TrueCrypt 7.1 Benchmark

TrueCrypt is a software application used for on-the-fly encryption (OTFE). It is free, open source and offers full AES-NI support. The application also features a built-in encryption benchmark that we can use to measure CPU performance. First we test with the AES algorithm (256-bit key, symmetric).

TrueCrypt AES

Core for Core, clock for clock, the Xeon E5 - which also supports AES-NI - is about 30% faster than the best Opteron (Xeon E5-2660 vs Opteron 6276). At a similar pricepoint (Opteron 6276 vs Xeon E5-2660 6C) however, the Opteron and Xeon E5 perform more or less the same, with a small advantage for the latter.

We also test with the heaviest combination of the cascaded algorithms available: Serpent-Twofish-AES.

TrueCrypt AES-Twofish-Serpent

The combination benchmark is limited by the slowest algorithms: Twofish and Serpent. This one of the few benchmarks where the Opteron 6276 is able to keep up with the Xeon E5.

It is important to realize that these benchmarks are not real-world but rather are synthetic. It would be better to test a website that does some encrypting in the background or a fileserver with encrypted partitions. In that case the encryption software is only a small part of the total code being run. A large performance (dis)advantage might translate into a much smaller performance (dis)advantage in that real-world situation. For example, eight times faster encryption resulted in a website with 23% higher throughput and a 40% faster file encryption (see here).

7-Zip 9.2

7-zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio. 7-Zip is open source software, with most of the source code available under the GNU LGPL license

7-zip

Compression is more CPU intensive than decompression, meanwhile the latter depends a little more on memory bandwidth. When it comes to load/stores and memory bandwidth, the Xeon E5-2660 is about 13% faster than AMD's flagship. Compression is for a part determined by the quality of the branch predictor. The new and improved Sandy Bridge branch predictor is one of the reasons why a 2.2 GHz 6-core 2660 is able to keep up with a 2.93 GHz (!) Xeon 5670, which is also a six-core processor. The Opterons get blown away in the compression benchmark: each core of Xeon E5 is about twice as efficient in this task. The overall winner is thus once again the Xeon E5.

HPC: LSTC's LS Dyna Conclusion
Comments Locked

81 Comments

View All Comments

  • dilidolo - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    Link not working on first page - THE SPECS AND THE SKUS
  • yvizel - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    For some reason I cannot go beyond the first page...
  • yvizel - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    Second page, in the Intel table, the 2630 is listed as an eight core CPU.
    But then: "...Based on the paper specs, AMD's 6276, 6274 and Intel's 2640 and 2630 are in a neck-and-neck race. AMD offers 16 smaller integer clusters, while Intel offers 6 heavy, slightly higher clocked cores with SMT..."
  • JohanAnandtech - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    Fixed, thanks for letting me know!

    -Johan
  • Assimilator87 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    Ah man, the 2630L error totally got my hopes up. 8 cores for $662 would be very reasonable.
  • jumjjcmsw - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link

    How do celebrities keep fit and be always on top? Simple, complete with exercise and of course the right diet. In Hollywood it every day a new diet is devised that promises weight loss in a short time and a fabulous body. From the fasting diet to that of the Paleolithic, up to that of the blood type, the stars follow them a bit 'all.
    http://www.celebritiesphonenumber.com/baby-ariel-p...
  • Kjella - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    ...just got bulldozed. And this isn't even on the 22nm 3D transistors they're launching next month, it's like they just got a dizzying punch and know the KO punch is coming.
  • A5 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    It'll probably be awhile before the Ivy Bridge Xeons are out.
  • Kjella - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link

    Of course, I'm guessing Q1 2013 before we'll see those but we already know from all the leaked SB -> IB details roughly what SB-Xeon to IB-Xeon will be like. All AMD has on their roadmap for 2013 is the "Abu Dhabi" with the "Piledriver" core promising 10-15% performance boost but still on 32nm. So you can see the punch coming a year away, but I don't think AMD has the capability to do anything about it.
  • saharadusud - Saturday, January 7, 2017 - link

    http://clashroyalehacke.com/
    Do you want unlimited gems, gold and elixirs without spending money? You can enjoy free gems by using the Clash Royale Hack with the latest version, easy to use with proxy support. With such a feature, you can truly enjoy yourself in the game and complete things you want without much trouble. This will make your time spent playing either less hard work and more fun. This is why we recommend our tool for all enthusiasts of the video game.
    The good news is that this tool works well with any Android phone, iPad, PC and iPhone. What's even better is the fact that this tool is free to use for any player who wants to take full advantage of its features. This is the Clash Royale Hack tool that can be used to generate Clash Royale gems easily and for free. This works in a secure manner, which will allow you to remain reassured in the integrity of your account if you use our tool. Sit down and relax as you continue to generate free gems for you.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now