Processors Linux Reviews & Articles

There have been 423 Linux hardware reviews and benchmark articles on Phoronix for processors. Separately, check out our news section for related product news.

One step below AMD's current top-end EPYC 7601 server processor is the EPYC 7551. The EPYC 7551 costs around $800 USD less than the 7601 while still being a 32 core / 64 thread part but with slightly lower clock frequencies. In this article is a look at the EPYC 7251 / 7351P / 7401P / 7551 / 7601 Ubuntu Linux performance compared to various Intel Xeon CPUs in our lab.

We've been looking at the interesting AMD EPYC server processors recently from the high-end EPYC 7601 to the cheapest EPYC 7251 at under $500 as well as the EPYC 7351P that offers 16 cores / 32 threads for only about $750. The latest EPYC processor for testing at Phoronix has been the EPYC 7401P, a 24 core / 48 thread part that is slated to retail for around $1075 USD.

Earlier this week we looked at the EPYC 7251 Linux performance as AMD's lowest-cost server CPU from this latest generation of Zen-based processors. That eight core / sixteen thread CPU packed a nice amount of performance considering its hitting the $500 price point, but if you are looking for a single socket system and have $750 USD to lay out on a CPU, the AMD EPYC 7351P packs in even more value.

We have been delivering a number of EPYC 7601 Linux benchmarks since receiving this 32 core / 64 thread high-end server processor a little more than one month ago. Recently we received some additional EPYC processors from AMD for testing and for this next batch of benchmarking decided to begin with the EPYC 7251, which is the current lowest-end EPYC part. For priced at under $500 USD, this eight core / 16 thread processor has a lot to offer.

The new Intel Core i3 8100 processor is a quad-core CPU running at 3.6GHz, offers integrated UHD Graphics 630, 6MB L3 cache, and has a 65 Watt TDP. This Intel quad-core CPU will cost you less than $120 USD. As about to be shown in these Ubuntu Linux benchmark results, this lowest-end Coffeelake CPU right now has a lot to offer. Here is a 30-way Intel/AMD Ubuntu benchmark comparison featuring the i3 8100, i5 8400, i7 8700K, and many other CPUs going back to the Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer days.

2017 has been an interesting year for processors with AMD's long awaited introduction of the Zen-based Ryzen / Threadripper / EPYC processors, Intel's Core X-Series processors for high-end desktops, the Xeon Scalable processor family introduction, and now the launch of Coffee Lake as a "Kaby Lake Refresh" step before the Cannonlake desktop processors expected in 2018. While another 14nm CPU, Coffee Lake is interesting is that Intel has now upped their desktop core counts in response to Ryzen. With the Core i7 series is now six cores plus Hyper Threading, compared to 4 cores plus HT with previous i7 models. The Core i5 CPUs are also now six core but sans Hyper Threading and there is also the just-published Core i5 8400 Linux benchmarks. This article serves as our first look at the Coffee Lake Core i7 CPUs in the form of the 8700K.

Today marks the embargo expiry for reviews on Intel's new Coffeelake desktop processors. While a CPU refresh may not normally be too exciting, thanks to the pressure from AMD with their Ryzen processors pushing core counts higher, Intel is now upping the core counts in their desktop CPUs. Today we will be featuring Linux benchmarks of the Core i5 8400 and Core i7 8700K while this article is focusing on the i5-8400: a six-core Core i5!

Besides the embargo expiring this morning on the Intel Core i9 7960X, the Core i9 7980XE Extreme Edition processor is also now fair game. Here is our look at the Linux performance for this 18 core / 36 thread processor within a single 165 Watt package.

While Intel previously announced the expanded Intel Core X-Series line-up including the Core i9 7960X and Core i9 7980XE processors, only today is the performance embargo expiring as these CPUs begin to ship to further battle AMD's Ryzen Threadripper line-up. Here is today's launch-day Linux benchmarks of the Core i9 7960X.

