Intel's Mitigation For CVE-2019-14615 Graphics Vulnerability Obliterates Gen7 iGPU Performance

[gamerk2]

Its worth noting, that once again, the Itanium uarch is immune.

[wizard69]

Blunt answer: complete non-issue.

Business computers using an iGPU aren't going to be doing much with it beyond hardware acceleration of the Windows desktop and Microsoft Office. And these are already very low in resource usage.

Those with more demanding requirements will already have computers loaded with a dGPU.

Perceptible impact will be essentially zero.

Only consumers will try something silly like playing games on an Intel iGPU.

I wish that was true. In many corporate environments you get what is issued. Need to run 3D CAD on your laptop - though luck!

[wizard69]

That's bad. I thought I could use my remaining Intel media server and notebook little longer, but with this issue now I will try to replace them earlier. For sure not with Intel anymore!

I was somewhat concerned when I purchased my Ryzen based laptops couple of years ago. Frankly I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well the processor works. There was teething pains when Linux first came upon the platform but it was immediately better than the Windows offering.

the biggest negatives I’ve had are not AMD related. The battery didn’t last at all for example and BIOS support sucks. As such I can’t recommend HP at all, however it looks like Ryzen 4000 APUs will have dozens of manufactures to choose from.

as an aside, for the most part the machine has gotten faster with each update from Fedora. That has a lot todo with vastly improved GPU drivers and other fixes. By the way this generation Ryzen mobile (my now old laptop) might not be the technical power house that today’s processors are but I still maintain that this $700 laptop performs better than a 13” MBP from 2017

[devius]

Alright, time to start looking for a new Ryzen based desktop.

[wizard69]

Another victim here.

My personal desktop and laptops have been hit by all the Intel mitigations already, but as I occasionally use the (Haswell) desktop for light casual gaming this looks like the end of the rope.

One of my personal environmental requirements is energy efficiency and until now Haswell just about made the grade. Doesn't look like the hardware is suitable for post-retirement media service either.

I don't have too many positive feelings towards Intel Corp. these days, but I'm still grateful for their Linux devs for the great work they've done over the years. This isn't their fault.


Now, looking into the future I would love to see some *standardized* and *modular* laptop designs where most components are user-replaceable (even if in a workshop) and upgradeable, batteries included. Few of us actually *needs* a wafer-thin fully glued closed-box "com-book" that needs to be disposed of after only two years of use.

Meanwhile it would be nice if I could take my still otherwise perfect Intel laptop to a shop and have them replace the Intel innards with new (ARM or AMD?) parts instead of having to 'landfill' the entire unit.


Back to the Haswell desktop and its graphics implosion: one partial solution could be disabling the iGPU and getting a really energy efficient latest gen *passively cooled* graphics card. Looks like Intel themselves have had half a year to consider providing just such a solution, but somehow I don't think that idea ever passed their beancounters. AMD could do it too, and for many graphics-less Ryzen systems such a modern-but-low-end card could be ideal, but where are they?

I like some of your points, especially anything to do with batteries. I’d rather see a little regulation dictating easy to replace batteries instead of breaking up big tech. At least until we have batteries thAt last 15 years or more. These days you are lucky to get 2 years out of a battery which is no where near the usable life in the hardware.

This by the way is an issue with multiple perspectives. Easy to remove and recycle batteries for example are an environmental issue. Making battery replacement wildly expensive is a consumer rights issue. I just see the trend to difficult to replace batteries to be a huge inconvenience for the consumer that just drives bad behavior.

[schmidtbag]

I always felt Intel's iGPU performance was decent considering the wattage. Now..... not so much. At this point, it's basically good enough for compositor effects or some WebGL apps.

I'm more curious how video playback will be affected, particularly in low-end chips. Intel was often chosen for low-power 4K playback, but I wonder if that can be done anymore.

[caligula]

if you're a gamer.

What the heck, there are gamers who run Steam on machines with Ivy Bridge / Haswell iGPUs?

[uxmkt]

What the heck, there are gamers who run Steam on machines with Ivy Bridge / Haswell iGPUs?

Sure. Just because one is a "gamer" does not mean one is always seeking to run titles requiring AAA+ hardware. Some gamers are quite happy with playing (3D) classics or 2D games like platformers and puzzles.

[chocolate]

Very sad day for those who, like me, bought a Clevo W740SU in late 2013 or early 2014 hoping its Iris Pro 5200 could be good enough for development and yes, even light gaming.
Unfortunately, modern OpenGL support has come too late, Vulkan won't ever be complete, and now the i965 driver will enter maintenance mode. This huge performance impact is the last nail in the coffin.

[FPScholten]

I wish that was true. In many corporate environments you get what is issued. Need to run 3D CAD on your laptop - though luck!

Absolutely true, in our corporate environment we have about 400 Haswell based laptops and a couple of desktops still in operational daily use. Business policy is that the issued laptop should be used at least 5 years before it may be replaced by anything new, the last (new) Haswell laptops were issued 3 and a half years ago so there are quite a lot of people are being hit by this...
And yes, many of these are used by engineers who use 3D software.
Even the laptop I am using now is Haswell based, purchased 4 and a half year ago. Wonder how it's performance will be affected by this. I sometimes play light games through wine....