This is a part of a custom malloc(). The test involves running p = malloc(); free(p); in a tight loop for 5 seconds, generating about 60,000,000 traversals

This is a part of a custom malloc(). The test involves running p = malloc(); free(p); in a tight loop for 5 seconds, generating about 60,000,000 traversals of the code in question. The slower version yields a loop count of around 67,... and the faster version bumps it to over 70,... Not quite 5%, but in thereabouts.