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SPEC/GWPG developing standard benchmark
to compare power-performance for workstations
WARRENTON, Va., March 18, 2008 – SPEC’s Graphics and Workstation Performance Group (SPEC/GWPG) has begun developing an industry-standard benchmark that measures power consumption in relation to performance for professional workstations.
“Power consumption is an increasingly important factor for professional workstation buyers and vendors,” says George Chaltas, SPEC/GWPG chair. “SPEC/GWPG is uniquely qualified to provide a power-performance benchmark for workstations: We have proven success in establishing standardized benchmarks based on workstation applications and assistance from the SPECpower committee, which has already delivered a strong framework for standardized power measurement.”
The SPEC/GWPG benchmark is expected to be available this summer. It will incorporate workloads from the popular SPECviewperf benchmark for 3D graphics, as well as CPU workloads in areas such as rendering, financial modeling, computational fluid dynamics, scientific computing, and video encoding. Workloads will have the common attributes of scalability, open source, and portability across all major workstation computing platforms.
Working with SPECpower and EPA
Current participants in the SPEC/GWPG power-performance effort include AMD, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Intel, NVIDIA and Sun Microsystems. SPEC/GWPG is working with the SPECpower committee, developer of the recently released SPECpower_ssj2008 benchmark for servers, and receiving direct input from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Once finalized, the benchmark will be submitted to the EPA for use in its V5.0 requirements for workstation ENERGY STAR qualification.
“The ability to measure power consumption for professional workstations is an important element in EPA’s ENERGY STAR Computer program,” says Katharine Kaplan, EPA program manager, ENERGY STAR IT Equipment. “We are pleased to be working with SPEC/GWPG to give vendors and customers a standardized tool that adds energy efficiency to the list of metrics buyers can use to evaluate workstations.”
Importance of participation
Chaltas, the SPEC/GWPG chair, stresses the importance of broad industry participation in developing the new benchmark.
“This benchmark will have a significant impact on buying decisions, development work, and the public’s perception of technology leadership,” says Chaltas. “Companies in the workstation market should take advantage of the opportunity to help define a standard that will be used by customers, competitors, researchers and the media worldwide.”
For more information
For more information on the SPEC/GWPG power-performance working group, contact the SPEC office at [email protected].
About SPEC
The Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. is a non-profit organization that establishes, maintains and endorses standardized benchmarks used to evaluate performance for the newest generation of computing systems. Its membership comprises more than 80 leading computer hardware and software vendors, educational institutions, research organizations, and government agencies worldwide. For more information, visit www.spec.org or contact the SPEC office by phone: 540-349-7878, fax: 540-349-5992, or email: [email protected].
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Media contact:
Bob Cramblitt
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919-481-4599; [email protected]
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