2CPU.com » News » January 2003 » Intel VTune for Linux

While I'm on a Linux kick this morning, I thought I'd post this link that talks about Intel's VTune Application Performance Analyzer... for Linux. What exactly is VTune?

The Intel VTune Performance Analyzer identifies lines of code in an application that consume excessive amounts of processor resources. Developers can use this analysis to quickly identify and remove potential performance bottlenecks by focusing on those specific lines of code, resulting in faster time to market with new applications.

Types of applications that can achieve enhanced performance include commercial, transaction-oriented computing, computationally intensive financial, engineering and scientific applications, digital media, games and multimedia.

It makes me wonder if VTune, together with Intel's new "SMP optimized" compiler might make things really interesting in the x86-Linux world.

HFU Registered User Posts: 2000 Joined: 2002-06-15

#20851 Posted on: 01/20/2003 01:11 AM Maybe it is time for Micro$oft to consider porting office applications or games to Linux. Linux rocks! HFU

Occupant Registered User Posts: 2405 Joined: 2002-03-04

#20852 Posted on: 01/20/2003 01:23 AM Oh I dont think its nearly time for Microsoft to do that. StarOffice and Koffice are good enough. I dont think Microsoft could get enough poeple to fork over 400+ for an office suite that runs on a nearly free OS. Linux users have a very different view than what microsoft is used to, and is unlikely to be succesful in the linux market.

Vuke69 Bitpimp Posts: 341 Joined: 2001-03-16

#20853 Posted on: 01/20/2003 02:23 AM Thats all well and good, but how much will it cost? If it's free great, otherwise I dont see it being used that much except in commercial applications. I just noticed at the bottom of the story that it will run $699. Thats a little bit steap for most code monkeys. It would be nice if Intel became another IBM and started waving the linux flag proudly.

HEMI Administrator Posts: 2744 Joined: 2001-12-18

#20854 Posted on: 01/20/2003 05:15 AM Originally posted by Vuke69 It would be nice if Intel became another IBM and started waving the linux flag proudly. It'll be nice when Linux loses its buzzword status and vendors realize there's other OSes out there that have everything Linux has with a lot less headache/annoyance/whoring yourself out to one distribution over another... As far as Microsoft making software for Linux, that's about as pointless as Cringley's recent article suggesting that Microsoft use Linux as the underlying OS for Windows. Microsoft doesn't need or want to make software for Linux, mainly cause they don't have to. Linux is a much greater threat to real Unix vendors than Linux is to Windows. As far as Linux "rocking," I disagree...Personally I got fed up with the distribution wars, disorganization, unenforcable standards, lousy (proprietary) software installation/management systems that each different distro wants you to use, etc. I scoured the last Linux box from my LAN more than a year and a half ago (replaced with FreeBSD and a couple of NetBSD machines) and have had much less trouble and headache since. Unix is user-friendly; it's just picky about its friends.

Gandalf SMP Ranger Posts: 570 Joined: 2001-09-14

#20855 Posted on: 01/20/2003 06:32 AM Linux Has its problems but it doesn't suck as badly as Windows 2000 Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!

HEMI Administrator Posts: 2744 Joined: 2001-12-18

#20856 Posted on: 01/20/2003 07:02 AM Originally posted by Gandalf Linux Has its problems but it doesn't suck as badly as Windows 2000 It depends. For what? I'll take Win2K on the desktop over 95% of the Linux or FreeBSD installs I've seen. Unix is user-friendly; it's just picky about its friends.

dagamore SMP Guru Posts: 2339 Joined: 2002-12-23

#20857 Posted on: 01/20/2003 07:18 AM linux escpeialy redhat and mandrake, have come a long way in a short period of time, with a good KDE setup you can have windows user switched over to it in a few hours of onsite training, but it still has a long way to go in the area of User interface, before mass corp users will switch to it from win9x/nt/2k/xp. if they can get a good linux distro out before .net comes along with the pay as you use MS subscription plans, then mabey Linux will come in to its own quickly. right now for work places, i recomend win2k/xp, and i run both win2k/xp/2ksrv/2kadvsrv at home, but for most home users could switch over to redhat 8 with out any real problems, and i do run it at home on my main surfing machine. but this is just me are you folding for team 2cpu (3074) yet. " Mal Pericolosam Libertatem Quam Quietum Servitum" : "Better Liberty with Danger, than Peace with Slavery".

i_wolf labhair dom as gaelige Posts: 2034 Joined: 2002-11-19

#20858 Posted on: 01/20/2003 07:29 AM I wouldn't mind ever seeing Mac OS X ported to X86 hardware. Great Unix unpinnings, and fantastic GUI interface thats easy and powerful..... Personally i like mandrake linux, i hate the new redhat distro. One thing i would like to see improved most on linux is for a newer, more powerful and standardised X server. Other than that, i reckon that Microsoft will be shooting themselves in the foot with .Net and the palladium fiasco.... just my 0.02 though! Kind Regards, I_Wolf Hung like a donkey. Go like a horse!

