Prefetching with Options

The goal of prefetch insertion optimization is to reduce cache misses by providing hints to the processor about when data should be loaded into the cache. The prefetch optimization is enabled or disabled by the -prefetch (Linux*) or /Qprefetch (Windows*) compiler option.

Note

Mac OS*: This option is not supported.

To facilitate compiler optimization:

• Minimize use of global variables and pointers.

• Minimize use of complex control flow.

• Choose data types carefully and avoid type casting.

To use this option, you must also specify -03 (Linux) or /03 (Windows).

For more information on how to optimize using this option, refer to the Intel® Pentium® 4 and Intel® Xeon® Processor Optimization Reference Manual. Additionally, see the following topic:

• -prefetch  compiler option