Performance Optimization of Windows Applications on AMD Processors, Part I

The Mandel project is a Visual Studio C/C++ performance demo that illustrates several key concepts in Windows programming, and moves progressively through different performance optimizations. At the most basic level, it shows how to create and compile a simple Windows application using Visual Studio 2005 or 2008. This floating-point intensive project can easily be compiled using the 32-bit compiler, or built for higher performance using the x64 compiler included in Visual Studio.

Dramatic performance gains are attained by using certain C++ source-level optimization tricks, then by using a series of further optimizations including compiler SSE vector intrinsic functions. True native 64-bit assembly code is optionally integrated into the project, and assembled using 64-bit MASM. Finally, the newly supported OpenMP multi-threading API is used to easily multi-thread the application and double the performance on dual-core desktop PCs or two-processor workstation machines.

What you need to get started

PC based on AMD Athlon™ 64 or AMD Opteron™ processor (dual-core, multi-core or 2P preferred)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or Vista 64-bit
Visual Studio 2005 beta 2 or later, or Visual Studio 2008, Professional Edition or Team System*
* Standard and Express versions do not support 64-bit development or OpenMP threading
Microsoft DirectX SDK, June 2005 or later (MSDN public download)
Mandel project files
AMD CodeAnalyst^TM profiling tool

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