[Beowulf] Opteron with ifort and Intel MKL

[Tom Elken]

> [mailto:beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org] On Behalf Of Reuti
> 
> AFAIK programs compiled with ifort run best on Intel CPUs, as 
> otherwise only a generic version of the code is used.
> 
> But checkout the -xO switch in their 10.0 release, which will 
> use SSEx commands also on Opterons.

>From what I remember, MKL works only on Intel processors.  They may have
changed that, but their advertising only mentions Intel CPUs.  ACML,
GotoBLAS, and ATLAS are the free scientific library alternatives for
Opteron processors.  We have used ACML with good success on Amber 9.

You are correct that on Opteron you can't use the highest ifort
optimization levels like -fast and -x[PST].  They will produce an
executable which won't run on Opteron.  The -xO switch does look
promising.

-Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org 
> [mailto:beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org] On Behalf Of Reuti
> Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 12:32 AM
> To: Bertrand Russell
> Cc: beowulf at beowulf.org
> Subject: Re: [Beowulf] Opteron with ifort and Intel MKL
> 
> Am 24.08.2007 um 11:58 schrieb Bertrand Russell:
> 
> > Dear Beowulf Community members,
> >
> > I am planning to build a Beowulf cluster of 12 SUN FIRE 2200 boxes 
> > with Opteron-2.6GHz processor (Dual Core). The purpose of 
> this cluster 
> > is to run my Amber9 code. I want to know one thing, Would 
> the Opteron 
> > can give better benchmarks if I compile my Amber9 with 
> Intel MKL and 
> > ifort compiler? I googled around it, but I could not get 
> any positive 
> > or negative results either. I am looking for expertise and 
> experinced 
> > advices and suggestions. Many thanks in advance.
> 
> AFAIK programs compiled with ifort run best on Intel CPUs, as 
> otherwise only a generic version of the code is used.
> 
> But checkout the -xO switch in their 10.0 release, which will 
> use SSEx commands also on Opterons.
> 
> -- Reuti
> 
> > --
> > Miles to go......... Millions to meet...........
> > Bertrand. P. S. Russell
> > +91 - 98943 98441
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