AMD EPYC Turin Power Profile Selection Impact On Performance & Efficiency
When it comes to compiling the Linux kernel in a default x86_64 build, the results were basically split right down the middle. The default high performance mode, maximum I/O performance, and balanced memory performance all delivered similar build speeds. The balanced core memory performance, balanced core performance, and efficiency mode were meanwhile all grouped together and much slower than the other Power Profile configurations.
On a performance-per-Watt basis the different configurations leveled out more but at least for a Linux kernel build test the default behavior was tied with others for offering optimal efficiency on this Supermicro EPYC server.
When it came to compiling the LLVM compiler stack with the Ninja build system, the efficiency mode was yielding the slowest build speed but having a narrow lead in delivering the best power efficiency of the tested options.
It was a similar situation with the Node.js compilation with the efficiency mode indeed yielding the best efficiency for each build.
With some simple testing of the Nginx HTTPS web server, the Maximum I/O Performance power profile yielded slightly better performance than the default High Performance Mode. The Efficiency Mode had a small lead in delivering the best performance-per-Watt.