Re: [Gems-users] [gem5-users] the different between gem5 and gems&simics

[Gedare Bloom <gedare@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are a lot of differences (and similarities). Simics does not
provide cycle-accurate simulation but does provide full system
functionality. GEMS was designed to explore multiprocessor (multicore)
architecture features and add cycle accuracy and a detailed memory
hierarchy to Simics. M5 supports cycle accurate full system simulation
and system call emulation (a la SimpleScalar) for multicore
architectures on a couple of architecture families. With the inclusion
of Ruby in M5, the GEM5 project has both the detailed memory model of
GEMS and the rich processor support of M5.

gem5 is FOSS and you can download and run it immediately (after some
setup). Simics is available for academic licensing through Wind River
Systems, whom you would contact to request a site license. They grant
one per institution typically. GEMS is installed as an extension to
Simics and runs as a plugin module.

Since all of the source code is readily available, gem5 is easier to
code and debug. I have written extensions to both simulators and found
the gem5 approach to be more mature and usable.

gem5 supports more architecture families, although its ALPHA support
is most mature, with x86 and ARM catching up. gems works only on the
SPARC v9 instruction set.

With gem5, Linux is the OS of choice. With gems, it is difficult to
use any OS other than Solaris, although some groups have had success.

gem5 is still maintained, whereas most of the gems authors have moved on.

My opinion is that if you are just starting out, you will do better
with gem5. The reason to use simics/gems would be if you already are
familiar with it and have it set up to work in your lab.

Good luck.

2011/6/15 冬雨 <zhou_deng@xxxxxx>:
> hi, I am a new user of the architecture simulators.
> Can anyone tell me the differents between the gem5 and the gems&simics ?
> In addition, I also want to know how to get the simics for free as a
> student?
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