Instructions per second - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Instructions per second is a measure of a computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

's processor speed. Many reported IPS values have represented "peak" execution rates on artificial instruction sequences with few branches, whereas realistic workloads typically lead to significantly lower IPS values. The performance of the memory hierarchy

Memory hierarchy

The term memory hierarchy is used in the theory of computation when discussing performance issues in computer architectural design, algorithm predictions, and the lower level programming constructs such as involving locality of reference. A 'memory hierarchy' in computer storage distinguishes each...

also greatly affects processor performance, an issue barely considered in MIPS calculations. Because of these problems, researchers created standardized tests such as SPECint

SPECint

SPECint is a computer benchmark specification for CPU's integer processing power. It is maintained by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation . SPECint is the integer performance testing component of the SPEC test suite. The first SPEC test suite, CPU92, was announced in 1992. It was...

to attempt to measure the real effective performance in commonly used applications, and raw IPS has fallen into disuse.

The term is commonly used in association with a numeric value such as thousand instructions per second (kIPS), million instructions per second (MIPS), Giga instructions per second (GIPS), or Million Operations per Second (MOPS).

Thousand instructions per second

Before standard benchmarks were available, average speed rating of computers was based on calculations for a mix of instructions with the results given in kilo Instructions Per Second (kIPS). The most famous was the Gibson Mix, produced by Jack Clark Gibson of IBM for scientific applications. Other ratings were also produced for commercial applications. Computer Speeds From Instruction Mixes pre-1960 to 1971 has results for around 175 computers, providing scientific and commercial ratings. For IBM, the earliest Gibson Mix calculations shown are the 1954 IBM 650 at 0.06 kIPS and 1956 IBM 705 at 0.5 kIPS. The results are mainly for IBM and others known as the BUNCH - Burroughs, Univac, NCR, CDC and Honeywell.

A thousand instructions per second (kIPS) is rarely used, as most current microprocessors can execute at least a billion instructions per second. The thousand means 1000, not 1024.

kIPS is also a common joke name for 16 bit microprocessor designs developed in undergraduate computer engineering courses that use the text Computer Organization and Design by Patterson and Hennessy (ISBN 1-55860-428-6), which explains computer architecture concepts in terms of the MIPS architecture

MIPS architecture

MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...

. Such architectures tend to be scaled down versions of the MIPS R2000 architecture.

Million instructions per second

Comparison of processors speeds requires thorough analysis, as the speed of a given CPU is dependent upon many factors, such as the type of instructions being executed, the execution order and the presence of branch instructions (problematic in CPU pipelines). CPU instruction rates are different from clock frequencies, usually reported in Hz, as each instruction may require several clock cycles to complete or may be capable of executing multiple independent instructions at once. Additionally, the number of cycles required for instructions to complete is dependent upon the instruction being executed. MIPS can be useful when comparing performance between processors made from a similar architecture (e.g. Microchip branded microcontrollers). However, MIPS are difficult to compare between CPU architectures. This and other limitations of the unit lead many computer engineers to define MIPS as Meaningless Indicator of Processor Speed.

In the late 1970s, minicomputer performance was compared using VAX
VAX
VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...

MIPS, where computers were measured on a task and their performance rated against the VAX

VAX

VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...

11/780 that was marketed as a 1 MIPS machine. (The measure was also known as the VAX Unit of Performance or VUP. Though orthographically incorrect, the s in VUPs is sometimes written in upper case.) This was chosen because the 11/780 was roughly equivalent in performance to an IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

System/370

The IBM System/370 was a model range of IBM mainframes announced on June 30, 1970 as the successors to the System/360 family. The series maintained backward compatibility with the S/360, allowing an easy migration path for customers; this, plus improved performance, were the dominant themes of the...

model 158-3, which was commonly accepted in the computing industry as running at 1 MIPS.

Many of the minicomputer performance claims were based on the Fortran

Fortran

Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...

version of the Whetstone benchmark

Whetstone (benchmark)

The Whetstone benchmark is a synthetic benchmark for evaluating the performance of computers. It was first written in Algol 60 in 1972 at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom and derived from statistics on program behaviour gathered on the KDF9 computer, using a modified version...

