Since we published the last benchmark results in EMME/2 NEWS No. 12,
quite a few new systems, models and processors have become available
and are now running EMME/2. In particular, it is interesting to see
how EMME/2 is performing on the new Intel Pentium and DEC Alpha
workstations. The table below shows the first twelve entries in our
internal (and informal) EMME/2 benchmark collection, comparing the
standard Winnipeg auto and transit assignment times:
Computer Model
Processor
Speed
Benchm.
Auto Assignm.
Transit
CPU/FPU
MHz Date
1 it.
total
Assignm. HP 9000-730 PA-RISC 66 09/93 1.4 15.8 5.18
SUN SPARCserv.10/512 SuperSPARC 55 07/93 2.4 26.8 5.52
HP 9000-720 PA-RISC 50 11/91 3.0 32.7 6.15
DELL XPS P60 Pentium 60 11/93 3.3 36.5 9.67
DEC 3000/400 AXP ALPHA 133 10/93 3.8 42.9 12.93
COMPAQ 486 i486 DX 66 12/92 3.9 44.0 10.30
SUN IPX + SparcPower Weitek SPARC 80 10/93 4.6 50.7 12.14
Minta 486 i486 DX 66 11/92 4.6 53.8 16.30
IBM 6000/320h POWER 25 10/91 5.4 59.0 12.73
SPARCstation LX microSPARC 50 08/93 6.1 66.1 22.66
SUN IPX SPARC 40 11/91 6.7 74.1 15.91
SUN SPARCstation2 SPARC 40 01/91 6.9 76.2 20.00
[1]Extrapolated CPU time for Rel.6, based on tests made with an Alpha-test Rel.7 version
Given all the hype regarding the Intel Pentium processor, its performance for running EMME/2 applications does not seem that specular - only about 20% faster than the fastest i486 based PC.
The DEC ALPHA, on the other hand, implies a 3-fold speed increase over the next fastest DEC system in our benchmark collection, the DEC VAX 6410, which ranks 26th in our list.
With the HP 9000-730, a Hewlett Packard workstation is again the performance leader. It outperforms the runner-up, the Sun Sparcserver 10, by a factor of almost 2 for the auto assignment, whereas the difference for the transit assignment is much smaller.