Subject: Bogomips Information Sheet [stylefiles now included]
From: [email-masked] (Wim van Dorst)
Date: 18 Feb 1994 17:14:45 +0200
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

[ Moderator's note: the test was memory aligned sometime around pl14.
  Don't compare results between releases too closely.  --liw ]

Hello *,

Find below the Bogomips Information Sheet. After having been
swamped with requests for the style file (sorry that I couldn't
reply to you all, I pay mail per kB) the pertaining files are
included after the \endinput.

Met vriendelijke groeten, Wim van Dorst
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Blue Baron = Wim van Dorst, Voice (+31) 074-443937, (+31) 02152-42319
(-: [email-masked]  [email-masked]  [email-masked] :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Cut here %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% This is a LaTeX file. For completeness I have appended a gzipped tar-file 
% of the style files I used, although they are readily available from the
% normal TeX archives. Run the file twice through LaTeX for proper result.
\documentstyle[a4,longtable,dcolumn]{article}
\setlongtables
\begin{document}
\begin{center}
{\em BOGOMIPS(tm) INFORMATION SHEET (11Feb1994)} \\
Wim C.A. van Dorst {\tt <[email-masked]>}
\end{center}

>From Lars Wirzenius' mail of 9 September 1993, explaining Bogomips:

\begin{quote}
MIPS is short for Millions of Instructions Per Second.  It is a
measure for the computation speed of a program.  Like most such
measures, it is more often abused than used properly (it is very
difficult to justly compare MIPS for different kinds of computers).

BogoMips are Linus's invention.  The kernel (or was it a device
driver?) needs a timing loop (the time is too short and/or needs to be
too exact for a non-busy-loop method of waiting), which must be
calibrated to the processor speed of the machine.  Hence, the kernel
measures at boot time how fast a certain kind of busy loop runs on a
computer.  "Bogo" comes from "bogus", i.e, something which is a fake.
(See the Jargon File for more information.)  Hence, the BogoMips value
gives some indication of the processor speed, but it is way too
unscientific to be called anything but BogoMips.

The reasons (there are two) it is printed during bootup is that a) it
is slightly useful for debugging and for checking that the computers
caches and turbo button work, and b) Linus loves to chuckle when he
sees confused people on the news.
\end{quote}

>From Ian Jackson's List of Frequently asked questions, of 3 January 1994,
amended by himself at 23 January 1994.

\begin{quote}
Question What is a BogoMip ?

`BogoMips' is a contraction of `Bogus MIPS'.  MIPS stands for
(depending who you listen to) Millions of Instructions per Second, or
Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed.

The number printed at boot-time is the result of a kernel timing
calibration, used for very short delay loops by some device drivers.

As a very approximate guide the BogoMips will be approximately: 
\begin{verbatim}
  386SX         clock * 0.125 + 0.2
  386DX         clock * 0.20 - 0.6
  486SX/DX      clock * 0.49 + 0.25
  486DX2        clock * 0.50 + 0.37
  Pentium       24.0
\end{verbatim}

If the number you're seeing is wildly lower than this you may have the
Turbo button or CPU speed set incorrectly, or have some kind of
caching problem 
\end{quote}

Let me add that there are only two reasons for paying attention
to the Bogomips rate that is presented on booting Linux:

\begin{enumerate}
\item To see whether it is in the proper range for the particular
processor, its clock frequency, and the potentially present cache.
Especially 486 systems are prone to faulty setups of RAM caching,
turbo-buttons, and such things.
\item To see whether your system is faster than mine. Of course
this is completely wrong, unreliable, ill-founded, and utterly
useless, but all benchmarks suffer from this same problem. So
why not use it? This inherent stupidity has never before stopped people
from using benchmarks, has it? :-)
\end{enumerate}

\clearpage
The following are some reported Bogomips rates for various systems. 

