Before revision:  Starting from a single-core performance model we can describe the intra-chip saturation characteristics of the code and its optimal operating point in terms of energy to solution as a function of the propagation method, the clock frequency, and the SIMD vectorization. We then show how these findings may be extrapolated to the massively parallel level on a petascale-class machine, and quantify the energy-saving potential of various optimizations. We find that high single-core performance and a correct choice of the number of cores used on the chip are the essential factors for lowest energy to solution with minimal loss of performance .
After revision:  Starting from a single-core performance model we can describe the intra-chip saturation characteristics of the code and its optimal operating point in terms of energy to solution as a function of the propagation method, the clock frequency, vectorization, and number of active cores per chip. We show that high single-core performance and a correct choice of the number of cores used on the chip are the essential factors for lowest energy to solution with minimal loss of performance .