The performance of two second-generation supercomputers, the NEC SX-3 and the Fujitsu VP2600, is analyzed using the Standard Los Alamos Benchmark Set, the Mendez Fluid Dynamics Codes, and some highly vectorizable production-type codes from Los Alamos.For comparison, data are also given for a single processor of the CRAY Y-MP8/264.Factors affecting performance such as memory bandwidth, vector register organization, and the effects of multiple vector pipelines are examined.On a highly vectorizable code that can take advantage of multiple vector pipes, the SX-3 and VP2600 are faster than the single CRAY Y-MP processor by factors of seven to eight.

The performance of current vector processing supercomputers is highly dependent on the capabilities of their automatically vectorizing Fortran compilers to generate efficient vector code. In this paper we shall focus on the performance of these compilers, and attempt to compare their efficiency on different types of Fortran loop constructs. Our analysis will involve a short analysis of previous compiler comparison studies and we will introduce a new technique for evaluating and comparing compiler performance.

The authors present a performance evaluation and comparison of the Hitachi S-820/80 supercomputer on a set of standard Fortran benchmark codes that range from simple kernels to fluid dynamics applications. They find that the S-820 is a great deal faster in vector mode than any other supercomputer they have measured, with almost twice the performance on highly vectorized codes than the fastest machine they have seen up to now, the NEC SX-2. In scalar mode, however, the S-820 is roughly even with the X-MP and the SX-2, with a slight advantage going to the SX-2 in the applications tested.>