Performance rating via the Feast Indices (Q1969310)

Based on algorithmic and computational studies the authors present the Feast indices which are new indicators for the realistic performance of many recent processors. They are suitable for computations which have been done on PC's and workstations as well as on parallel supercomputers. These tests are very specifically designed for the evaluation of modern numerical simulation techniques. There are a special emphasis on large scale computations based on finite element approximations and iterative solvers of Krylov and multigrid types. The authors examine new aspects in comparison to the standard benchmark tests and allow new ratings of the various hardware platforms. They explore the computational efficiency of certain Linear Algebra components, hereby applying the typical sparse approaches and in addition the sparse banded style from Feast which enables them to exploit a significant percentage of the available peak performance. The tests reported in the paper include matrix-vector applications as well as complete multigrid solvers with very robust smoothers which are necessary for the efficient treatment of highly adapted meshes.