. This produces an artificial speed rating in Millions of Whetstone Instructions Per Second (MWIPS). The VAX 11/780 with FPA (1977) is shown as having a rating of 1.02 MWIPS.

Effective MIPS speeds are highly dependent on the programming language used.The Whetstone Report has a table showing MWIPS speeds of PCs via early interpreters and compilers up to modern languages. The first compiler was for BASIC

BASIC

BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....

(1982) when a 4.8 MHz 8088/87 CPU obtained 0.01 MWIPS. Results on a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (1 CPU 2007) vary from 9.7 MWIPS using BASIC Interpreter, 59 MWIPS via BASIC Compiler, 347 MWIPS using 1987 Fortran, 1,534 MWIPS through HTML/Java to 2,403 MWIPS using a modern C

C (programming language)

C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....

/C++

C++

C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...

compiler.

For the most early 8-bit

8-bit

The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...

and 16-bit

16-bit

-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...

microprocessors the performance was recognized in thousand instructions per second (kIPS), which equals 0.001 MIPS. The first general purpose microprocessor

Microprocessor

A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...

, the Intel i8080, ran at 0.64 MIPS. The Intel i8086 microprocessor, the first 16-bit microprocessor in the line of processors made by Intel and used in IBM PC

IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...

s, ran at 0.8 MIPS. Early 32-bit

32-bit

The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....

PCs (386) ran at about 3 MIPS.

zMIPS refers to the MIPS measure used internally by IBM

IBM

to rate its mainframe

Mainframe computer

Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...

servers (zSeries

ZSeries

IBM System z, or earlier IBM eServer zSeries, is a brand name designated by IBM to all its mainframe computers.In 2000, IBM rebranded the existing System/390 to IBM eServer zSeries with the e depicted in IBM's red trademarked symbol, but because no specific machine names were changed for...

, IBM System z9, and IBM System z10

IBM System z10

IBM System z10 is a line of IBM mainframes. The z10 Enterprise Class was announced on February 26, 2008. On October 21, 2008, IBM announced the z10 Business Class , a scaled down version of the z10 EC...

