SPECviewperf 11 tests

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation is "...a non-profit corporation formed to establish, maintain and endorse a standardized set of relevant benchmarks that can be applied to the newest generation of high-performance computers." Their free SPECviewperfbenchmark incorporates code and tests contributed by several other companies and is designed to stress computers in a reproducible way. SPECviewperf 11 was released in June 2010 and incorporates an expanded range of capabilities and tests. Note that results from previous versions of SPECviewperf cannot be compared with results from the latest version, as even benchmarks with the same name have been updated with new code and models.

SPECviewperf comprises test code from several vendors of professional graphics modelling, rendering, and visualization software. Most of the tests emphasize the CPU over the graphics card, and have between 5 and 13 sub-sections.

PCT Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

The proe-05 viewset was created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 5.0 application from PTC. Model sizes range from 7- to 13-million vertices.

This viewset includes state changes as made by the application throughout the rendering of the model, including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

Siemens Teamcenter Visualization Mockup

The tcvis-02 viewset is based on traces of the Siemens Teamcenter Visualization Mockup application (also known as VisMockup) used for visual simulation. Models range from 10- to 22-million vertices and incorporate vertex arrays and fixed-function lighting.

State changes such as those executed by the application— including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes— are included throughout the rendering of the model. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

In Pro/ENGINEER, the AMD processors dominate (although not by much), with only the Intel 980X beating the AMD 965BE and stock-clocked 1075T and 1090T, although its advantage over the much cheaper 1090T is a fraction of a point. The overclocked 1075T wins overall. Multiple cores don't seem to have any advantage in this test; pure clock speed seems to be the critical factor.

The processor rankings swap in the Teamcenter Visualization mockup results, with every Intel processor beating every AMD processor, even to the point of the low-end Core i5-750 posting a better score than the heavily overclocked 1075T. If nothing else, these two tests provide a real-world reminder that some code runs better on AMD CPUs, while other code runs better on Intel CPUs. While the differences are typically minimal enough not to matter to the typical gamer or enthusiast, those who spend their days in front of professional workstations should take note.

Lightwave

The lightwave-01 viewset was created from traces of the graphics workloads generated by the SPECapc for Lightwave 9.6 benchmark.

The models for this viewset range in size from 2.5- to 6-million vertices, with heavy use of vertex buffer objects (VBOs) mixed with immediate mode. GLSL shaders are used throughout the tests. Applications represented by the viewset include 3D character animation, architectural review, and industrial design.

CEI EnSight

The ensight-04 viewset represents engineering and scientific visualization workloads created from traces of CEI's EnSight 8.2 application.

CEI contributed the models and suggested workloads. Models ranging from 36- to 45-million vertices are included in the viewset using display list paths through OpenGL. The last model uses GLSL shaders. State changes as made by the application are included throughout the rendering of the model, including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

The EnSight results appear to be relatively processor-insensitive; neither clock speed nor number of cores affect the results significantly. This is not surprising since this test relies mainly on the graphics card's OpenGL driver. The overclocked 1075T turns in the highest score, but it's a mere 3% better than the lowest score (the Intel Core i7-930).

The Lightwave results are quite interesting, and seem to favor Intel. Performance scales well in the Intel camp, with scores going up with both clock speed and number of cores. In the AMD arena, extra cores don't seem to buy you much, with the stock-clocked hexacore 1075T and 1090T turning in results only very slightly better than the quad-core 965BE. The overclocked 1075T wins, but not by anywhere near the margin one would expect from the 33% improvement in its clock rate.

Dassault Systemes CATIA

The catia-03 viewset was created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the CATIA V5 R19 and CATIA V6 R2009 applications from Dassault Systemes.

Three models are measured using various modes in CATIA. Phil Harris of LionHeart Solutions, developer of CATBench2003, supplied SPECgpc with the models used to measure the CATIA application. The models are courtesy of CATBench2003 and CATIA Community. The models, ranging in size from 6.3- to 25-million vertices, use a variety of common CATIA graphics modes. Both CATIA V5 and V6 are represented using fixed pipeline and ARB vertex and fragment shaders.

Maya

The maya-03 viewset was created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the SPECapc for Maya 2009 benchmark. The models used in the tests range in size from 6- to 66-million vertices, and are tested with and without vertex and fragment shaders.

State changes such as those executed by the application— including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes— are included throughout the rendering of the models. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

The Catia benchmark results show little difference between the processors. While the results are not as similar as the EnSight results, there's still very little spread between the various CPUs. In either case, clock speed seems marginally more important than the number of cores.

As with the Seimens Teamcenter Visualization test, the Maya test favors Intel processors, but even more heavily. The modest 2.66GHz, quad-core Intel Core i5-750 handily beats the 4.15GHz, hexacore AMD 1075T. In the AMD camp, clock speed seems to count for more than number of cores, with the stock-clocked 3.0GHz 1075T falling slightly behind the 3.4GHz 965BE.

Solidworks 2009

The sw-03 viewset was created from traces of the graphics workload generated by the Solidworks 2009 SP2 application from Dassault Systemes. Model sizes range from 2- to 20-million vertices in a variety of commonly used SolidWorks render modes, including RealView, which makes use of GLSL shaders.

State changes as made by the application are included throughout the rendering of the model, including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

Seimens NX

The snx-01viewset is based on traces of the Siemens NX 7 application. The traces represent very large models containing between 11- and 62-million vertices, which are rendered in modes available in Siemens NX 7.

State changes such as those executed by the application— including matrix, material, light and line-stipple changes— are included throughout the rendering of the model. All state changes are derived from a trace of the running application.

Solidworks results scale nicely with the Intel processors, but are flat for the AMD processors. This makes sense when you look at the clock speeds: the AMD 965BE, 1075T, and 1090T all fall in the 3.0-3.4GHz range, while the Intel processor results scale almost perfectly with clock speed (I say "almost" because the 2.8GHz Core i7-930 turns in noticeably better results then the Core i7-860, even though both are clocked at 2.8GHz). The overclocked AMD 1075T barely edges our the Intel Core i7-980X in this test.

The results for the Seimens NX test are "flat", with little difference between the processors. The winning 980X turns in a score only 9% better than the bottom performing stock-clocked 1075T. As with the EnSight test, it seems as though system factors other than the processor (i.e. probably the video card) make the most difference.

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