bpoint SMP ... finally! Posts: 166 Joined: 2002-01-19

#20859 Posted on: 01/20/2003 08:50 AM It's interesting how quickly a thread about Linux can turn into a Linux/Windows warfield... Getting back on topic, I've used VTune on Windows before -- both for personal and work projects -- and it really is quite amazing. It's more of a profiler than anything I've ever used before (Metrowerks' Profiler comes to mind), and I would love to try it out for some Linux stuff. I think profiling has lost its importance in code development nowadays. In fact, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a developer for a corporation who actually does profile his code. It seems like those of us in the game industry who work in small environments with little memory and CPU time -- where if it's not realtime, it doesn't work -- are the only ones left to make sure their code is in top condition. Oh well, maybe that's why we get paid more too. Koolance PC2-C case | A7M266-D | 2x AthlonMP 2800+ | 2x 512Mb | (slighly charred) Antec 480W | Geforce 4 Ti4200

AntiBasic The Digital Janitor Posts: 271 Joined: 2002-09-12

#20860 Posted on: 01/20/2003 10:15 AM I just noticed at the bottom of the story that it will run $699. Thats a little bit steap for most code monkeys. The target audience is obviously more for the business world. Giving everyone an equal chance when they're clearly not equal is called what kids? COMMUNISM!

Buub Old SMP codger Posts: 1276 Joined: 2002-11-19

#20861 Posted on: 01/20/2003 11:08 AM I think profiling has lost its importance in code development nowadays. In fact, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a developer for a corporation who actually does profile his code. Ironically, Microsoft does this extensively with all their server software, including WNT, W2K, WXP, SQL Server, Exchange Server, etc. Office apps are also probably optimized. They actually go a lot further. They have something called BBT (Basic Block Tools) that profiles code, and actually rearranges the code blocks in the binary for highest optimized flow. It will move branches and reverse the switch if one branch is taken more often than another, to make the most-taken path linear. It also rearranges the locations of the most-used blocks so they are close to each other, making the working set (and page demand) of the running process smaller. They will not sell this or allow outside companies to use it because they consider it a competitive advantage.

TerryMathews SMP overclocking guru Posts: 440 Joined: 2000-06-09

#20862 Posted on: 01/25/2003 11:55 AM Originally posted by Buub They actually go a lot further. They have something called BBT (Basic Block Tools) that profiles code, and actually rearranges the code blocks in the binary for highest optimized flow. It will move branches and reverse the switch if one branch is taken more often than another, to make the most-taken path linear. It also rearranges the locations of the most-used blocks so they are close to each other, making the working set (and page demand) of the running process smaller. They will not sell this or allow outside companies to use it because they consider it a competitive advantage. And yet Word is still slow. In reality, Windows XP and Office XP are not that slow IF you know how to turn off some of the advanced visual effects (IE transparency). I've had WinXP running as fast as Win98 on machines as slow as a P2 333 with 192MB RAM. Ironically, the performance tuning that is supposed to auto-detect processor speed and adjust visual effects according seems to "crap out" on slow hardware, where it is needed the most. Back on topic, I wish that there were something akain to this for Linux that were free. I think that code profiling/optimization is something that the community could really benifit from. Seems as though anymore the chief complaint against KDE and GNOME is that they seem to be slow. Which I guess is an improvement over 2 years ago when the chief complaint was that there was nothing to do in them. NCCH-DL R1.02 | 2x Intel Xeon 1.6LV @ 3.2GHz | 200MHz FSB | 2GB PC3200 RAM CAS 2.5-8-3-3 | PNY Verto 6600GT 128MB AGP | Promise FastTrak TX4000 + 4xWD400BB in RAID0 | Promise SuperTrak SX6000 128MB + 3xWD2000JB in RAID5 | Codegen S-201 server cube

PsycoBob[Q2] 5w LED caselight? Mmm... Posts: 726 Joined: 2001-04-04

#20863 Posted on: 01/27/2003 11:35 AM My personal problem with linux was not learning the UI. (annoying, but gratifying) Even my dad learned it pretty quick, when he tried it out. It's just a matter of looking... and finding the options that make it simulate our usual winblows interface. The biggest problem *I* have is my games. Lots of linux SERVER ports, not all that many actual Client ports. I'd be happy if I could download Linux-Client versions that require the windows CD-media to install all the game data. Dispite the fact that I have a slow-ass 26.4kbaud connection, I'd let it download overnight for each game, if I could run them ALL in linux. Most are popular ones, too- HalfLife, Q2/3, UT, Mechwarrior3, RTCW, Starsiege, Tribes1/2. Admittedly, some of those ARE available as Linux clients, but I haven't gotten them yet. I'm dual-booting between Mandrake and Winblows2k, spending most of my time in winblows, as all my games work there, without reboots. Eventually, I'll buy Linux-only copies of new games, and scrap winblows. I'm getting tired of MS wanting to keep tabs. Damn. Oh well, on to plan B I guess... <sets fire to head> You're not paranoid if they're REALLY after you. Errors? The cause of the problem is Interference between the keyboard and the chair.

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