Intel’s Clear Linux distribution is known for its aggressive software optimizations targeted at high-core-count Xeon processors with AVX-512 capabilities. Phoronix articles have highlighted the performance benefits of Clear Linux over other Linux distributions due to its optimized software built for advanced x86_64 microarchitecture features. With the release of the Intel Xeon 6700E “Sierra Forest” processors, the performance differences between Clear Linux and Ubuntu Linux were put to the test.
Clear Linux is designed to leverage AVX-512 and other modern ISA CPU features, without it being mandatory. The platform supports a wide range of Intel processors, including the Xeon E-series servers. SSE 4.2, SSSE3, and PCLMUL are among the basic requirements for Clear Linux. The performance benefits of using Clear Linux on the E-core based Intel Xeon 6700E Sierra Forest platforms were compared to those of Ubuntu Linux and Arch Linux, another popular rolling release distribution.
Benchmark tests were conducted on the Intel Xeon 6700E reference platform using Clear Linux 41900 as Intel’s latest internal distribution, Arch Linux, and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Ubuntu benchmarks were also repeated with the P-State “performance” governor to match Clear Linux’s default settings. The results showed that Clear Linux’s optimizations significantly improved performance, even on the E-core-only Sierra Forest processors.
Various workloads were run to assess the CPU power consumption of the Xeon 6780E Sierra Forest processors during testing. The results demonstrated the benefits of Intel’s Linux software optimizations for optimizing performance, even on specialized server processors.
In summary, the benchmarks conducted on Clear Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Arch Linux on the Intel Xeon 6700E Sierra Forest platforms highlighted the performance advantages of Clear Linux’s aggressive software optimizations. These optimizations, tailored for high-core-count processors with advanced CPU features, showcased Clear Linux’s ability to improve overall performance and efficiency compared to other Linux distributions. The results underscore the importance of leveraging optimized software to unlock the full potential of modern hardware in server environments.
Article Source
https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-xeon-6e-clear-linux
