René Rebe

With all the reviews about Bulldozer performance, I wonder how much is to be attributed to Intel’s compiler not generating latest, greatest, vectorized code for AMD CPUs, …

I still believe that Bulldozer delivers excellent server performance, especially when it comes to hardware assisted virtualization, and that desktop performance would look better with unbiased benchmarks, (and a better “core package” aware Window process scheduler) …

I got quite some CPU cycle requirements. For some time now I’m waiting for AMD to deliver sub 100 Watt (e.g. 95W) CPUs, but unfortunately the 95W editions of the Phenom II X6 1055T and 1065T are nearly impossible to come by (except you are an OEM ordering thousands of them). So I got a test system with the regular, 125W 1055T, and it just keeps running too hot.

While I’m still waiting for the Bulldozer to appear, and in a 95W flavor no less, I decided Sunday is a great day to experiment with undervolting the aging, hot silicon I got at hand. Actually it turned out the beast of a silicon I got can be undervolted by huge margins, from the factory settings:

NbVid NbDid CpuVid CpuDid CpuFid UNb CpuMult UCpu PCore
P-State 0: 32 0 6 0 17 1150.0mV 16.50000 1475.0mV 23305mW
P-State 1: 32 0 14 0 12 1150.0mV 14.00000 1375.0mV 20625mW
P-State 2: 32 0 18 0 6 1150.0mV 11.00000 1325.0mV 15370mW
P-State 3: 32 0 22 1 14 1150.0mV 7.50000 1275.0mV 10838mW
P-State 4: 32 0 26 1 0 1150.0mV 4.00000 1225.0mV 6738mW

Down to so far stable:
(more…)

The Chaos Computer Club apparently got their hands on the German’s federal trojan, 0zapftis! According to the preliminary analysis a piece of junk, full of security holes, …

For years the increasing trend for public monitoring, including CCTV, becomes questionable: beside common sense, many studies find no security improvement at all. Rather the contrary: due intended (but often not archived) cost savings, CCTV usually comes with reduced human resources for real people to be present, guard and inform citizens. Until someone notices a riot on a monitor the victim is usually nearly dead, already. In case the CCTV was not plain defect to start with, or the tapes (or discs) lost or already deleted, the images are usually too blurry to identify and search the wrongdoer.

It looks like the politicians have not learned the lessons from the former DDR, which is still known for their systematic monitoring of all their citizens. The western world will soon be on par with measures taken by the Stasi back in those days. An this despite all the memorial installations all over Berlin.