Intel today has announced availability of the newest Intel 10.0 compilers for C++ and Fortran developers which boasts huge optimizations across a wide range of applications along with some basic auditing of code security. I spoke with Intel’s James Reinders to get a better understanding of the product line and how the new compiler optimizations improve performance.
The performance gains not only make the compiler a more compelling product, it also has ramifications in the heated CPU benchmark wars where single digit percentage points can make a difference. Intel has the luxury of optimizing their compilers for Intel processors while AMD has to rely more on their partners to deliver optimum performance. Among the gains made are single-core, multi-core, parallelization, OpenMP, MKL (Math Kernel Library), Scientific, and Multimedia processing. But Intel is careful to show benchmarks that show better performance on AMD processors using the Intel compiler versus non-Intel compilers.
Source: Intel Corporation *estimate*
Source: Intel Corporation *estimate*
[Update 8/19/2007 - Spec.org's John Henning has informed me that I should have marked these slides "estimate". That is my mistake.]
[Update 5:00 PM - Note that these SPEC scores are certified by SPEC.org. [Update 8/19/2007 - Spec.org's John Henning has informed me that "SPEC does not 'certify' any scores; it accepts results for publication after review."] According to Intel, even higher scores were submitted on 5/9/2007 so there will soon be even better scores published on SPEC.org which will be the fastest SPEC scores.]
Product specs and pricing:
As usual, Intel’s C++ compiler for the Windows platform is an add-on for Microsoft Visual Studio but the new 10.0 Fortran compiler is now a standalone product because it comes bundled with a customized version of Visual Studio. Pricing information has also been allowed.
Professional pricing:
| PRODUCTS (Single User) |
MSRP |
| Intel® C++ Compiler Professional Edition for Windows*, Linux*, Mac OS* X | $599 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Professional Edition for Windows | $699 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Professional Edition + ISML* for Windows | $1599 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Professional Edition for Linux | $899 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Professional Edition for Mac OS X | $699 |
Standard pricing:
| PRODUCTS (Single User) | MSRP |
| Intel® C++ Compiler Standard Edition for Windows*, Linux*, Mac OS* X | $449 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Standard Edition for Windows | $599 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Standard Edition for Linux | $749 |
| Intel® Fortran Compiler Standard Edition for Mac OS X | $549 |
| Intel® Math Kernel Library for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | $499 |
| Intel® Integrated Performance for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | $199 |
| Intel® Threading Building Blocks for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | $699 |
