Namd - Performance on One Node

The improved intra-node memory architecture of SGI® Altix® ICE 8200EX IntelXeon processor X5570 (code-named Nehalem) 2.93GHz, 12x4GB 1066MHz per node compared to SGI Altix ICE 8200EX Intel Xeon processor X5472 3.0GHz results in much better performance when all cores (8) in the node are being utilized by one Namd job.

Depending on the test case the speed up can range from ~1.1x to ~1.2x.

The average speed up (based on the geometrical mean) of the test set used is ~1.15x.

Namd – Performance on Intel Xeon processor E5570 (code-named Nehalem) vs Intel Xeon processor E5472 (code-named Harpertown) in SGI Altix ICE 8200EX

SGI Altix ICE 8200EX IntelXeon processor X5570 (code-named Nehalem) 2.93GHz, 12x4GB 1066MHz per node shows excellent parallel scaling in this Namd Classical Molecular Dynamics simulation.

At lower core-counts the absolute performance and parallel scaling seem similar to SGI Altix ICE 8200EX Intel Xeon processor X5472 3.0GHz.

At higher core counts SGI Altix ICE 8200EX Intel Xeon processor X5570 (code-named Nehalem) 2.93GHz, 12x4GB 1066MHz per node clearly outperforms the Harpertown based SGI Altix ICE, as the effect of better performance at the node level is amplified.