我正在做一些长期模拟，试图在 ODE 系统的解决方案中实现尽可能高的精度。我试图找出四倍（128 位）精度计算与双倍（64 位）精度相比需要多少时间。我在谷歌上搜索了一下，看到了一些关于它的意见：有人说需要 4 倍的时间，其他人说需要 60-70 倍......所以我决定自己动手，我写了一个简单的 Fortran 基准程序：
program QUAD_TEST
implicit none
integer,parameter :: dp = selected_int_kind(15)
integer,parameter :: qp = selected_int_kind(33)
integer :: cstart_dp,cend_dp,cstart_qp,cend_qp,crate
real :: time_dp,time_qp
real(dp) :: sum_dp,sqrt_dp,pi_dp,mone_dp,zero_dp
real(qp) :: sum_qp,sqrt_qp,pi_qp,mone_qp,zero_qp
integer :: i
! ==============================================================================
! == TEST 1. ELEMENTARY OPERATIONS ==
sum_dp = 1._dp
sum_qp = 1._qp
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count_rate=crate)
write(*,*) 'Testing elementary operations...'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_dp)
do i=1,50000000
sum_dp = sum_dp - 1._dp
sum_dp = sum_dp + 1._dp
sum_dp = sum_dp*2._dp
sum_dp = sum_dp/2._dp
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_dp)
time_dp = real(cend_dp - cstart_dp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'DP sum: ',sum_dp
write(*,*) 'DP time: ',time_dp,' seconds'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_qp)
do i=1,50000000
sum_qp = sum_qp - 1._qp
sum_qp = sum_qp + 1._qp
sum_qp = sum_qp*2._qp
sum_qp = sum_qp/2._qp
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_qp)
time_qp = real(cend_qp - cstart_qp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'QP sum: ',sum_qp
write(*,*) 'QP time: ',time_qp,' seconds'
write(*,*)
write(*,*) 'DP is ',time_qp/time_dp,' times faster.'
write(*,*)
! == TEST 2. SQUARE ROOT ==
sqrt_dp = 2._dp
sqrt_qp = 2._qp
write(*,*) 'Testing square root ...'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_dp)
do i = 1,10000000
sqrt_dp = sqrt(sqrt_dp)
sqrt_dp = 2._dp
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_dp)
time_dp = real(cend_dp - cstart_dp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'DP sqrt: ',sqrt_dp
write(*,*) 'DP time: ',time_dp,' seconds'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_qp)
do i = 1,10000000
sqrt_qp = sqrt(sqrt_qp)
sqrt_qp = 2._qp
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_qp)
time_qp = real(cend_qp - cstart_qp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'QP sqrt: ',sqrt_qp
write(*,*) 'QP time: ',time_qp,' seconds'
write(*,*)
write(*,*) 'DP is ',time_qp/time_dp,' times faster.'
write(*,*)
! == TEST 3. TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS ==
pi_dp = acos(-1._dp); mone_dp = 1._dp; zero_dp = 0._dp
pi_qp = acos(-1._qp); mone_qp = 1._qp; zero_qp = 0._qp
write(*,*) 'Testing trigonometric functions ...'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_dp)
do i = 1,10000000
mone_dp = cos(pi_dp)
zero_dp = sin(pi_dp)
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_dp)
time_dp = real(cend_dp - cstart_dp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'DP cos: ',mone_dp
write(*,*) 'DP sin: ',zero_dp
write(*,*) 'DP time: ',time_dp,' seconds'
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cstart_qp)
do i = 1,10000000
mone_qp = cos(pi_qp)
zero_qp = sin(pi_qp)
end do
call SYSTEM_CLOCK(count=cend_qp)
time_qp = real(cend_qp - cstart_qp)/real(crate)
write(*,*) 'QP cos: ',mone_qp
write(*,*) 'QP sin: ',zero_qp
write(*,*) 'QP time: ',time_qp,' seconds'
write(*,*)
write(*,*) 'DP is ',time_qp/time_dp,' times faster.'
write(*,*)
end program QUAD_TEST
使用 编译后的典型运行结果gfortran 4.8.4，没有任何优化标志：
Testing elementary operations...
DP sum: 1.0000000000000000
DP time: 0.572000027 seconds
QP sum: 1.00000000000000000000000000000000000
QP time: 4.32299995 seconds
DP is 7.55769205 times faster.
Testing square root ...
DP sqrt: 2.0000000000000000
DP time: 5.20000011E-02 seconds
QP sqrt: 2.00000000000000000000000000000000000
QP time: 2.60700011 seconds
DP is 50.1346169 times faster.
Testing trigonometric functions ...
DP cos: -1.0000000000000000
DP sin: 1.2246467991473532E-016
DP time: 2.79600000 seconds
QP cos: -1.00000000000000000000000000000000000
QP sin: 8.67181013012378102479704402604335225E-0035
QP time: 5.90199995 seconds
DP is 2.11087275 times faster.
这里一定发生了什么事。我的猜测是，它sqrt是gfortran通过优化算法计算的，而四倍精度计算可能还没有实现。和可能不是这种情况sin，cos但是为什么基本运算在四倍精度上慢了 7.6 倍，而对于三角函数，速度只慢了 2 倍？如果用于三角函数的算法对于四精度和双精度是相同的，我希望它们的 CPU 时间也会增加七倍。
与 64 位相比，使用 128 位精度时科学计算的平均速度下降多少？
我在 Intel i7-4771 @ 3.50GHz 上运行它。