Patch Released To Fix Performance Bug In Alder Lake Processor On Linux

Due to their architecture, the new Intel Alder Lake processors have to struggle with performance drops under Linux. A bug related to Turbo Boost Max technology was only recently discovered. A patch that fixes the bug has now been released.

According to a report by Neowin, Linus Torvalds recently integrated important patches into the Linux kernel. A bug fix relates to a problem that prevents the full performance of an Alder Lake CPU from being used in overclocked mode. The bug is reminiscent of a similar bug that occurred weeks ago in connection with Windows 11 and Ryzen chips. The cause was a problem with the CPPC2 technology.

Overclocking Creates Problem

Alder Lake processors have a hybrid architecture that consists of efficiency and performance cores. Until now, Linux could not distinguish between the two types when the system was overclocked. This means that both the E and P cores are assigned the same performance value.

This created a conflict with Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology (ITMT). Technology is responsible for distributing prioritized tasks to the fastest cores. Since all Alder Lake cores are assigned the same performance value, Turbo Boost Max does not work in overclocked systems. The new patch eliminates the problem with the help of hardware-controlled P-States (HWP).

The bug that has been fixed is not the only problem with the Alder Lake chips on Linux. A feature of the cluster scheduler is supposed to ensure that the performance of Linux 5.16 is worse than that of previous Linux cores. The bug could not be fixed until now.