Intel's Clear Linux In 2021 Still Squeezing More Performance For Xeon Scalable

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel's Clear Linux In 2021 Still Squeezing More Performance For Xeon Scalable

With Intel set to announce 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable "Ice Lake" CPUs next week, it's a good time for looking back to see how the Linux performance has evolved since the introduction of 2nd Gen Xeon Scalable "Cascade Lake" processors back in 2019. In this article is a look at the Xeon Platinum 8280 performance back at launch under both Ubuntu and Clear Linux compared to the current state of both distributions on the same hardware. There are also additional tests with those latest Linux images seeing how Ubuntu 21.04 is shaping up against Intel's own performance-optimized Clear Linux.

https://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=30061

[elatllat]

To bad Clear has less app selection like postgresql-contrib missing.

[cchi]

- Ubuntu: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave
- Clear Linux: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance
- Ubuntu: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave - CPU Microcode: 0x5003003
- Clear Linux: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance - CPU Microcode: 0x5003006

I wonder how much difference there would be if ubuntu also was in performance mode

Also the thp mode could also be set to always instead of madvice as well.

[Michael]

- Ubuntu: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave
- Clear Linux: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance
- Ubuntu: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave - CPU Microcode: 0x5003003
- Clear Linux: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance - CPU Microcode: 0x5003006

I wonder how much difference there would be if ubuntu also was in performance mode

Also the thp mode could also be set to always instead of madvice as well.

As shown in prior Clear vs. other comparisons, the CPUfreq governor alone only tends to make up for some of the difference... Just as the default compiler flag difference as well only represents some of the difference. There is a lot more involved even the prior article looking at Ubuntu + performance governor + CFLAGS + kernel change, etc, still not matching Clear.

[cchi]

As shown in prior Clear vs. other comparisons, the CPUfreq governor alone only tends to make up for some of the difference... Just as the default compiler flag difference as well only represents some of the difference. There is a lot more involved even the prior article looking at Ubuntu + performance governor + CFLAGS + kernel change, etc, still not matching Clear.

Thank you for your reply. As you say there are more factors playing. I was interested in how much difference there still was when it is also switched to performance mode as this is something easy to do from a user perspective.

Could you post the link to your previous article(s) which analyzes this?

[andre30correia]

- Ubuntu: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave
- Clear Linux: 2019: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance
- Ubuntu: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate powersave - CPU Microcode: 0x5003003
- Clear Linux: 2021: Scaling Governor: intel_pstate performance - CPU Microcode: 0x5003006

I wonder how much difference there would be if ubuntu also was in performance mode

Also the thp mode could also be set to always instead of madvice as well.

depends of cpu and the pc/laptop and thermals, performance sometimes make the cpu to hot at start. I don't see the point of using performance mode with laptops for example, with desktop is another story

[skeevy420]

These benchmark results are exactly why v# repos should be considered.

[torsionbar28]

To bad Clear has less app selection like postgresql-contrib missing.

I don't think Clear is intended for direct use by consumers. It seems more like a reference implementation for performance tuning, for the distros to adopt.

[torsionbar28]

depends of cpu and the pc/laptop and thermals, performance sometimes make the cpu to hot at start. I don't see the point of using performance mode with laptops for example, with desktop is another story

The only sane way to run an intel laptop in 2021 is with turbo boost disabled. Unless you like scorching hot temps and screaming fan noise.

[Paradigm Shifter]

I'd really like to use Clear on a new box I have to build at work, since it's a dual-Xeon box... but I really don't want to have to learn the foibles and peculiarities of another distro. I'll think I'll do what I was planning on anyway and install Arch.