Is calculating an MD5 hash less CPU intensive than SHA family functions?
Yes, MD5 is somewhat less CPU-intensive. On my Intel x86 (Core2 Quad Q6600, 2.4 GHz, using one core), I get this in 32-bit mode: MD5 411 SHA-1 218 SHA-256 118 SHA-512 46 and this in 64-bit mode: MD5 407 SHA-1 312 SHA-256 148 SHA-512 189 Figures are in megabytes per second, for a “long” message … Read more