Linux 2.6.30 Kernel Benchmarks

Starting with the 7-Zip compression test profile, the performance actually has degraded since the Linux 2.6.28 kernel. Between the Linux 2.6.28 and 2.6.29 kernels the MIPS count dropped by 15% and between the Linux 2.6.29 and 2.6.30-rc7 kernels it dropped an additional 5%.

The LAME MP3 encoding performance was maintained across the three tested kernels.

The GnuPG file encryption performance has improved with the newer kernels. The Linux 2.6.29 kernel was about 20% faster at encrypting a 2GB sample file on the EXT3 file-system, while in the Linux 2.6.30 this regressed slightly but is still well ahead of where it was with Linux 2.6.28.