By now you have likely seen our initial AMD EPYC 7601 Linux benchmarks. If you haven't, check them out, EPYC does really deliver on being competitive with current Intel hardware in the highly threaded space. If you have been curious to see some power numbers on EPYC, here they are from the Tyan Transport SX TN70A-B8026 2U server. Making things more interesting are some comparison benchmarks showing how the AMD EPYC performance compares to AMD Opteron processors from about ten years ago.

Last week we received the AMD EPYC 7601 32 core / 64 thread processor for testing at Phoronix with the Tyan Transport SX TN70A-B8026 2U server. Since then I've had the pleasure of putting this Zen server processor through its paces. I am still early in the testing process with many more interesting benchmarks to come, but today are some initial numbers of the AMD EPYC 7601 compared to various Intel Xeon CPUs while running Ubuntu Linux.

Last week I was able to finally get my hands on a Threadripper 1950X system thanks to AMD for being able to deliver some Linux tests from this high-end desktop platform. The Threadripper 1950X as a reminder is a 16-core processor with 32 threads via SMT, 3.4GHz base frequency, 4.0GHz boost frequency, quad-channel DDR4 support, and support for 64 PCI-E lanes. Threadripper sits between the Ryzen 7 desktop processors and the AMD EPYC server/workstation processors, which are still soon to be tested at Phoronix. The Ryzen Threadripper 1950X will set you back $999 USD, but compared to the Core i9 7900X at the same price, has six more cores / 12 threads and a slightly higher base clock frequency of 3.4GHz vs. 3.3GHz but a lower boost frequency of 4.0GHz vs. 4.3GHz.

Yesterday along with the completely Linux-trouble-free Ryzen 7 (it indeed went overnight without any issues coming up via the kill-ryzen script), I finally got my hands on the AMD Threadripper. In particular, the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X that features sixteen physical cores yielding 32 threads via SMT, 3.4GHz base frequency, 4.0GHz boost clock frequency, and quad-channel DDR4 support. This Threadripper 1950X is a beast but will set you back $999 USD and has a 180 Watt TDP. I'll have my much more thorough AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X Linux review next week including many more benchmarks, performance-per-dollar, and system power use / performance-per-Watt metrics, but here are some very early results for those anxious to see this HEDT PC on Linux.

As a quick update to the AMD Linux "Performance Marginality Problem" affecting some early Ryzen processors under heavy load, today I received a new Ryzen 7 processor and indeed it's been running strong now for the past few hours under demanding load and has yet to hit the compiler segumentation fault bug.

Noticing I had an AMD Athlon II X3 425 system still racked up and hadn't been powered on in a long time, I decided to decomission it, but not before running some final benchmarks on that system. Having the recent AMD Ryzen 3 1200 / 1300X CPUs I decided it would make for an interesting comparison how the old Athlon II X3 compares to AMD's low-end CPU of today, the Ryzen 3 processors based on Zen. Here are those benchmarks that also include performance-per-Watt and overall AC system power consumption numbers.

While the June launch of Intel's X-Series processors took the attention with the top-end Core i9 7900X Skylake-X and Core i7 7740X Kabylake-X processors, coming in several hundred dollars less than the i9-7900X is the i7-7820X, which still packs a very hard punch. We have now received a Core i7 7820X for Linux testing at Phoronix and are beginning with a round of benchmarks on Ubuntu.

In direct continuation of yesterday's article about easily causing segmentation faults on AMD Zen CPUs, I have carried out another battery of tests for 24 hours and have more information to report today on the ability to trivially cause segmentation faults and in some cases system lock-ups with Ryzen CPUs.

At the end of July AMD began shipping the Ryzen 3 entry-level Zen processors. While it may not be as exciting as a 16-thread Ryzen 7 or Threadripper, the Ryzen 3 1200 and Ryzen 3 1300X offer surprising value with being quad-core parts priced at just above $100 USD. With Linux users especially craving multi-core systems if running Arch or other distributions where you are frequently compiling your own packages, the Ryzen 3 CPUs can make for a low-cost but practical Linux system. Here are my initial benchmarks of these first two Ryzen 3 processors.

