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Eug · 01:22 AM

SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark on my 13" MacBook Pro 5,5 (2.26 GHz):

Mac OS X 10.5.6, Safari 3.2.1: 3261.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.5.8, Safari 4.0.3 (5531.9): 824.8 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 32-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 657.6 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 479.2 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 64-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 478.4 ms

krove · Aug 30, 2009, 02:08 PM

Nice. Thanks for the run-down.

I think the 64-bit versus 32-bit debate will continue to rage on. Clearly there are areas where some improvements are more noticeable. As I'm sure you are aware, x86-64 versus x86-32 is a far different debate than PowerPC 64-bit versus 32-bit.

Eug · Aug 30, 2009, 03:08 PM

FYI, my 13" MacBook Pro (June 2009) actually shipped with 10.5.7, so 10.5.6 isn't supposed to run on it. That 10.5.6 install was actually from another white MacBook. There were a couple of errors at bootup, but as far as I could tell, Safari 3.2.1 ran perfectly, and its slowness on the 13" MBP is similar to results I got on the white MacBook as well (using the Safari 4.0 beta vs. Safari 3.2.1).

Anyways, I glad to see that running 64-bit Safari on a 32-bit OS X is just as fast as running on a 64-bit OS X. I don't want to run 64-bit OS X because of the driver issue. As for Safari plugin compatibility, I don't care, because I don't use many 3rd party plugins, aside from Flip4Mac and Flash (which both work now on Safari 64-bit).

Originally Posted by krove

As I'm sure you are aware, x86-64 versus x86-32 is a far different debate than PowerPC 64-bit versus 32-bit.

I know it is a far different debate as people keep telling me that.

However, I don't have enough technical knowledge why it is far different debate.

Cold Warrior · Aug 30, 2009, 03:18 PM

Eug,
your results are what I'm seeing too -- very nice speed-ups in Safari 4 x64 on x86 SL.

Eug · Aug 30, 2009, 11:53 PM

Apple says Safari JavaScript is 50% faster in 64-bit mode.

My results have it at 37% faster.

Originally Posted by Eug

Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 32-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 657.6 ms
Mac OS X 10.6 32-bit, 64-bit Safari 4.0.3 (6531.9): 479.2 ms

l008com · Dec 15, 2009, 06:00 PM

I have a related question. I'm running a 10.5 on a G5. apache and mysql are both running in 64-bit mode. Why isn't Safari?

Chuckit · Dec 15, 2009, 06:08 PM

Because 64-bit apps couldn't have a GUI until 10.6.

TETENAL · Dec 15, 2009, 06:20 PM

That is not true. 10.5 supports 64-bit GUI applications. Xcode and Chess are for example.

Chuckit · Dec 15, 2009, 06:38 PM

Hm, my bad. For whatever reason, I was thinking 64-bit Cocoa was new in Snow Leopard.

pendragon · Dec 16, 2009, 09:09 AM

It is my understanding that the 64-bit advantage only comes in to play when one has 4+ GB RAM.

Is that true or have I been had (again)?

TETENAL · Dec 16, 2009, 09:26 AM

Theoretically that is true, but Intel processors have optimizations in 64-bit mode, that make them faster there.

Chuckit · Dec 16, 2009, 11:59 AM

Of course, there are also pessimizations in 64-bit mode. So whether you get a speedup and how much you get depends. The most obvious case for a 64-bit app is needing more RAM.

pendragon · Dec 16, 2009, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Theoretically that is true, but Intel processors have optimizations in 64-bit mode, that make them faster there.

But will a person like me, with only 2 MB RAM, in everyday surfing, notice any difference re his Safari experience whether in 32 or 64 bit mode?

TETENAL · Dec 16, 2009, 12:56 PM

On Intel processors 64-bit mode contains optimizations, like more registers, that have nothing to do with addressable memory. Therefore there is usually a performance gain in 64-bit mode regardless of memory. How much and whether it's noticeable is another matter.

PowerPCs were as good in 32-bit as in 64-bit mode, so speed depended mostly on memory usage of the application.

Art Vandelay · Dec 16, 2009, 01:15 PM

In the case of Safari, Apple spent more time optimizing the 64-bit version of Nitro than they did the 32-bit version.

Chuckit · Dec 16, 2009, 02:54 PM

Meaning Javascript will be faster, so if you have intense Javascripts, you'll notice.

Thinine · Dec 19, 2009, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

In the case of Safari, Apple spent more time optimizing the 64-bit version of Nitro than they did the 32-bit version.

No, the additional speed of Nitro on x64 is due to advances in the architecture, not any additional work by Apple. Beyond creating an optimized JIT for the architecture anyway.

Art Vandelay · Dec 19, 2009, 09:11 PM

Not according to a Webkit engineer on a blog posting I saw when it came out. There is some improvement just from being 64-bit but there's more from further optimization work they did. They focused more on the 64-bit implementation since most Intel Macs are 64-bit and that's where the future lies.

Thinine · Dec 20, 2009, 01:24 AM

The further optimization work they did was all related to taking advantage of the x64 architecture. Semantic difference I guess. And I'm sure they'll be focusing most of their work on the x64 version for the future too.