\begin{longtable}[c]{@{}l D{.}{.}{4} l@{}}
\em System & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\em Bogomips} & \em Reporter \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Oddly or faulty configured 386 systems} \\
386DX/16 387 nocache      &  0.57 & H. Peter Anvin {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386/16 Zenith             &  0.67 & H. Peter Anvin {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386DX/25                  &  0.82 & Philip Wright {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386DX/25 nocache          &  1.03 & Mark A. Horton {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/16                  &  1.5  & Stefan Kromer {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/16                  &  2.23 & Steven M. Gallo {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/16 turbo            &  2.38 & Andrew Haylett {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386DX/25(?) 128c          &  6.03 & Chuck Meo {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Normal 386 SX systems} \\
386SX/16 Packard Bell     &  2.05 & {\tt <root@Belvedere\%hip-hop.suvl.ca.us>}  \\
386SX/16                  &  2.15 & Warren Stevens {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/16                  &  2.23 & Andrew Bulhak {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/16 nocache          &  2.43 & Adam Clarke {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/20                  &  2.7  & Alex Strasheim {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SXL/25 AMD             &  2.9  & Vaughan R. Pratt {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/25 AMD nocache      &  3.06 & K.J. MacDonald {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SX/25 AMD              &  3.38 & Hamish Coleman {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386SL/25 Intel            &  3.57 & [email-masked] (Stephen Harris) \\
386SX/25 AMD              &  3.62 & [email-masked] (Stephen Harris) \\
386SX/33 Intel            &  4.06 & [email-masked] (Kenneth J. Hoover) \\
386SX/33                  &  4.71 & [email-masked] (Alexander Pet. Komlik) \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Normal 386 DX systems} \\
386DX/20 Intel            &  3.08 & [email-masked] (Stephen Harris) \\
386DX/20 Nec Powermate    &  3.22 & [email-masked] (David J Dawkins) \\
386DX/20                  &  3.67 & [email-masked] (Joost Helberg) \\
386DX/25                  &  3.91 & [email-masked] (Ian McCloghrie) \\
386DX/25                  &  3.95 & [email-masked] (Grant Edwards) \\
386DX/25 32cache          &  4.53 & [email-masked] (Jussi M.A. Lahtinen) \\
386DX/33                  &  5.86 & [email-masked] (Tim Lacy) \\
386DX/33 64cache          &  5.99 & [email-masked] (Lars Wirzenius) \\
386DX/33 Intel            &  5.99 & [email-masked] (Harri Pasanen) \\
386DX/33 no387            &  6.03 & [email-masked] (Joel B.Levin) \\
386DX/33 387              &  6.03 & [email-masked] (Peter Bechtold) \\
386DX/33 387 256cache     &  6.65 & Wim van Dorst {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
386DX/40                  &  6.99 & [email-masked] (Ken Wilcox) \\
386DX/40 AMD              &  7.10 & [email-masked] (Kerry Person) \\
386DX/40                  &  7.10 & Dhaliwal Bikram Singh <[email-masked]> \\
386DX/40 128cache         &  7.23 & [email-masked] (Julian Francis Day) \\
386DX/40 bogoboosted      &  7.23 & [email-masked] (Pat St Jean) \\
386DX/40 AMD 128cache     &  7.23 & [email-masked] (Ralf Bergs) \\
386DX/40                  &  7.29 & [email-masked] (Eric Chris Garrison) \\
386DX/40                  &  7.29 & [email-masked] (Darin Cowan) \\
386DX/40                  &  7.29 & [email-masked] (Bonne van Dijk) \\
386DX/40 AMD 387 64c      &  7.91 & <[email-masked]> \\
386DX/40 AMD 32c          &  7.98 & [email-masked] (Tommy Olsen) \\
386DX/40                  &  7.98 & Christian Nelson <[email-masked]> \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Oddly or faulty configured 486 systems} \\
486DX/33 nocache          &  1.45 & [email-masked] (Mark Gray) \\
486DX/33                  &  3.61 & [email-masked] (Marten van de Laan) \\
486DX/33 noturbo          &  3.61 & [email-masked] (Dimitris Evmorfopoulos) \\
486DX/33 256c noturbo     &  4.25 & [email-masked] (Wouter Liefting) \\
486DX/33                  &  4.66 & [email-masked] (Mark Gray) \\
486SX/33 noturbo          &  5.21 & [email-masked] (Scott D. Heavner) \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Cyrix configured 486 systems} \\
486DLC/40 nocache         &  2.45 & Steven Schendel {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486Rx2 Cyrix 25/50        &  4.85 & {\tt <[email-masked]>}  \\