If you are looking to get an AMD Zen CPU on a budget, the cheapest Ryzen 5 CPU in the current line-up is the 1400 model, which for $160 USD will get you a quad-core processor plus Hyper Threading and clocks up to 3.4GHz. Here are some benchmarks of the AMD Ryzen 5 1400 on Ubuntu 17.04 compared to various other Intel and AMD CPUs over the years.

Following my initial Intel Core i9 7900X Linux benchmarks this week were questions raised about its power use and thermal efficiency. Here are some tests looking at those factors, including the performance-per-Watt.

Since the Intel Core-X Series were announced last month at Computex, I've been excited to see how well this high-end processor will perform under Linux... Linux enthusiasts have plenty of highly-threaded workloads such as compiling the Linux kernel, among other packages, and thus have been very excited by the potential of the Core i9 7900X with its ten cores plus Hyper Threading and sporting a 13.75MB cache. With finally having an X299 motherboard ready, here are my initial Ubuntu Linux benchmarks for the i9-7900X.

Now with the motherboards having arrived, we can move on to our Intel Core-X Linux benchmarking. Here is an initial look at the Intel Core i7 7740X Kabylake-X processor.

While waiting for my motherboards to arrive for the new Core i7 7740X and Core i9 7900X, I've been re-testing many of my AMD/Intel boxes with Ubuntu 17.04 on the latest Linux 4.12 kernel for comparison to Intel's new high-end processors. Here is a look at 12 of the existing systems when running on the Linux 4.12 kernel as well as all of the systems have the latest BIOSes, etc.

Given the recent BIOS improvements for Ryzen and the ever-advancing state of Linux and components like Mesa (although no recent Ryzen-specific work), here are some fresh tests of the current high-end Ryzen 7 1800X compared to an Intel Core i7 7700K on Ubuntu 17.04 with Linux 4.12 and Mesa 17.2-dev.

For putting the AMD Ryzen 7 Linux performance in additional perspective and showing how various Amazon EC2 cloud instances compare to bare metal hardware, here are fresh benchmarks of many different Amazon EC2 instance types compared to various Linux systems in our lab. This comes down to a 29-way comparison of different cloud instances and bare metal systems.

Last week we got to tell you all about the new NVIDIA Jetson TX2 with its custom-designed 64-bit Denver 2 CPUs, four Cortex-A57 cores, and Pascal graphics with 256 CUDA cores. Today the Jetson TX2 is shipping and the embargo has expired for sharing performance metrics on the JTX2.

Our latest Ryzen Linux benchmarks are looking at the impact of the CPUFreq scaling driver's governors have on the performance of the Ryzen 7 1800X, including a look at the power consumption and performance-per-Watt when changing the governors.

Many Phoronix readers appear rather intrigued by the AMD Ryzen 7 1700 on Linux as it offers good multi-threaded performance with eight cores / 16 threads and retails for just $329 USD. Making the Ryzen 7 1700 even more appealing to enthusiasts is that it overclocks well. For those curious, here are benchmarks of the Ryzen 7 1700 on Ubuntu Linux running at 4.0GHz.

Curious how Ryzen scales across its CPU cores and SMT? Here are some Ubuntu Linux benchmarks testing a Ryzen 7 1700 with different core/thread counts.

Yesterday we posted launch-day Ryzen 7 1800X Linux benchmarks that were particularly appealing for multi-core / heavily-threaded workloads like code compilation. Given all the code compilation done by Linux users in particular, if you were intrigued by the Ryzen 7 1800X performance but find the $499 USD price-tag to be too higher, today I have my initial benchmark figures on the Ryzen 7 1700. The Ryzen 7 1700 is still eight cores and sixteen threads but will only set you back $329 USD as the current low-end Ryzen processor for what's currently available.