Dell PowerEdge 1655MC - Manual (Page 26)

Optimal BIOS settings for HPC with Dell PowerEdge 12 th generation servers
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shows the performance improvement with the new cluster relative to the previous generation. The
secondary y-axis plots the energy efficiency of the new cluster relative to the earlier one.
The results are impressive. HPL performance is 3.6 times (3.6x) better with the latest generation and
2.93 times more energy efficient. Fluent and WRF also demonstrate a significant improvement with the
new servers. For applications that are similar to LU, the two generations perform similarly. While
comparing energy efficiency, recall that the 12
th generation cluster uses processors that are a higher
wattage than the 11 th generation cluster (130W versus 95W).
7. Conclusion
The goal of this white paper is to provide quantitative data on the impact of different PowerEdge BIOS
options on the performance and energy efficiency of HPC applications. Unique to this study is the
emphasis not just on performance but also power consumption and energy efficiency, and the focus on
a cluster-level study as opposed to a single-server evaluation.
Table 7. Recommended BIOS setting
Balanced
configuration Performance
focused Energy Efficient
configuration Latency
sensitive
10
System Profile Performance Per
Watt Optimized
(DAPC) Performance
Optimized Performance Per
Watt Optimized
(DAPC) Custom
CPU Power
Management System DBPM Max
Performance System DBPM Max
Performance
Memory
Frequency Max
Performance Max
Performance Max Performance Max
Performance
Turbo Boost Enabled Enabled Disabled Disabled
C States Enabled Disabled Enabled Disabled
C1E Enabled Disabled Enabled Disabled
Monitor/ Mwait Enabled Enabled Enabled Disabled
Logical
Processor Disabled Disabled Disabled Disabled
Node
Interleaving Disabled Disabled Disabled Disabled
* The text in gray indicates options that are pre-selected by the System Profile and cannot be tuned individually.
Text in black indicates options that should be explicitly configured.
Dell PowerEdge 12 th generation servers have an enhanced BIOS that provides several options that can
be tuned to suit specific needs. This white paper evaluates some of these BIOS tuning parameters and
provides specific recommendations on the best settings for HPC applications.