Using the -fp-model (/fp) Option

The -fp-model (Linux* and Mac OS* X) or /fp (Windows*) option allows you to control the optimizations on floating-point data. You can use this option to tune the performance, level of accuracy, or result consistency for floating-point applications across platforms and optimization levels.

For applications that do not require support for denormalized numbers, the -fp-model or /fp option can be combined with the -ftz (Linux*and Mac OS* X) or /Qftz (Windows*) option to flush denormalized results to zero in order to obtain improved runtime performance on processors based on all Intel architectures (IA-32, Intel® 64, and IA-64 architectures).

You can use keywords to specify the semantics to be used. Possible values of the keywords are as follows:

Keyword

Description

precise

Enables value-safe optimizations on floating-point data and rounds intermediate results to source-defined precision.

fast[=1|2]

Enables more aggressive optimizations on floating-point data.

strict

Enables precise and except, disables contractions, and enables the property that allows modification of the floating-point environment.

source

Enables value-safe optimizations on floating-point data and rounds intermediate results to source-defined precision (same as precise keyword).

[no-]except (Linux* and Mac OS* X) or
except[-] (Windows*)

Determines whether strict floating-point exception semantics are used.

The default value of the option is -fp-model fast=1 or /fp:fast=1, which means that the compiler uses more aggressive optimizations on floating-point calculations.

Note iconNote

Using the default option keyword -fp-model fast or /fp:fast, you may get significant differences in your result depending on whether the compiler uses x87 or SSE2 instructions to implement floating-point operations. Results are more consistent when the other option keywords are used.

Several examples are provided to illustrate the usage of the keywords. These examples show:

-fp-model fast or /fp:fast

Example source code:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = 4.0E + 0.1E + T1 + T2;

When this option is specified, the compiler applies the following semantics:

Using these semantics, some possible ways the compiler may interpret the original code are given below:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = (T1 + T2) + 4.1E;

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = (T1 + 4.1E) + T2;

-fp-model source or /fp:source

This setting is equivalent to -fp-model precise or /fp:precise on systems based on the Intel® 64 architecture.

Example source code:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = 4.0E + 0.1E + T1 + T2;

When this option is specified, the compiler applies the following semantics:

Using these semantics, a possible way the compiler may interpret the original code is shown below:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = ((4.1E + T1) + T2);

-fp-model strict or /fp:strict

Example source code:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = 4.0E + 0.1E + T1 + T2;

When this option is specified, the compiler applies the following semantics:

Using these semantics, a possible way the compiler may interpret the original code is shown below:

REAL T0, T1, T2;

...

T0 = REAL ((((REAL)4.0E + (REAL)0.1E) + (REAL)T1) + (REAL)T2);

See Also