Optimizing CPU Performance for High-Performance Search Algorithms

This text outlines the exploration of CPU performance, particularly focusing on latency, memory access, and caching strategies while developing a high-performance search algorithm for suffix arrays. It begins with an introduction to the hardware specifications, including details about the CPU and memory architecture. The author discusses the importance of understanding latency in memory access and the impact of batching and prefetching on performance. Key findings indicate that reading from RAM incurs significant latency, while using batches and optimizing memory access can enhance throughput by more than ten times. The text concludes with an overview of the measurements and results regarding cache performance and memory bandwidth.

• The series aims to improve binary search algorithms and starts with analyzing existing methods.
• The CPU used is an Intel Core i7-10750H with 6 cores and various cache sizes.
• High latency is associated with reading from main memory, while batching and prefetching can significantly boost throughput.
• The author emphasizes using aligned memory and huge pages for better performance.
• Memory access performance is affected by the cache levels (L1, L2, L3) and the configuration of memory pages.