WPrime is a computer program that calculates a set number of square roots using Newton's method for estimating functions verifying the results by squaring them then comparing them with the original numbers.
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Significance
WPrime is popular in the overclocking community for testing the performance and stability of computer processors. Its popularity stemmed from being able to utilize 100% of a multi-core processor's computing time enabling its use as a multi-threaded benchmark application in competitions, computing reviews, and marketing campaigns.
Criticism
The use of Newton's method for testing stability is inherently unreliable due the self-correcting nature of the algorithm with subsequent iterations correcting any potential errors. WPrime would theoretically only detect instability from several consecutive errors. Additionally some have argued that the multi-threading algorithm used is not indicative of real world performance though much of this was due to poor implementations of multi-threading in consumer applications the early days of multi-core processors.