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After 15 years of using Intel processors for his powerful Linux computers, Linus Torvalds switched to an AMD Threadripper 3970x-based frankenbox to build the world’s largest operating system, Linux. Now, months later, Torvalds is happy with the decision and writes that he is “very happy with AMD these days.”
That’s because Torvalds explained in a Real World Technologies discussion board that you get more for your money with AMD processors. But what about Intel’s high-end Xeon processors? Torvalds said bluntly, “I used to look at Xeon processors, and I could never really make the math work. The Intel calculation was basically you get twice the processor for five times the price. So for my personal workstations, I ended up using consumer Intel processors. “
As for AMD, on the other hand, “the price of AMD Threadripper is much closer to ‘twice the price for twice the processor’. Yes, you end up paying more for the equipment (MB and cooling), but that’s about the same too. So yes, it ends up being more expensive, but if CPU power is what you want and need, the expense is pretty much high in line with what you get. “
Of course, AMD has its own line of server processors, the Epyc family of processors and, as Torvalds admitted, “You pay more for this privilege, but at least AMD isn’t trying to screw you up and limit their. non-server parts. So you also get ECC for Threadripper (and Ryzen), although it’s not necessarily “officially verified”. “
ECC? It means error correction code memory. ECC memory chips can detect when a memory error occurs. It has long been assumed that memory errors are extremely rare. Torvalds, who knows a thing or two about memory, strongly disagrees.
Torvalds growled, “Modern ‘DRAM is so reliable it doesn’t need ECC’ has always been a bedtime story for kids that has been knocked over their heads a few too many times.”
“We have decades of random kernel exceptions that could never be explained,” Torvalds added. These “were probably due to bad memory. And if that caused a kernel oops, I can guarantee that there are several orders of magnitude more cases where it just caused a bit-flip that didn’t. never ended up being so critical. “
Today, ECC memory is hard to find and expensive when you find it. Torvalds blames Intel squarely for this sad state of affairs. “Intel has been damaging the entire industry and users with their wrong and wrong policies. [with regards to] ECC. Seriously.”
Torvalds adds that it’s not just his thinking. “And, if you don’t believe me, then just look at several generations of Rowhammer [A memory security attack], where every time Intel and the memory makers bleat about how this was going to be fixed next time around. Narrator: “No, it wasn’t.
The root cause, according to Torvalds, was entirely related to Intel’s “misguided and ardent policy of ‘consumers don’t need ECC’, which caused the ECC memory market to disappear.”
The memory makers also come for their fair share of blame. “Memory makers claim it’s because of economy and reduced power. And they’re bastards – let me once again point out how these problems have been around for several generations already, but these f * ckers luckily sold broken hardware to consumers and claimed it was an ‘attack’, when it was always ‘we’re cutting corners’. “Yet Torvalds puts the lion’s share of the blame on” Intel was pushing shit to consumers. “
This is not a new problem. Torvalds reminds us that “You can find me complaining about this for decades now. I don’t mean ‘I was right.’ I want this fixed, and I want ECC.” AMD, which takes unofficially supports ECC memory, “did it. Intel didn’t.”
Returning to processors after memory issues, Torvalds wrote, “I am personally very happy with AMD these days. I used to absolutely despise their horrible bulldozer hearts, but I think they had a home run with their Ryzen series and chip. Not just because they fixed their cores, but because their chips have made it so much easier to do the scaling that they do and are almost offering this “twice the cores for twice the price” model. . “
Would Torvalds consider reverting to Intel chip workstations? It wouldn’t just be no, but no. Torvalds concluded: “Intel with their HEDT and Xeon chips that required different boutique silicon (and therefore the overpriced) is dead for me unless they seriously fix their shit. I complained about their ECC policies here on this forum for about two decades now. Good riddance – because once Intel stopped offering the best bang, there was absolutely no benefit in sticking with them. “
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