Intel Sandy Bridge Is Shinier On Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

In some of the processor-focused tests there were some improvements, but overall it is rather flat due to no major compiler change between Ubuntu 11.10 and Ubuntu 12.04.

While the processor performance is not vastly improved for Ubuntu 12.04 (it should be for Ubuntu 12.10 when a proper GCC 4.7 build lands), if using the Intel Sandy Bridge graphics the upgrade is very noticeable. Across the board the Intel Sandy Bridge graphics performance is up due to the aggressive optimizations made by the Intel OTC developers last year and are now finally realized in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with its use of Linux 3.2 and Mesa 8.0.

As shown by the Git benchmarks, more performance improvements will be visible to users with Ubuntu 12.10. The power consumption is also improved thanks to RC6 finally being enabled and other kernel-level improvements.

If you missed it, earlier this month I also did a Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 12.04 comparison on this popular generation of Intel hardware. Aside from x86, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS also improves the ARM experience.