Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva Performance Compared

[mrguitarmann]

Sorry, I spotted the deb and expected some kind of binary blob - I just wondered if it was a script in the deb or if it was using 32bit emulation in any way... Which you have already answered

[Michael]

Any chance of a test suite for AMD64?

What do you mean by that? The Phoronix Test Suite is AMD64-compliant.

[mrguitarmann]

64bit?

Any chance of a test suite for AMD64?

[marco71]

Can you please do a comparison between Vector Linux (i686 optimized) and some i386 and i586 optimized distribution? There are many posts on the internet that discuss how i686 users experience faster response time from their distributions, but then there are others on those same threads that say that this cannot be true. Can you please put this to the test for us?

Thanks!
Vector Linux SOHO user

I would compare VL with Slackware, Slax and Zenwalk, then I would compare Slackware with Yoper and other 686-optimized, then Slackware with Debian Etch and at the end I would compare Debian Etch with Debian Lenny, Mepis and Sidux

I'm thinking at running PTS on my notebook, in order to compare some amd64 distros (opensuse 10.3, sidux64 and slamd64)

[Luis]

I am very sure that the hardware supports barriers. When I run the exact same distro on older hardware, when the hardware does not support barriers dmesg puts out a line something like "barriers not supported, disabling barriers".

Ok, thanks for clarifying. I was unsure if barriers would work on a raid0 setup.

[deanjo]

Are you certain that barriers are supported in that setup? I'm inclined to think they aren't. You should check your dmesg for any messages about it.

Besides, there is nothing to compare against, so it's hard to say how much barriers are hurting performance.

I am very sure that the hardware supports barriers. When I run the exact same distro on older hardware, when the hardware does not support barriers dmesg puts out a line something like "barriers not supported, disabling barriers".

[shahgols]

Can you please do a comparison between Vector Linux (i686 optimized) and some i386 and i586 optimized distribution? There are many posts on the internet that discuss how i686 users experience faster response time from their distributions, but then there are others on those same threads that say that this cannot be true. Can you please put this to the test for us?

Thanks!
Vector Linux SOHO user

[yoshi314]

In many of these tests, the results were very similar while in others there was a much greater delta. As to which distribution is the fastest, from all of these tests and their varying results, it really depends what areas of the Linux desktop are important to you.

i thought the desktop was about low latency, and responsiveness.

this article makes no sense. some tests are done only on 2 distros, and in the end there is no definite answer.

there should be more information on kernel used in each distribution, and distinct patches it used. also what services were running at the time of benchmark, etc.

[apaige]

The sqlite benchmark with barrier enabled by default on my XFS partitions took an insane amount of time on my old SATA drive, like 400+ seconds. When I re-mounted the partition with nobarrier, it went down to… 2.7 seconds.

As for compilers: GCC 4.3.x produces much faster binaries on modern CPUs in certain (not all) cases. It's a pity the recently released Ubuntu still uses GCC 4.2.x, although it's understandable (GCC 4.3.x is brand new and that ubuntu release boasts a two-year support IIRC).

[Luis]

That's a pretty old post. Here are a couple of benchmarks with barrier enabled. Top one is a couple of old Maxtor 6L250S0 250 Gig drives with barriers enabled, the one below are Seagate 7200.11 500 Gig drives. Both are running Raid 0 on a dmraid setup.

http://global.phoronix-test-suite.co...97-27642-20171

Are you certain that barriers are supported in that setup? I'm inclined to think they aren't. You should check your dmesg for any messages about it.

Besides, there is nothing to compare against, so it's hard to say how much barriers are hurting performance.