intel Pentium, the SuperScalar age is upon us. No longer will CPUs be limi- │
│ ted to executing a single instruction at a time. In the future, we'll have │
│ a choice between a wide range of SuperScalar processors from Digital Equip- │
│ ment, IBM-Apple-Motorola, MIPS, Cyrix and others. The day of the simple, │
│ one-thing-at-a-time CPU is quickly fading. SuperScalar technology, at first │
│ dual pipelined -- but soon perhaps offering many pipes -- is radically dif- │
│ ferent -- requiring new ways of looking at and evaluating computing system │
│ performance. CORSPEED is totally SuperScalar in its design and operation -- │
│ capable of instigating, managing and measuring many different operations at │
│ once. │
│ │
│ This version, for example, not only supports all existing 486 processor de- │
│ signs, but a wide range of processors from Cyrix, AMD, IBM, and other x86 │
│ compatible CPU families. Sofwin's Professional tools are also fully Super- │
│ Scalar -- so we'll be able to add new SuperScalar processor families such │
│ the ALPHA, MIPS and PowerPC processors in the months to come. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 14 of 20 »═╛╒═══════════════════════╡ ABOUT SOFWIN LABORATORIES ╞════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ Sofwin Laboratories is an independent computer performance measurement and │
│ consulting laboratory with facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area and │
│ an Engineering Development facility in Columbus, Ohio. Sofwin's primary │
│ mission is helping its consulting clients and technology licensees get the │
│ most performance for their money. │
│ │
│ The laboratories also work with PC system designers and builders in plan- │
│ ing and designing high performance computing systems and peripherals. The │
│ Sofwin measurement tools are designed and developed specifically for use in │
│ our own laboratories as well as by professionals responsible for the selec- │
│ tion and maintenance of PC systems in business and governmental agencies │
│ world-wide. │
│ │
│ Sofwin Laboratories also sponsors a computer measurement Forum on Compu- │
│ Serve. For more information on Sofwin Laboratory services, call our │
│ Columbus Engineering Center at (614) 866-9966. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 15 of 20 »═╛╒══════════════════════════╡ WANT TO KNOW MORE? ╞════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ PROFESSIONAL TOOL SUBSCRIPTIONS │
│ If you're a PC professional, consider a subscrption to Sofwin Laboratories' │
│ commercial performance measurement tools. The set includes PCAUDIT, COR- │
│ GRAPH, PCPOWER and the full professional version of CORSPEED. Sofwin's │
│ ProPakSix tools are continuously updated to keep abreast of new processor │
│ families and other technological advances. To make it possible for licensees │
│ to stay at the cutting edge of technolgy, ProPakSix tools are distributed │
│ electronically either from Sofwin's BBS, or a private library on CompuServe. │
│ │
│ Annual subscriptions begin at $899 for single copies. Additional copies are│
│ only $399 per year. Commercial, governmental and educational site-licenses │
│ are a flat $2500 per year per location. For more information call (614) │
│ 866-9966 and ask for the Sofwin Labs Profile. Purchase orders accepted on │
│ standard 30 day terms. Immediate activation available on receipt of PO's. │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 17 of 20 »═╛╒═════════════════════════╡ FORUM MESSAGE SUPPORT ╞══════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ CORSPEED is designed to record performance information in a format suitable │
│ for CompuServe forum messages. If you don't have a CompuServe account from │
│ which you can access the Sofwin Forum area, call CompuServe toll-free at │
│ ( 800 ) 524-3388 to enroll. Ask for Representative # 593 to sign up! │
│ │
│ FILE NAMES: CORSPEED names forum records using the following system: │
│ CSP$mdd#.TXT, │
│ │
│ Where: m = month ( from 0 -> C ), │
│ dd = day of month ( from 01 -> 31 ) │
│ # = daily index code ( from 0 -> z ). │
│ │
│ RECORDING: To record PC performance in a forum compatible format, press F3. │
│ This will generate a sequentially numbered record suitable for use with │
│ CIS interfacing software such as CompuServe's popular WinCim. To capture the│
│ data OPEN the recording file, block the entire table and copy it to a forum │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════«Page 18 of 20 »═╛╒══════════════════════╡ USING THE SOFWIN LINE EDITOR ╞════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ The SOFWIN line editor permits the input editing or deleting of information │
│ using the keyboard and the mouse. Cursor manipulation and keyboard input │
│ is handled in the customary DOS ways. │
│ │
│ √ KEYBOARD │
│ │
│ or Non destructive positioning of the edit cursor. │
│ HOME KEY Moves cursor to first character on the line. │
│ END KEY Moves cursor to the last character on the line. │
│ INS KEY Toggles between INSERT and TYPEOVER input mode. │
│ │
│ ESCAPE KEY Terminates edit and restores original contents. │
│ ENTER KEY Terminates edit and prompts for approval if any changes. │
│ │
│ DEL KEY Deletes the character at cursor position. │
│ BACKSPACE Destructive cursor move over previous character. │
