26.3 String instructions (all processors)
String instructions without a repeat prefix are too slow and should be replaced by simpler instructions. The same applies to LOOP on all processors and to JECXZ on PPlain and PMMX.
REP MOVSD and REP STOSD are quite fast if the repeat count is not too small. Always use the DWORD version if possible, and make sure that both source and destination are aligned by 8.
Some other methods of moving data are faster under certain conditions. See chapter 27.8 for details.
Note that while the REP MOVS instruction writes a word to the destination, it reads the next word from the source in the same clock cycle. You can have a cache bank conflict if bit 2-4 are the same in these two addresses. In other words, you will get a penalty of one clock extra per iteration if ESI+(wordsize)-EDI is divisible by 32. The easiest way to avoid cache bank conflicts is to use the DWORD version and align both source and destination by 8. Never use MOVSB or MOVSW in optimized code, not even in 16 bit mode.
REP MOVS and REP STOS can perform very fast by moving an entire cache line at a time on PPro, PII and PIII. This happens only when the following conditions are met:
Under these conditions the number of uops issued is approximately 215+2*ECX for REP MOVSD and 185+1.5*ECX for REP STOSD, giving a speed of approximately 5 bytes per clock cycle for both instructions, which is almost 3 times as fast as when the above conditions are not met.
The byte and word versions also benefit from this fast mode, but they are less effective than the dword versions.
REP STOSD is optimal under the same conditions as REP MOVSD.
REP LOADS, REP SCAS, and REP CMPS are not optimal, and may be replaced by loops. See example 1.10, 2.8 and 2.9 for alternatives to REPNE SCASB. REP CMPS may suffer cache bank conflicts if bit 2-4 are the same in ESI and EDI.