[COLUG] stress-testing multi-core systems

[Scott Merrill]

On 12/28/07, Aaron Howard <archanoid at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Dec 28, 2007 10:08 AM, Scott Merrill <skippy at skippy.net> wrote:
> > Are there any applications (Windows or GNU/Linux) that folks can
> > recommend to stress-test _all_ the cores in the modern multi-core
> > system?
>
> Not entirely sure, but I think the GIMPS (Great Internet Mersenne
> Prime Search) client can be run multiple times on a single system to
> stress multiple CPU/cores.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone -- we greatly appreciate it.

It's been communicated to me that running multiple instances of the
same application is not as ideal as running a single highly threaded
application.  I've also been told -- though have not confirmed for
myself -- that running multiple instances of F at H particularly can
cause problems: terminating one instance can cause the other instance
to foul up in obscure ways.

Can I restate my original question to seek advice on a single
executable that will tax all of the available CPU cores in a system?
Does such a thing exist?

Cheers,
Scott