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From: badouel@irisa.irisa.fr (Didier Badouel)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Raytracer performance on machines?
Message-ID: <1505@irisa.irisa.fr>
Date: 26 Sep 89 09:56:17 GMT
References: <6224@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Organization: IRISA, Rennes (Fr)
Lines: 54

In article <6224@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, pkh@vap.vi.ri.cmu.edu (Ping Kang Hsiung) writes:
> 
> Does anyone have a collection of performance (timing) data based 
> on running a raytracer (preferablly a publicly available raytracer, 
> e.g. mtv or qrt) on various machines? 
> 

We have a parallel raytracer (called PRay) at IRISA which 
as MTV uses NFF description databases. This raytracer has been 
implemented on an iPSC/2, on a SEQUENT BALANCE and also on serial 
computers (SUN3, GOULD NP1) to make better comparisons. 

I give you the various synthesis times for the well known 'Teapot'
database. The image has been renderring with a 512X512 resolution with 
3 light sources. Results are as follows :

			#PEs	Time (in sec.)
	________________________________________
	SUN3:			8877 (~ 2h27mn)
	________________________________________
	GOULD NP1:		1642 (~ 27mn)
	________________________________________
	SEQUENT BALANCE	1	37121 (~ 10h18mn)
			2	18567
			3	12381
			4	9285
			5	7431
			6	6197
			7	5311
			8	4656
			9	4138 (~ 1h9mn)
	________________________________________
	iPSC/2		1	6294 (~ 1h45mn)
			2	3332
			4	1700
			8	860
			16	440
			32	224
			64	119 (~ 2mn)
	________________________________________

The code running on the iPSC/2 emulates a virtual shared memory
over the local PEs. The database is not duplicated but all the local 
memories are used. The remaining memory after loading code and data is
used as a cache to speed up low global accesses. 



________________________________________________________________
  Didier  BADOUEL                       badouel@irisa.fr
  INRIA / IRISA                         Phone : +33 99 36 20 00
 Campus Universitaire de Beaulieu       Fax :   99 38 38 32
 35042 RENNES CEDEX - FRANCE            Telex : UNIRISA 950 473F
________________________________________________________________