ATHLON

[thorium90]

Has anybody tried to run ifc compiled programs on x86 ATHLON architectures? I am interested in which compiler optimisation flags are allowed to build code that still runs on ATHLONs.

In the past I used for optimisation only -O2. I know from /proc/cpuinfo that SSE is supported by my ATHLON cpu. Am I allowed to use something like -tpp6 and -xK in addition to -O2 ? This is according to the ifc user guide the most one can do for PentiumIII based systems.

Regards,
Michael

[TimP]

The options -tpp6, -tpp7 don't affect which architecture the code runs on, so you are free to experiment with them on Athlon. The situation with -xK depends on which specific Athlon model you have and which compiler version. Check the AMD disclosures on selected ifc options, on the SPEC CPU2000 web site.

Future compiler run-times are likely to quit with a console message, if the processor is not recognized as fully supporting the architecture option. Multiple code path options, like -axW, will support AMD processors by taking the generic code path.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Re: "quit with a console message" - that won't happen for -xK. If your Athlon supports the SSE (not SSE2, note) instructions, then it should work ok, if not, the program will fail with an invalid opcode error (just like today.) The change Tim Prince refers to will affect -xW (SSE2, which no current Athlon processors support). As Tim says, if you use -axK (or -axKW), no problems..

Steve