C gcc versus C clang fastest performance

How the programs are written matters! Always look at the source code.

If the fastest programs are hand-written vector instructions, does the host language matter? You might be more interested in the less optimised programs — more seconds, less gz source code.

fannkuch-redux
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #6	2.17	19,684	1582	8.56
C clang #6	2.25	19,940	1582	8.89
C clang #4	13.18	19,684	1190	13.18
C gcc #4	14.21	19,684	1190	14.21
C gcc #5	6.98	19,684	917	27.28
C clang #5	8.08	19,940	917	31.87
C clang #3	34.04	19,684	574	34.04
C clang #2	8.88	19,684	1563	34.87
C clang	37.45	19,684	514	37.45
C gcc #3	39.56	19,684	574	39.56
C gcc	42.31	19,684	514	42.31
C gcc #2	10.85	19,684	1563	42.52
n-body
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #9	2.10	19,704	1639	2.10
C clang #9	2.20	19,684	1639	2.20
C gcc #4	4.31	19,684	1496	4.31
C clang #4	4.63	19,684	1496	4.63
C clang #5	4.86	19,684	1436	4.86
C gcc #6	4.97	19,684	1186	4.97
C gcc	5.18	19,684	1179	5.18
C gcc #2	5.20	19,684	1270	5.20
C gcc #3	5.24	19,684	1214	5.24
C clang #6	5.32	19,684	1186	5.32
C gcc #5	5.43	19,684	1436	5.43
C clang #2	5.50	19,684	1270	5.50
C clang	5.51	19,716	1179	5.51
C clang #3	6.12	19,684	1214	6.11
C clang #7	6.77	19,684	1250	6.77
C gcc #7	6.82	19,684	1250	6.82
spectral-norm
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #6	0.39	19,724	1203	1.54
C clang #6	0.40	20,980	1203	1.57
C gcc #4	0.72	19,724	1145	2.85
C gcc #7	0.72	19,724	906	2.85
C gcc #5	0.72	19,708	576	2.86
C clang #5	0.72	19,700	576	2.87
C clang #8	0.73	19,700	941	2.88
C clang #4	0.73	20,820	1145	2.89
C gcc	5.39	19,724	390	5.39
C clang	5.40	19,700	390	5.40
C gcc #3	1.43	19,708	470	5.70
C clang #3	1.44	20,916	470	5.75
C clang #7	1.84	20,756	906	7.28
C gcc #8		Make Error
mandelbrot
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C clang #9	1.23	34,304	700	4.89
C gcc #6	1.29	33,408	1147	5.13
C clang #5	1.53	34,688	788	6.09
C gcc #5	1.63	33,536	788	6.32
C clang #4	3.47	34,176	805	13.83
C gcc #4	3.49	33,152	805	13.88
C gcc #7	3.50	33,280	1000	13.91
C clang	3.49	33,024	828	13.92
C gcc	3.50	32,768	828	13.93
C clang #7	3.53	34,048	1000	14.02
C gcc #3	3.53	32,768	769	14.09
C clang #3	3.58	32,896	769	14.26
C gcc #9	4.23	33,280	700	16.34
C gcc #2	25.05	19,684	412	25.04
C clang #2	25.50	19,684	412	25.49
C clang #6		Make Error
pidigits
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C clang #2	0.82	19,780	422	0.82
C gcc #2	0.82	19,704	422	0.82
C gcc	0.89	19,704	459	0.88
C clang	0.88	19,876	459	0.88
regex-redux
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #5	0.81	152,392	1403	2.03
C clang #5	0.82	154,520	1403	2.82
C gcc #2	3.21	103,296	1121	3.21
C clang #2	3.22	103,424	1121	3.22
C gcc #4	0.95	152,248	1237	3.27
C gcc #3	1.73	103,680	1273	3.31
C clang #4	0.97	154,248	1237	3.77
C clang #3	1.74	105,728	1273	4.32
fasta
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #9	0.78	19,440	1469	0.78
C clang #9	0.78	19,440	1469	0.78
C clang #5	1.19	19,684	1286	1.19
C gcc #5	1.24	19,684	1286	1.24
C clang #7	2.43	19,440	1299	2.43
C gcc #6	0.94	19,684	1936	2.77
C gcc #7	2.79	19,440	1299	2.79
C clang #6	1.01	19,684	1936	2.96
C gcc #4	3.03	19,684	1244	3.03
C gcc #2	0.82	19,684	2276	3.25
C clang #2	0.82	19,684	2276	3.26
C clang	3.61	19,860	1213	3.61
C gcc	3.74	19,684	1213	3.74
C gcc #8	4.56	19,440	825	4.55
C clang #8	4.59	19,440	825	4.58
C clang #4		Make Error
k-nucleotide
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc	3.98	130,432	1512	12.93
C clang	6.37	129,248	1512	13.99
reverse-complement
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #7	0.43	499,928	1899	0.59
C clang #7	0.44	499,748	1899	0.61
C clang #9	0.47	499,748	1551	0.70
C gcc #9	0.49	499,744	1551	0.82
C gcc #6	0.97	696,664	828	1.39
C gcc #5	1.52	994,176	654	1.52
C gcc #2	1.05	994,560	757	1.57
C clang #2	1.15	994,560	757	1.67
C clang #5	2.07	994,176	654	2.07
C gcc #4	3.68	500,480	716	3.68
C clang #4	3.79	500,480	716	3.79
C clang #6	1.02	706,096	828	4.04
binary-trees
source	secs	mem	gz	cpu secs
C gcc #2	1.57	169,216	816	4.48
C gcc #3	1.92	134,400	842	4.70
C clang #2	1.64	170,112	816	5.30
C clang #3	1.84	134,144	842	5.79
C clang	17.79	264,064	660	17.79
C clang #8	19.62	285,568	607	19.62
C gcc #8	20.96	285,568	607	20.96
C gcc	21.32	264,064	660	21.32
C gcc #5	8.66	351,232	914	31.56
C clang #5	9.39	351,232	914	33.96
C gcc	13.2.0-23ubuntu4
C clang	Ubuntu clang version 18.1.3