Microsoft Kernel Patch CPU Before and After Benchmarks Thread


Recommended Posts

  On 09/01/2018 at 05:36, adrynalyne said:

Maybe? This isn't my forte. As it was explained to me, it matters if it is x86 code instructions being called with sys calls. The GPU isn't x86 as far as I know.

Expand  

This certainly is not a problem how processor executes x86 code. It is a problem here how user mode app communicates with the OS kernel and how processor handles that matter. All requests for hardware (graphics, disk, memory access) must be passed to the OS which then executes them. Apps do not write directly to GPU . They use OS to handle these calls which then calls graphics driver (at the OS kernel level) which then writes data and commands to the GPU. Therefore I think there is a great chances that these fixes affect 2D graphics as well as other data intensive tasks.

 

Here is the security problem (as far as I understand): cpu allowed user mode app to gain access to OS kernel data, which it should never do. CPU does not handle OS and user mode isolation securely enough.

 

Intel (and others) have used a "shortcut" to speed up things and created a security flaw which is severe.

 

But I must say I was amazed that the effect of this fix was so huge at my Lenovo Thinkpad T440s laptop. Did not expect that much. Maybe Lenovo will provide fixes to the drivers which will help here.

  On 09/01/2018 at 09:25, Jampe said:

Here are my results. FIrst test was right before update. After update I ran tests 3 times since I could not believe my eyes. Results are consistent. PC is Lenovo thinkpad t440s model 20ARS04W00

PerfRes1.gif

Expand  

Disk and 2D Graphics really suffer. I hope neither Microsoft nor Intel will stop optimising their patches. As they are now, I won't be updating. In fact, I will try to find updated Windows 10 ISOs with December patches and archive them if I ever need to reinstall Windows.

On the Azure front we're seeing slowdowns on our legacy Azure VM's running SQL Server. We're having to scale up the VM's to cope with the slowdowns.

 

Obviously this is all being logged and the extra costs will be argued.

 

Not seeing the same impact on Azure SQL Servers, there is an impact but probably only 10% extra as opposed to the ~25% on the VM's.

 

To make matters worse, MS scheduled production VM's for updates then threw the date out the window and upgraded when they felt like it. We're talking multiple end clients productions systems going down for anywhere from 30 mins to 5 hours without warning. A cluster###### if ever there was one.

 

Read some of the comments on this Azure status. I won't say which is my real life account...

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/securing-azure-customers-from-cpu-vulnerability/

 

Don't forget that these patches are only part of the fix. According to the articles I've read, a BIOS update will also be required to fully patch the fix. I presume this is where a lot of the slowdowns will come from.

  On 09/01/2018 at 10:54, Daedroth said:

Don't forget that these patches are only part of the fix. According to the articles I've read, a BIOS update will also be required to fully patch the fix. I presume this is where a lot of the slowdowns will come from.

Expand  

the bulk of dell systems should get a bios fix today.

guys the following CERT advisory has links to lots of affected platforms and products, including timescales for fixes from vendors.

 

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA18-004A

 

we are currently assessing the entire global enterprise (20k endpoints, 8k+ servers) and we have reached out to NetApp, Cisco and other suppliers of enterprise kit.

 

Were using the tack, if it has a CPU, its potentially susceptible until we are told otherwise (called due diligence).

 

NetApp have confirmed their SAN arrays are  not affected. They dont permit execution of 3rd party code. Awaiting confirmation about Cisco kit.

 

*UPDATE** Cisco have responded. A mixed bad, some products immune but the bulk are affected.

 

https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180104-cpusidechannel

 

 

Asus have released the microcode fix/BIOS update for my S270 Strix H. 

 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z270H-GAMING/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

STRIX Z270H GAMING BIOS 1203
Improved DRAM compatibility.
Fixed SAMSUNG M.2 device issue.
Fixed SanDisk M.2 device issue.
Fixed AMD SSD device issue.
Fixed SteelSeries Keyboard issue.
Update CPU MicroCode.

 

Cinebench 4D BEFORE Win patch

CPU Benchmark = 966CB

OpenGL Bench = 140 FPS

AFTER

CPU Benchmark = 975CB ???

OpenGl Bench = 149.95 FPS ???

NVidia Driver update

CPU Benchmark = 962CB

OpenGL Bench =147.64FPS

Post Bios UPD

CPU Benchmark=942CB

OpenGL Bench=147.36

 

3D Mark timespy extreme BEFORE

3998

AFTER

3997 ????

NVidia Driver Update

3971

Post Bios UPD

3955

 

Novabench 

2713

After

2703

NVidia Driver update

2677

Post Bios UPD

2618

 

RealBench BEFORE

Image Editing 212,486/ Time 25.0745

Encoding 93,501/time 56.9829

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples per sec 20877

Heavy Multitasking 110,647

Time 68.9761

System Score 132,540

RealBench AFTER

Image Editing 208.830/Time 25.5135

Encoding 92,841/time 57.3881

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples/sec 20922

Heavy Multitasking 103,867/Time 73.4779

System Score 129,766

Post NVidia 

Image Editing 108,788/ Time 48.9757

Encoding 84,939/time 62.7273

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples per sec 20948

Heavy Multitasking 99,848

Time 76.4357

System Score 101,776 

Post Bios UPD

Image Editing 91,665/ Time 58.1242

Encoding 80,259/time 66.3843

OpenCL 112,996/ Ksamples per sec 20798

Heavy Multitasking 94,712

Time 80.5809

System Score 94,908

 

Hmm taking it with a pinch of salt, as i noticed post BIOS upd i left the OC as auto, so its at 4.37Ghz, not 4.5Ghz I benched with before...DOH

 

ill redo it tomorrow and update.

