Performance Evaluation of the SGI Origin2000: A Memory-Centric Characterization of LANL ASCI Applications

We compare single-processor performance of the SGI Origin and PowerChallenge and utilize a previously-reported performance model for hierarchical memory systems to explain the results. Both the Origin and PowerChallenge use the same microprocessor (MIPS R10000) but have significant differences in their memory subsystems. Our memory model includes the effect of overlap between CPU and memory operations and allows us to infer the individual contributions of all three improvements in the Origin's memory architecture and relate the effectiveness of each improvement to application characteristics.

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