IBM POWER6 Outscores HP in Key Server Performance Tests

IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) new POWER6 processor-based UNIX server has posted world records in key metrics of computing performance vital to a broad range of technical and commercial applications. These leadership results were obtained on 1-core, 4-core, 8-core, and 16-core servers running either Linux or the IBM UNIX operating system, AIX, allowing customers substantial flexibility.

IBM System p servers supply industry-leading performance on both operating systems, providing customers the opportunity to reduce energy costs by consolidating smaller, less-efficient servers" said Scott Handy, vice president of worldwide marketing for System p servers at IBM.
The new IBM System p 570 server achieved record-breaking results in the SPECfp_2006 and per core SPECfp_rate2006 benchmarks, which determine the speed and throughput, respectively, of floating point calculations common in scientific applications as well as commercial workloads such as financial trading and product design.

In the SPECfp_2006 benchmark, which measures speed, a single core of a 4.7 GHz POWER6 processor in an IBM System p 570 server running SUSE Linux scored 22.4, the highest result in the industry. System p 570 results are 23% better than an HP Integrity rx6600 running HP-UX result of 18.1.(1)

In the SPECfp_rate2006 benchmark, which is a measurement of system throughput, an IBM System p 570 server with two 4.7 GHz POWER6 processors (4 cores) running the AIX operating system scored 115 versus 51.3 for an HP Proliant DL585 G2 with two 3.0 GHz AMD processors (4 cores) running SUSE Linux -- a difference of 124 percent.(2)

In the SPECfp_rate2006 benchmark’s 8-core results, an IBM System p 570 server with four 4.7 GHz POWER6 processors running AIX scored 213 versus 98.7 for an HP Proliant DL585 G2 with four 3.0 GHz AMD Opteron processors running SUSE Linux -- a difference of 115 percent.(3)

And in the SPECfp_rate2006 benchmark’s 16-core results, an IBM System p 570 server with eight 4.7 GHz POWER6 processors running Linux scored 428 versus 186 for an HP Integrity rx8640 with eight 1.6 GHz Itanium 2 processors running HP-UX.(4)

“The System p 570 running the POWER6 microprocessor was designed from the ground up to be a balanced system, with massive bandwidth to accommodate the machine’s incredible speed,” said Handy. “These benchmark results indicate the kind of performance that will help enable customers to create the efficient data centers of the future.”