Arch Linux

EmbraceThePenguin

Member

From: New Mexico, USA

Registered: 2004-08-09

Posts: 197

Config CPU settings

I was wondering if when I make my own kernel (Actually use the same .config from the arch one) and change the CPU settings to reflect my CPU arch, like K8, if I get much benefit that the regualr Pentium Pro settings.

I have not really benchmarked it as it takes time to compile each kernel. I was just wondering if others have tested this and whether you use a different CPU setting.

Thanks!!!

Joe

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Config CPU settings

You probably wouldn't be able to notice much difference without some sort of benchmarking app. For most stuff, optimization is not much benefit. That said, I optimized by custom kernel for Athlon-XP just because I was building with a custom .config and had to recompile anyway.

paranoos

Member

From: thornhill.on.ca

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 442

Re: Config CPU settings

my own testing seems to show that your kernel and apps should be compiled for the same architecture to get the most benefit, although i haven't been too thorough.

my test was to compile mplayer for i686 vs K7, and i686 won slightly, the only decent explanation being that the kernel was compiled i686.

i was playing a very high resolution movie where the audio and video would go out of sync because the cpu i had at the time wasn't powerful enough to render it realtime. the audio was a few seconds less out of sync with i686.

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Config CPU settings

That could have been caused by some screwy optimization code. Did you enable 3DNOW, MMX, SSE and that sort of stuff? That's the real meat of optimizing a media app for a specific processor.