Timeline of instructions per second

Processor	Dhrystone MIPS	Year	Source
Intel 4004 Intel 4004 The Intel 4004 was a 4-bit central processing unit released by Intel Corporation in 1971. It was the first complete CPU on one chip, and also the first commercially available microprocessor...	(Not Dhrystone)	1971
IBM System/370 model 158-3		1972
Intel 8080 Intel 8080 The Intel 8080 was the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and was released in April 1974. It was an extended and enhanced variant of the earlier 8008 design, although without binary compatibility...	(Not Dhrystone)	1974
MOS Technology 6502 MOS Technology 6502 The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured microprocessor on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of...	(Not Dhrystone)	1975
VAX-11/780 VAX-11 The VAX-11 was a family of minicomputers developed and manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation using processors implementing the VAX instruction set architecture . The VAX-11/780 was the first VAX computer.- VAX-11/780 :...		1977
Motorola 68000 Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...	(Not Dhrystone)	1979
Intel 286 Intel 80286 The Intel 80286 , introduced on 1 February 1982, was a 16-bit x86 microprocessor with 134,000 transistors. Like its contemporary simpler cousin, the 80186, it could correctly execute most software written for the earlier Intel 8086 and 8088...		1982
Motorola 68020 Motorola 68020 The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. It is the successor to the Motorola 68010 and is succeeded by the Motorola 68030...		1984
Intel 386DX Intel 80386 The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386, was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors and were used as the central processing unit of many workstations and high-end personal computers of the time...		1985
ARM2		1986
Motorola 68030 Motorola 68030 The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...		1987
Motorola 68040 Motorola 68040 The Motorola 68040 is a microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060. There was no 68050. In keeping with general Motorola naming, the 68040 is often referred to as simply the '040 ....		1990
DEC Alpha 21064 EV4 Alpha 21064 The Alpha 21064 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corporation that implemented the Alpha instruction set architecture . It was introduced as the DECchip 21064 before it was renamed in 1994. The 21064 is also known by its code name, EV4...		1992
Intel 486DX Intel 80486 The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...		1992
Motorola 68060 Motorola 68060 The Motorola 68060 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola released in 1994. It is the successor to the Motorola 68040 and is the highest performing member of the 680x0 family. Two derivatives were produced, the 68LC060 and the 68EC060....		1994
Intel Pentium		1994
Microchip PIC16F PIC microcontroller PIC is a family of Harvard architecture microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650 originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics Division...		1995
Atmel megaAVR Atmel AVR The AVR is a modified Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC single chip microcontroller which was developed by Atmel in 1996. The AVR was one of the first microcontroller families to use on-chip flash memory for program storage, as opposed to one-time programmable ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM used by other...		1996
ARM 7500FE Acorn Network Computer The Acorn Network Computer was a network computer designed and manufactured by Acorn Computers Ltd. It was the implementation of the Network Computer Reference Profile that Oracle Corporation commissioned Acorn to specify for network computers . Sophie Wilson of Acorn led the effort...		1996
Intel Pentium Pro		1996
PowerPC 750		1997
Zilog eZ80 Zilog eZ80 The Zilog eZ80 is an 8-bit microprocessor which is essentially an updated version of the company's earlier Z80 8-bit microprocessor.The eZ80 is binary compatible with the Z80 and Z180, but almost four times as fast as the original Z80 chip at the same clock frequency...		1999
Intel Pentium III		1999
Freescale MPC8272 PowerQUICC PowerQUICC is the name for several Power Architecture based microcontrollers from Freescale Semiconductor. They are built around one or more PowerPC cores and the QUICC Engine which is a separate RISC core specialized in such tasks such as I/O, communications, ATM, security acceleration, networking...		2000	Integrated Communications Processors
AMD Athlon		2000
AMD Athlon XP 2500+		2003
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Pentium 4 Pentium 4 was a line of single-core desktop and laptop central processing units , introduced by Intel on November 20, 2000 and shipped through August 8, 2008. They had a 7th-generation x86 microarchitecture, called NetBurst, which was the company's first all-new design since the introduction of the...		2003
MIPS32 4KEc MIPS architecture MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...		2004
Microchip PIC10F PIC microcontroller PIC is a family of Harvard architecture microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650 originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics Division...		2004
ARM Cortex M3 ARM architecture ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...		2004
Nios II Nios II Nios II is a 32-bit embedded-processor architecture designed specifically for the Altera family of FPGAs. Nios II incorporates many enhancements over the original Nios architecture, making it more suitable for a wider range of embedded computing applications, from DSP to system-control.Nios II is... /f		2004
ARM Cortex A8 ARM architecture ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...		2005
