Get Started with Intel® VTune™ Profiler

Get Started

  • 2020
  • 09/09/2020
  • Public Content
Contents

Get Started with
Intel® VTune™
Profiler
 for Windows* OS

Before You Begin

  • Build your application with symbol information and in
    Release
     mode with all optimizations enabled. For detailed information on compiler settings, see the
    VTune
    Profiler
     online user guide    .
    You can also use the
    matrix
     sample application available in
    <
    install-dir
    >\samples\en\C++\matrix
    . You can see sample results in
    <
    install-dir
    >\Projects\sample (matrix)
    .
  • Set up the environment variables:
    <
    install-dir
    >\env\vars.bat
    By default, the
    <
    install-dir
    >
     is:
    • [Program Files]\IntelSWTools\VTune Profiler <
      version
      >
       when installed as a standalone version;
    • [Program Files]\Intel\oneAPI\vtune\<
      version
      >
       for Intel oneAPI Base Toolkit (Beta) installation;
    • [Program Files]\IntelSWTools\system_studio_<version>\VTune Profiler
       for Intel System Studio.
You do not need to execute
vars.bat
 when using
Intel® VTune™
Profiler
 within Microsoft* Visual Studio*.

Step 1: Start
Intel® VTune™
Profiler

Start
Intel VTune
Profiler
 through one of these ways:
Source
Start
VTune
Profiler
Standalone (GUI)
Intel System Studio IDE
  1. Run the
    vtune-gui
     command or run
    Intel® VTune™
    Profiler
     from the
    Start
     menu.
    To start
    Intel® VTune™
    Profiler
     in the Intel System Studio IDE, select
    Tools
    VTune Profiler
    Launch VTune Profiler
    . This sets all appropriate environment variables and opens the standalone product.
  2. Click the menu button in the upper left corner and select
    New > Project...
     .
  3. Specify the project name and location in the
    Create Project
     dialog box.
  4. Click
    Create Project
    .
Standalone (Command line)
Run the
vtune
 command.
Microsoft* Visual Studio* IDE
Open your solution in Visual Studio. The
VTune
Profiler
 toolbar is automatically enabled and your Visual Studio project is set as an analysis target.
You do not need to create a project when running
Intel® VTune™
Profiler
 from the command line or within Microsoft* Visual Studio.

Step 2: Configure and Run Analysis

After creating a new project, the
Configure Analysis
 window opens with these default values:
Setting
Default Value
Target System
Local Host
Analysis Target
Launch Application
Analysis Type
Performance Snapshot
  1. In the
    Launch Application
     section, browse to the location of your application executable file.
  2. Click
    Start
     to run Performance Snapshot on your application. This analysis presents a general overview of issues affecting the performance of your application on the target system.

Step 3: View and Analyze Performance Data

When data collection completes,
VTune
Profiler
 displays analysis results in the
Summary
 window. Here, you see a performance overview of your application.
The overview typically includes several metrics along with their descriptions.
Expand each metric for detailed information about contributing factors.
A flagged metric indicates a value outside acceptable/normal operating range. Use tool tips to understand how to improve a flagged metric.
See guidance on other analyses you should consider running next. The
Analysis Tree
 highlights these recommendations.

Next Steps

Performance Snapshot is a good starting point to get an overall assessment of application performance with
VTune
Profiler
. Next, check if your algorithm requires tuning.
  1. Run Hotspots Analysis on your application.
  2. Follow a Hotspots tutorial. Learn techniques to get the most out of your Hotspots analysis.
  3. Once your algorithm is well-tuned, run Performance Snapshot again to calibrate results and identify potential performance improvements in other areas.

Product and Performance Information

1

Intel's compilers may or may not optimize to the same degree for non-Intel microprocessors for optimizations that are not unique to Intel microprocessors. These optimizations include SSE2, SSE3, and SSSE3 instruction sets and other optimizations. Intel does not guarantee the availability, functionality, or effectiveness of any optimization on microprocessors not manufactured by Intel. Microprocessor-dependent optimizations in this product are intended for use with Intel microprocessors. Certain optimizations not specific to Intel microarchitecture are reserved for Intel microprocessors. Please refer to the applicable product User and Reference Guides for more information regarding the specific instruction sets covered by this notice.

Notice revision #20110804