Running Linux 5.8-rc1 Benchmarks On The Intel Core i9 10900K + Radeon RX 5700 XT

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 15 June 2020 at 01:42 PM EDT. 1 Comment
LINUX KERNEL
Since yesterday's big release of Linux 5.8-rc1 I have begun benchmarking this new kernel on various systems. Here are some tests on the first system that was being vetted, the Intel Core i9 10900K Comet Lake with Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics.

See our Linux 5.8 feature overview to learn about all of the changes for this next kernel version. When it comes to overall performance, at least with this i9-10900K system in most benchmarks there wasn't broad performance differences compared to Linux 5.7/5.6 stable series.
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Of course, tests on other systems are still ongoing, so stay tuned with this just being one of many tests:
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Of the tests carried out so far, seeing some improvement out of Linux 5.8 was Facebook's RocksDB database:
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Those were the areas tested where Linux 5.8 was performing better with RocksDB.
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Out of 176 system/CPU test cases for this kernel comparison, the outcome on this Core i9 10900K system was flat. All the data points via this OpenBenchmarking.org result file. But when looking at the AMDGPU graphics performance with the Radeon RX 5700 XT, the results were a bit more lively.
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Unfortunately, there did seem to be a few AMDGPU regressions hit on Linux 5.8-rc1 with the Navi RX 5700 XT.
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

In particular, for a number of the CPU-bound micro-benchmark cases, Linux 5.8-rc1 was showing noticeably lower performance than Linux 5.6 and 5.7. While only a few games were tested, at least there the Radeon RX 5700 XT showed no measurable difference.
Linux 5.8 Kernel Benchmarking

But with the micro-benchmarks it was enough to point the AMDGPU Linux 5.8-rc1 performance lower than the prior two stable series. Those graphics data points via this OpenBenchmarking.org result file. Will be running some further AMDGPU Linux 5.8 tests shortly as well as with more games for seeing if there are more performance drops to note. At least there still is about two months to go until Linux 5.8 stable so the possibility of seeing the regression addressed in time.
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About The Author
Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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