BLAS Library Benchmark

Question

Is there a benchmark that compares the different BLAS (Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms) libraries? I am especially interested in sparse matrix multiplication for single- and multi-core systems?

Answer 1

BLAS performance is very much system dependent, so you'll best do the benchmarks yourself on the very machine you want to use. Since there are only a few BLAS implementations, that is less work than it sounds (normally the hardware vendors implementation, ATLAS and the GOTO BLAS).

But note that BLAS only covers dense matrices, so for sparse matrix multiplication you'll need Sparse-BLAS or some other code. Here performance will differ not only depending on hardware but also on the sparse format you want to use and even on the type of matrix you are working with (things like sparsity pattern, bandwidth etc. matter). So even more than in the dense case, if you need maximum performance you will need to do your own benchmarks.