The Question

Which is faster, a queue guarded by a std::mutex, or the same queue guarded by an atomic? This experiment attempts to at least partially answer that question. To do this, I constructed a queue that could be guarded by either a std::mutex or by my own atomic based lock. Then, I ran a fixed number of elements through the queue, with varying numbers of producer and consumer threads.

To be clear, this experiment was run several times (in single user mode). The number of elements that passed through the queue was the same for all runs. Each run had a fixed number of consumer threads and a fixed number of producer threads. Each run had a guard on the queue that was either a std::mutex or it was an atomic based lock. Each run was timed, and the results were recorded.

The Results

See especially the graphic titled “Mutex / Atomic”. Surprisingly, the atomic based lock out performed std::mutex in most cases. Only in those cases where there is much contention (that is, where there are many producer and consumer threads) did std::mutex do better. In these high contention cases, it is likely that those threads using an atomic lock are consuming quite a bit of time spinning, and you can see the resulting drop in performance (see the graph labeled “Atomic Serialization”). In those cases where there is low contention, it would appear that the atomic lock simply has less overhead than a std::mutex. Later, I’ll have to look at the C++11 standard, to see exactly what is required of a std::mutex. That might explain things.

The Source

Is available here.