Linux ITMT Patch Fixes Intel "Alder Lake" Hybrid Handling For Some Systems

[CommunityMember]

While I'm rather surprised that Intel dropped the ball on Alder Lake Linux support

New architectures often have growing pains, and it would appear that the newer Linux cluster aware scheduler threw in some additional issues to deal with. While "we" have gotten used to Intel being ahead of the hardware release dates for kernel updates, my observation is that is often initially hardware enablement, and not necessarily optimization. And I would expect that Intel's priority would be enabling Sapphire Rapids (and even an org that invests heavily in Linux engineering may have to prioritize certain work).

Hopefully at least some of these issues will get addressed soon enough.

[bug77]

Alder Lake will obviously sell, like all Intels do, i just don't think it is a good value for money right now for most people. Yes being forced to use DDR4 on it is making it look bad, because the slower memory will cut from its potential IPC gains plus its igpu performance.

Except countless benchmarks show you're not really losing anything. You yourself said this could potentially be an issue a few years down the road.
Here's a link: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/i...vs-ddr5/2.html
7% on average, with most of the difference coming from Cinebench, AI or physics simulations. Stuff I'm sure you're running into every day.
The only thing that you're going to see a difference in, realistically speaking, is compression.
Basically, a good DDR4-3200 kit ties a DDR5-6000 kit. How much faster do you expect DDR5 will get during Alder Lake's lifetime? (Hint: motherboards that you buy today stop at about DDR5-6600)

And not good value for the money when everything is expensive and you can build a new system while keeping your RAM? I want some of what you're smoking.

[hiryu]

New architectures often have growing pains...

Now that I've had some caffeine, I've had a moment of clarity... Even Windows 10 is feeling this pain right now. So of course Linux will be impacted.

[bug77]

Now that I've had some caffeine, I've had a moment of clarity... Even Windows 10 is feeling this pain right now. So of course Linux will be impacted.

Yeah, I plan on disabling the E cores till everything is sorted out. Coming from 4 cores, I don't think I'll feel any pain in the meantime.
I also plan on not letting it turbo to the max all the time, but that's another story.

[hiryu]

Yeah, I plan on disabling the E cores till everything is sorted out. Coming from 4 cores, I don't think I'll feel any pain in the meantime.
I also plan on not letting it turbo to the max all the time, but that's another story.

You already have an Alder Lake? If so, which motherboard/CPU? DDR4/DDR5?

Any other early adopter issues other than the scheduling stuff?

[bug77]

You already have an Alder Lake? If so, which motherboard/CPU? DDR4/DDR5?

Any other early adopter issues other than the scheduling stuff?

I don't have the motherboard yet. I'm a little picky, I can't find what I need over here. From what I read, it's solid, save for the iffy scheduler. If you want, I can make a note and PM when I fire it up. Might be more than a month though.

[TemplarGR]

Except countless benchmarks show you're not really losing anything. You yourself said this could potentially be an issue a few years down the road.
Here's a link: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/i...vs-ddr5/2.html
7% on average, with most of the difference coming from Cinebench, AI or physics simulations. Stuff I'm sure you're running into every day.
The only thing that you're going to see a difference in, realistically speaking, is compression.
Basically, a good DDR4-3200 kit ties a DDR5-6000 kit. How much faster do you expect DDR5 will get during Alder Lake's lifetime? (Hint: motherboards that you buy today stop at about DDR5-6600)

And not good value for the money when everything is expensive and you can build a new system while keeping your RAM? I want some of what you're smoking.

Dude, are you serious? 7% is about the improvement you get from a new generation of cpu these days. You think 7% is nothing? People replace their cpus for 7% more performance, which is more costly than just more expensive RAM.... I am amazed that people often write things like these without context. 7% is nothing to scoff at. And we are talking about people who are willing to buy a brand new expensive cpu model, i am sure there are no mainstream cpu models from the Alder Lake lineup up right now....

I am sorry, but what i said still applies. People who are willing to pay hundreds upon hundreds of euros/dollars for a cpu, won't scoff at 7% performance improvement on average from more expensive RAM. And while you may think this difference is only found in benchmarks and such, never forget that reviewers don't benchmark everything, present and future. Synthetics are being done for a reason: They can show the full potential of a cpu without having to search every single project in existence to test.

[hiryu]

I don't have the motherboard yet. I'm a little picky, I can't find what I need over here. From what I read, it's solid, save for the iffy scheduler. If you want, I can make a note and PM when I fire it up. Might be more than a month though.

I'll take you up on that offer... But might be worth just starting a thread so others can hear about your experiences (assuming Michael doesn't have this all covered by then).

[Teggs]

People who are willing to pay hundreds upon hundreds of euros/dollars for a cpu, won't scoff at 7% performance improvement on average from more expensive RAM.

It's a good thing they won't scoff at it, since they pay not only for expensive RAM, but also more expensive motherboards, power supplies, cooling, and ongoing electrical costs. It would be a tragedy if they were unsatisfied after spending all that money.

[Eumaios]

I remember thinking like that 6 years ago when i bought a DDR3 system, just when DDR4 had come out. I said "it won't make much of a difference why pay the premium". Then a few months later Fallout 4 came out, one of my favorite games and one i have played extensively. A peculiar thing happened with that game, benchmarks showed that its FPS increased almost linearly with memory bandwidth.

Yes to this and other similar comments. If your current hardware limits you, and new hardware would lift that limitation, then upgrading makes sense. But upgrade fever, just to have something shiny and new . . .