Can I use Strassens Method when doing the matrix multiples in the HPL benchmark or for the Top500 run?
The normal matrix multination algorithm requires n3 + O(n2) multiplications and about the same number of additions. Strassen’s algorithm reduces the total number of operations to O(n2.82) by recursively multiplying 2n 2n matrices using seven n n matrix multiplications. Thus using Strassens Algorithm will distort the true execution rate. As a result we do not allow Strassens Algorithm to be used for the TOP500 reporting. As a side note, in the “usual” matrix multiplication, we have an n2 error term. In Strassen’s method, the error exponent p for np ranges from 2-3.85 and the numerical error can be 10-100 times greater than that for standard multiplication.
