"CC_OPTIMIZE_FOR_PERFORMANCE_O3" Performance Tunable Dropped In Linux 6.0

[PerformanceExpert]

I see a lot of speculation and zero test results. Sorry, I'm a simple person and that doesn't work with me

Indeed, it's total speculation that -O3 is worse than -O2. Extraordinary claims that go against decades of experience require extraordinary evidence...

[coder]

1. There's no need to add this ugly fucking picture.

Did it hit too close to home? Maybe a relative of yours, or it shows you in an unflattering light?

2. You're free to compile the kernel with -O999 if you want.
3. You're free to create your own distro where you compile everything with -O999.

And you're free to completely miss my point, which is that the lore around -O3 being risky is dated and misinformed. And it's really this misinformation I'm trying to combat, rather than advocating for this config option to stick around.

GCC developers themselves have said on multiple occasions that -O3 enables experimental optimization options which may or may not improve performance but surely will add bloat.

They don't put things in it which never improve performance. There are some performance options that aren't added to -O3.

This topic is not worth the electrons wasted on it.

You're free not to contribute yours.

/Thread.

Alright, then I expect this will be your last post in it.

[coder]

CochainComplex

-O3 creates such bloated code it may thrash low-end CPUs with small L1/L2 caches and result in a much lower performance than -O2.

Citation needed.

[coder]

Haswell was introduced roughly 10 years ago and besides it resembles the roughly the compilerflag x86_v2.

Haswell is the minimum needed for v3. The v2 CPUs were Westmere-era, introduced around 2009.

BTW, the whole tangent about Clear Linux is a waste of time. Its only relevance to the discussion is in showing that -O3 works and doesn't compromise stability.

[birdie]

I see there's a cult of -O3 here: you, guys, are welcome to use Clear Linux, Gentoo, FreeBSD or create an Ubuntu SUPER DUPER FAST SPIN compiled with -O3 -march=zen3 -flto -pgo since I presume most people here are rabid AMD fans.

Oh and make sure you've not missed other experimental GCC flags. Every optimization matters, why stop at -O3?

[marios]

The -O2 religion vs the -O3 cult! Or is it vice versa?

Disclaimer: I have only ever used KCFLAGS=" ...-O3"

$ time KCFLAGS="-march=native -msse2avx -pipe -O3" KCPPFLAGS="-march=native -msse2avx -pipe -O3" make -j$(( $(nproc) + 2 )) deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-danglingpointer-zen3-optimised

Neither, it is the -O2 metaphysics vs the -O3 dialectic...

[CochainComplex]

I see there's a cult of -O3 here: you, guys, are welcome to use Clear Linux, Gentoo, FreeBSD or create an Ubuntu SUPER DUPER FAST SPIN compiled with -O3 -march=zen3 -flto -pgo since I presume most people here are rabid AMD fans.

Oh and make sure you've not missed other experimental GCC flags. Every optimization matters, why stop at -O3?

have a look at the Clear Linux repo - Ofast is the next "big" thing

e.g. your beloved Wayland

https://github.com/clearlinux-pkgs/wayland/blob/main/wayland.spec

p.s.:...nitpicking but PGO does not work by just adding the "-pgo"-Flag

[binarybanana]

Regarding your quoted results: is the first set reporting the time to complete a fixed workload and the second set reporting the speed achieved? In other words, "lower is better", in the first test, but "higher is better" in the second?

Yes. One test measures throughput, the other measures time to finish.
BTW, I'm currently still running the Ofast kernel I tested last because I was too lazy to recompile and reboot again. So far no issues. Not that I would recommend it or anything, but no nasal demons have come out of my nose yet.

[dekernel]

Reminds me of the conservative racecar engineer telling that speed above 150km/h in corner xyz is not save because...techyadayada. But after 10 rounds petrolhead "no brainer" testdriver jumps out of the car shouting: did you see? I beat the 160km/h mark in the corner?! wuhhuu that was fing awesome.
I guess we have the same here too.

As someone who actually has been on the race track, I find your comment humorsome because I saw countless people trying to win the race by being the fastest in every turn, and can you guess who typically was in the weeds when the checker flag was waving? When it comes to your OS kernel, I am a big fan of safety first, but if you want to try and be the fastest all the time, by all means go for it. Just don't try to drag all of us into your world.

[dekernel]

I don't care about the kernel config option, really. Just this notion that -O3 is risky or not worthwhile.

For a certain version of compiler, yes. For certain types of deliverables, no.

Cool, so maybe use -O0. If you prize stability above all else, then you really have no ground to stand on, here.

And now you are just being an ass so I am moving on.

Eh, it seems to me the kernel developers don't necessarily know a lot more about -O3 than you do, because the topic seems taboo. If no one goes there, it will forever stay shrouded in mystery.

Ah so we have yet another arm-chair warrior here who knows more than the kernel devs themselves. Look, they have far more to take into consideration than just a single release point including supporting multiple platforms and compilers so why don't you just worry about your world and let them worry about their world. They have done a really good job so I will take their suggestions over yours if you don't mind.