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[Bug 862785] [NEW] Default sampling_down_factor setting for ondemand governor cripples Intel turbo boost

 

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Description:	Ubuntu oneiric (development branch)
Release:	11.10


By default, or at least what is default on my machine the ondemand governor has the sampling_down_factor set to 1. In testing this seems to show that the turbo boost on my Intel CPU never gets a chance to boost up properly.

It seems by the time you set it to about 10, turbo can work as expected,
with only a minor increase in speed above that. This problem only seems
to appear, or becomes more apparent once the CPU has had its turbo
overclocked a few multipliers above stock.

Looking at the current scaling frequency you can see with a
sampling_down_factor setting of 1 that it keeps jumping between 1600Mhz
and the max freq, with higher settings it is static.

eg:-

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/ondemand/sampling_down_factor
1

Start of PI calculation up to 1048576 decimal digits
 End of initialization. Time=       0.168 Sec.
 I= 1 L=       0        Time=       0.492 Sec.
 I= 2 L=       0        Time=       0.568 Sec.
 I= 3 L=       1        Time=       0.552 Sec.
 I= 4 L=       2        Time=       0.568 Sec.
 I= 5 L=       5        Time=       0.560 Sec.
 I= 6 L=      10        Time=       0.560 Sec.
 I= 7 L=      21        Time=       0.560 Sec.
 I= 8 L=      43        Time=       0.560 Sec.
 I= 9 L=      87        Time=       0.568 Sec.
 I=10 L=     174        Time=       0.556 Sec.
 I=11 L=     349        Time=       0.568 Sec.
 I=12 L=     698        Time=       0.556 Sec.
 I=13 L=    1396        Time=       0.556 Sec.
 I=14 L=    2794        Time=       0.564 Sec.
 I=15 L=    5588        Time=       0.556 Sec.
 I=16 L=   11176        Time=       0.556 Sec.
 I=17 L=   22353        Time=       0.540 Sec.
 I=18 L=   44707        Time=       0.524 Sec.
 I=19 L=   89415        Time=       0.488 Sec.
 End of main loop
 End of calculation.    Time=      11.041 Sec.
 End of data output.    Time=       0.068 Sec.
 Total calculation(I/O) time=      11.109(       0.356) Sec.

echo 10 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/ondemand/sampling_down_factor

 ------ Started super_pi run : Thu Sep 29 22:04:10 BST 2011
 Start of PI calculation up to 1048576 decimal digits
 End of initialization. Time=       0.124 Sec.
 I= 1 L=       0        Time=       0.356 Sec.
 I= 2 L=       0        Time=       0.404 Sec.
 I= 3 L=       1        Time=       0.396 Sec.
 I= 4 L=       2        Time=       0.404 Sec.
 I= 5 L=       5        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I= 6 L=      10        Time=       0.396 Sec.
 I= 7 L=      21        Time=       0.404 Sec.
 I= 8 L=      43        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I= 9 L=      87        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I=10 L=     174        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I=11 L=     349        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I=12 L=     698        Time=       0.396 Sec.
 I=13 L=    1396        Time=       0.404 Sec.
 I=14 L=    2794        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I=15 L=    5588        Time=       0.392 Sec.
 I=16 L=   11176        Time=       0.400 Sec.
 I=17 L=   22353        Time=       0.388 Sec.
 I=18 L=   44707        Time=       0.372 Sec.
 I=19 L=   89415        Time=       0.340 Sec.
 End of main loop
 End of calculation.    Time=       7.884 Sec.
 End of data output.    Time=       0.052 Sec.
 Total calculation(I/O) time=       7.936(       0.284) Sec.


echo 100 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/ondemand/sampling_down_factor

Start of PI calculation up to 1048576 decimal digits
 End of initialization. Time=       0.120 Sec.
 I= 1 L=       0        Time=       0.336 Sec.
 I= 2 L=       0        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I= 3 L=       1        Time=       0.392 Sec.
 I= 4 L=       2        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I= 5 L=       5        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I= 6 L=      10        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I= 7 L=      21        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I= 8 L=      43        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I= 9 L=      87        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I=10 L=     174        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I=11 L=     349        Time=       0.388 Sec.
 I=12 L=     698        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I=13 L=    1396        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I=14 L=    2794        Time=       0.384 Sec.
 I=15 L=    5588        Time=       0.376 Sec.
 I=16 L=   11176        Time=       0.380 Sec.
 I=17 L=   22353        Time=       0.364 Sec.
 I=18 L=   44707        Time=       0.356 Sec.
 I=19 L=   89415        Time=       0.336 Sec.
 End of main loop
 End of calculation.    Time=       7.540 Sec.
 End of data output.    Time=       0.044 Sec.
 Total calculation(I/O) time=       7.584(       0.276) Sec.

** Affects: linux (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: Confirmed

-- 
Default sampling_down_factor setting for ondemand governor cripples Intel turbo boost
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/862785
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