SPEC’s High-Performance Group (SPEC/HPG) has released an updated benchmark for measuring performance using applications based on the OpenMP 3.1 standard for shared-memory parallel processing. The benchmark, called SPEC OMP2012, includes an optional metric for measuring energy consumption.

SPEC members who participated in SPEC OMP2012 development include AMD, Argonne National Laboratory, IBM, Fujitsu, Intel, Oracle, PGI, SGI, Indiana University and Technische Universität Dresden.

Vital tool for HPC community

SPEC OMP2012 replaces SPEC OMP2001, a benchmark that was embraced by the high-performance computing (HPC) community. Nearly 400 results submissions using the benchmark have been published on the SPEC website.

“SPEC OMP2001 proved to be a very useful tool for measuring performance and scalability of parallel computing systems,” says Kalyan Kumaran, SPEC/HPG chair. “The new benchmark reflects the industry’s hardware and software advances, the latest directives and standards from the OpenMP Architectural Review Board (ARB), and the increasing demand for measuring energy consumption.”

Application-based benchmarking

SPEC OMP2012 includes 14 scientific and engineering application codes, covering everything from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to molecular modeling to image manipulation. The optional energy consumption measurements are based on the SPEC Power and Performance Benchmark Methodology, which provides details on how to integrate a power metric into standardized benchmarks.

Application-based performance tests running under SPEC OMP2012 require 32 GB of memory. A complete series of benchmark runs required for a SPEC submission takes more than 72 hours on an eight-core, 2.7-GHz reference machine.

“We’re delighted that SPEC has refreshed its OpenMP-based benchmark suite to reflect our latest standard,” says Michael Wong, CEO of the OpenMP ARB. “I expect that SPEC OMP2012 will be used throughout the world to evaluate and advance the performance of systems running OpenMP-based applications.”

Available immediately from SPEC

The updated benchmark is available immediately from SPEC for $800 for new customers, $250 for upgrades from SPEC OMP2001, and $250 for qualified non-profit organizations and accredited educational institutions. For more information, visit http://www.spec.org/hpg/omp2012 or inquire through email at info@spec.org.

About SPEC/HPG

SPEC’s High-Performance Group (SPEC/HPG) produces industry-standard benchmarks for comparing high-performance computer systems and accompanying software. Its membership comprises more than 30 leading HPC vendors, national laboratories and universities from around the world.

About SPEC

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks to evaluate performance for the newest generation of computing systems. Its membership comprises more than 130 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations, and government agencies worldwide.

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