Computer System Performance
In this section, we will discuss how to evaluate the “goodness” of computing systems and some simple models for their performance.
Reading (154B)
Computer Organization and Design
Sections 1.6 and 1.9
Reading (201A)
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Sections 1.8-1.10
What determines the “value” of a system?
This book is also “An Inquiry into Values,” though in a more philosophical sense. This video discuss what makes a system “good” and how to measure these characteristics.
Physics is an underlying barrier
A lecture from Admiral Grace Hopper which talks about the latency of light. Please watch from 45:02-48:25.
Now, let’s talk about the difference between latency and bandwidth a bit more.
Explaining Computer System Performance
Reading (154B)
Computer Organization and Design
Section 1.6
Reading (201A)
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Section 1.9
The next video covers the Iron Law of performance and how to explain the performance of a processor. This breaks down the performance of a processor into three constituent parts. By breaking down the performance into these parts, we can think about how to optimize each component on its own which helps us focus our efforts in making processors more efficient.
This video shows an example of running a benchmark and applying the Iron Law.
QUIZ Iron Law
See canvas for the quiz!
Comparing Systems with Speedup
Reading (201A)
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Section 1.8
This video describes how to compare systems by using the speedup metric.
QUIZ Performance and Evaluation
See canvas for the quiz!