486SLC Cyrix              &  7    & Pieter Verhaeghe {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DLC/33 Cyrix 386       & 11.2  & Alex Freed {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DLC/40 256c            & 11.33 & Steven Schendel {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DRx2/40 Cyrix 20/40    & 13.10 & {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DRx2/40 Cyrix          & 13.10 & Christopher Lau {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DLC/40 487 Cyrix       & 13.21 & Ian A. Verschuren {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DCL Cyrix              & 13.3  & Tracer Bullet P.I. {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DLC/40                 & 13.31 & Adam Frampton {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486DLC/40                 & 13.31 & Rick Chow {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486SLC2/25                & 14.6  & Vaughan R. Pratt {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486SLC2/66 IBM 64c        & 18.35 & Sujat Jamil {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
486SLC2/66                & 19.02 & Harry Mangalam {\tt <[email-masked]>} \\
\\
\multicolumn{3}{@{}l}{\em Normal 486 systems} \\
486SX/20 DECpc            &  9.98 & [email-masked] (Thomas Pfau) \\
486SX/25                  & 12.24 & Michael Buchenrieder ([email-masked])  \\
486SX/25                  & 12.42 & [email-masked] (Mark R. Lindsey) \\
486DX/25                  & 12.5  & Phillip Hardy {\tt [email-masked]>} \\
486DX/33                  & 15.8  & [email-masked] (H. Peter Anvin) \\
486DX/33 64cache          & 16.1  & [email-masked] (H. Peter Anvin) \\
486DX/33 256c             & 16.33 & Eric Kemminan <[email-masked]> \\
486DX/33                  & 16.35 & [email-masked] (Christopher L.  Morrow) \\
486DX/33 256c DIY         & 16.44 & [email-masked] (Wouter Liefting) \\
486DX/33 Intel 128c       & 16.44 & [email-masked] (Rafal Kustra) \\
486DX/33                  & 16.5  & [email-masked] (Alex Freed) \\
486DX/33                  & 16.6  & [email-masked] (Vaughan R. Pratt) \\
486DX/33 noturbo          & 16.61 & [email-masked] (Chris Vetter) \\
486DX/33                  & 16.61 & [email-masked] (Jeffrey L. Newbern) \\
486DX/33                  & 16.61 & [email-masked] (Marius Heuler) \\
486DX/33                  & 16.61 & [email-masked] (Frank Lofaro) \\
486DX/40                  & 19.8  & Jose Calhariz <[email-masked]> \\
486DX/40                  & 19.91 & [email-masked] (Marius Heuler) \\
486DX/40 Intel            & 19.97 & [email-masked] (Paul van Spronsen) \\
486DX/40                  & 19.97 & [email-masked] (Ulf Tietz) \\
486DX/40                  & 19.97 & Eberhard\[email-masked] (E. Moenkeberg) \\
486DX/33 turbo            & 19.98 & [email-masked] (Chris Vetter) \\
486DX/50                  & 24.48 & arnd@rea (Arnd Gehrmann) \\
486DX/50 AMD              & 24.85 & [email-masked] (Klaas Hemstra) \\
486DX/50 DTK              & 24.85 & [email-masked] (Randolph Christophers) \\
486DX2/50                 & 24.85 & [email-masked] (Jason Matthew) \\
486DX/50                  & 25    & [email-masked] (Robert Herzog) \\
486DX2/50                 & 25.0  & [email-masked] (Christian Holtje) \\
486DX2/50 DECpc           & 25.04 & [email-masked] (Thomas Pfau) \\
486DX/50                  & 25.10 & [email-masked] (Marius Heuler) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33    & [email-masked] (Alec Muffett) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33    & [email-masked] (Steve Tinney) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33.2  & [email-masked] (H. Peter Anvin) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33.20 & arnd@rea (Arnd Gehrmann) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33.3  & [email-masked] (Devon Tuck) \\
486DX2/66 256cache        & 33.4  & [email-masked] (H. Peter Anvin) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33.5  & [email-masked] (Jongyoon Lee) \\
486DX2/66                 & 33.55 & [email-masked]  \\
486DX2/66 ICL ErgoPRO     & 33.55 & [email-masked] (Mathias Koerber) \\
486DX2/66 256c Intel      & 33.81 & [email-masked] (Stephen Harris) \\
486DX2/66                 & 34.06 & [email-masked] (Al Clark) \\
486DX2/80                 & 39.94 & [email-masked] (Danny ter Haar) \\
486DX2/80                 & 40.0  & [email-masked] (Rick Brown) \\
\\
\em Other systems \\
68030/25 Amiga 3000       &  6.21 & [email-masked] (Hamish Macdonald) \\
Pentium                   & 23.96 & [email-masked] (Joost Helberg) \\
Pentium                   & 23.96 & [email-masked] (Ulf Tietz) \\
Pentium/60 Gateway        & 23.96 & [email-masked] (Manoj Kasichainula) \\
Pentium/60 NCR 3455       & 24    & [email-masked] (Mathias Koerber) \\
\end{longtable}

This overview was compiled by me, quite happy this 11 February 1994 now
my wife is back from that business trip to the US. 

Met vriendelijke groeten, Wim van Dorst.
\begin{verbatim}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Blue Baron = Wim van Dorst, Voice (+31) 074-443937, (+31) 02152-42319
(-: [email-masked]  [email-masked]  [email-masked] :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
\end{verbatim}
\end{document}
\endinput

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Blue Baron = Wim van Dorst, Voice (+31) 074-443937, (+31) 02152-42319
(-: [email-masked]  [email-masked]  [email-masked] :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

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