The Visual Studio Compiler team have introduced new optimization capabilities in VS 2015 Update 3 see (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/05/04/new-code-optimizer/) and I have to say it seems to be working very well and generates significantly faster code than Intel Compiler 16.0 in , at least , in some examples I am testing.
For example, I have a simple "binary search" algorithm I am using to search a array of doubles. The VS 2015 Update 3 microsoft compiled code completes in my benchmark in 2.44ms, whereas the Intel Compiler took 6.82ms. Nearly a factor of 3.
I checked using the Visual Studio 2013 compiler, and it generated code that performed similar to the Intel Compiler, so it's clear that the VS 2015 Update 3 has really 'moved on' with some good optimizations.
I think the MS Compiler team have really 'thrown down the gauntlet' here.