VIA C7 VIA C7 The VIA C7 is an x86 central processing unit designed by Centaur Technology and sold by VIA Technologies.- Product history :The C7 delivers a number of improvements to the older VIA C3 cores but is nearly identical to the latest VIA C3 Nehemiah core. The C7 was officially launched in May 2005,...		2005
AMD Athlon FX-57 Athlon 64 The Athlon 64 is an eighth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by AMD, released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name Athlon, and the immediate successor to the Athlon XP...		2005
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ X2 (Dual core) Athlon 64 X2 The Athlon 64 X2 is the first dual-core desktop CPU designed by AMD. It was designed from scratch as native dual-core by using an already multi-CPU enabled Athlon 64, joining it with another functional core on one die, and connecting both via a shared dual-channel memory controller/north bridge and...		2005
Xbox360 IBM "Xenon" (Triple core)		2005
PS3 Cell BE Cell (microprocessor) Cell is a microprocessor architecture jointly developed by Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshiba, and IBM, an alliance known as "STI". The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a... (PPE only)		2006
AMD Athlon FX-60 (Dual core) Athlon 64 X2 The Athlon 64 X2 is the first dual-core desktop CPU designed by AMD. It was designed from scratch as native dual-core by using an already multi-CPU enabled Athlon 64, joining it with another functional core on one die, and connecting both via a shared dual-channel memory controller/north bridge and...		2006
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (Dual core)		2006
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (Quad core)		2006
MIPS32 24K MIPS architecture MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...		2006
ARM Cortex R4		2006
MIPS64 20Kc MIPS architecture MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...		2007
P.A. Semi PA6T-1682M PWRficient PWRficient is the name of a series of microprocessors designed by P.A. Semi.PWRficient processors comply with the 64-bit Power Architecture, and are designed for high performance and extreme power efficiency...		2007
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (Quad core)		2008
Intel Core i7 920 (Quad core)		2008
Intel Atom N270 (Single core) Intel Atom Intel Atom is the brand name for a line of ultra-low-voltage x86 and x86-64 CPUs from Intel, designed in 45 nm CMOS and used mainly in netbooks, nettops, embedded application ranging from health care to advanced robotics and Mobile Internet devices...		2008
ARM Cortex M0		2009
ARM Cortex A9 (Dual core)		2009
AMD E-350 (Dual core) AMD Fusion AMD Fusion is the marketing name for a series of APUs by AMD. There are two flavors of Fusion currently available, one with its CPU logic based on the Bobcat core and the other its CPU logic based on the 10h core. In both cases the GPU logic is HD6xxx, which itself is based on the mobile variant of...		2011
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Phenom (processor) Phenom is the 64-bit AMD desktop processor line based on the K10 microarchitecture, in what AMD calls family 10h processors, sometimes incorrectly called "K10h". Triple-core versions belong to the Phenom 8000 series and quad cores to the AMD Phenom X4 9000 series...		2009
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Phenom II Phenom II is a family of AMD's multi-core 45 nm processors using the AMD K10 microarchitecture, succeeding the original Phenom. Advanced Micro Devices released the Socket AM2+ version of Phenom II in December 2008, while Socket AM3 versions with DDR3 support, along with an initial batch of...		2010
ARM Cortex-A15 (Quad core) ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore The ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore is a multicore ARM architecture processor providing an out-of-order superscalar pipeline ARM v7 instruction set running at up to 2.5 GHz. ARM has confirmed that the Cortex A15 core is 40 percent faster than the Cortex-A9 core, all things equal...		2010
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 980X (Hex core) Gulftown (microprocessor) Gulftown or Westmere-EP is the codename of a six-core hyperthreaded Intel processor able to run up to 12 threads in parallel. It is based on Westmere microarchitecture, the 32 nm shrink of Nehalem. Originally rumored to be called the Intel Core i9, it is sold as an Intel Core i7...		2010
Intel Core i7 2600K Sandy Bridge Sandy Bridge is the codename for a microarchitecture developed by Intel beginning in 2005 for central processing units in computers to replace the Nehalem microarchitecture...		2011
Intel Core i7 875K Lynnfield (microprocessor) Lynnfield is the code name for a quad-core processor from Intel released in September 2009. It is sold in varying configurations as Core i5-7xx, Core i7-8xx or Xeon X34xx. Lynnfield uses the Nehalem microarchitecture and replaces the earlier Penryn based Yorkfield processor, using the same 45 nm...		2011
AMD FX-8150 (Eight core) Bulldozer (processor) Bulldozer is the codename Advanced Micro Devices has given to one of the next-generation CPU cores after the K10 microarchitecture for the company's M-SPACE design methodology, with the core specifically aimed at 10-watt to 125-watt TDP computing products. Bulldozer is a completely new design...		2011
ARM11 ARM11 ARM11 is an ARM architecture 32-bit RISC microprocessor family which introduced the ARMv6 architectural additions. These include SIMD media instructions, multiprocessor support and a new cache architecture...		2002
ARM Cortex A7		2011
Qualcomm Scorpion (Cortex A8-like)		2008
Qualcomm Krait (Cortex A9-like, Dual core)		2011
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 3960X (Hex core) Sandy Bridge Sandy Bridge is the codename for a microarchitecture developed by Intel beginning in 2005 for central processing units in computers to replace the Nehalem microarchitecture...		2011

Thousand instructions per second

Million instructions per second

Timeline of instructions per second

Historic data

See also