  On 09/01/2018 at 22:47, Mando said:

Asus have released the microcode fix/BIOS update for my S270 Strix H. 

 

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z270H-GAMING/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

STRIX Z270H GAMING BIOS 1203
Improved DRAM compatibility.
Fixed SAMSUNG M.2 device issue.
Fixed SanDisk M.2 device issue.
Fixed AMD SSD device issue.
Fixed SteelSeries Keyboard issue.
Update CPU MicroCode.

 

Cinebench 4D BEFORE Win patch

CPU Benchmark = 966CB

OpenGL Bench = 140 FPS

AFTER

CPU Benchmark = 975CB ???

OpenGl Bench = 149.95 FPS ???

NVidia Driver update

CPU Benchmark = 962CB

OpenGL Bench =147.64FPS

Post Bios UPD

CPU Benchmark=942CB

OpenGL Bench=147.36

 

3D Mark timespy extreme BEFORE

3998

AFTER

3997 ????

NVidia Driver Update

3971

Post Bios UPD

3955

 

Novabench 

2713

After

2703

NVidia Driver update

2677

Post Bios UPD

2618

 

RealBench BEFORE

Image Editing 212,486/ Time 25.0745

Encoding 93,501/time 56.9829

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples per sec 20877

Heavy Multitasking 110,647

Time 68.9761

System Score 132,540

RealBench AFTER

Image Editing 208.830/Time 25.5135

Encoding 92,841/time 57.3881

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples/sec 20922

Heavy Multitasking 103,867/Time 73.4779

System Score 129,766

Post NVidia 

Image Editing 108,788/ Time 48.9757

Encoding 84,939/time 62.7273

OpenCL 113,529/ Ksamples per sec 20948

Heavy Multitasking 99,848

Time 76.4357

System Score 101,776 

Post Bios UPD

Image Editing 91,665/ Time 58.1242

Encoding 80,259/time 66.3843

OpenCL 112,996/ Ksamples per sec 20798

Heavy Multitasking 94,712

Time 80.5809

System Score 94,908

 

Hmm taking it with a pinch of salt, as i noticed post BIOS upd i left the OC as auto, so its at 4.37Ghz, not 4.5Ghz I benched with before...DOH

 

ill redo it tomorrow and update.

Expand  

Mando, is RealBench only for ASUS gaming boards bench utility? Thx for the update, btw :)

  On 10/01/2018 at 13:44, Yogurth said:

Mando, is RealBench only for ASUS gaming boards bench utility? Thx for the update, btw :)

Expand  

not 100% its via ROG aspect.

 

give it a whirl, it may work

http://dlcdnmkt.asus.com/rog/RealBench_v2.56.zip?_ga=2.161564219.660284626.1515594169-1054940240.1499777541

 

 

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I've written a Substack article where I talk about the expected release date for Debian 13 (August 9th) and cover some of the upcoming changes that will either affect me personally, or that I thought noteworthy.  You can read the whole thing here: https://open.substack.com/pub/gerowen/p/debian-gnulinux-13-trixie-is-just?r=54rcsd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true It's rather long and has several images that would probably exceed the attachment limit, but I'll copy and paste the first little bit of it here:  
    • Too many middle managers at these big companies are the problem imo. The guys under them do all the work but these VPs or PMs fight with each other in order to move up the ladder which just messes things up.
    • Microsoft lifts another long-standing Windows 11 24H2 block, allowing more people to upgrade by Taras Buria In October 2024, Microsoft released Windows 11 version 24H2 with quite a long list of known bugs and upgrade blocks. Ever since, Microsoft has been slowly patching those bugs and lifting blocks one by one. Now, the company is removing another upgrade block, letting more Windows 10 and Windows 11 users upgrade to the latest version ahead of the upcoming end of Windows 10 support. The block in question affects PCs with Easy Anti-Cheat, an anti-cheat solution embedded in many popular games, such as PUBG or Fortnite. According to the official documentation, the compatibility issue affects systems with Intel's Alder Lake+ processors and the vPro platform with Easy Anti-Cheat drivers released before April 2024. Affected systems crash to the blue screen of death (now black screen of death) with the "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT" error. However, blue screens of death do not occur if games do not use outdated drivers that are present on the device. The upgrade block was placed on September 30, 2024, and now, nearly ten months later, Microsoft has lifted it. As of July 24, 2025, affected systems can finally install Windows 11 version 24H2 via Windows Update. Note that Windows Update might still prompt you to update games that use an incompatible Easy Anti-Cheat version. Compatibility issues with Easy Anti-Cheat are only present in Windows 11 version 24H2, so if you are running older Windows 11 versions or Windows 10, there should not be any crashes, even with outdated drivers. Windows 11 version 25H2 is coming in a couple of months, but its predecessor still has several upgrade blocks in place. There are compatibility issues with Intel Smart Sound Technology drivers, hanging apps that use the camera, audio output losses on PCs with Dirac Audio, and sprotect.sys driver issues.
    • XRECODE3 1.169 by Razvan Serea xrecode3 is a converter and audio-grabber which allows you to convert from mp3, mp2, wma, aiff, amr, ogg, flac, ape, cue, ac3, wv, mpc, mid, cue ,tta, tak, wav, wav(rf64), dts, m4a, m4b, mp4, ra, rm, aac, avi, mpg, vob, mkv, mka, flv, swf, mov, ofr, wmv, divx, m4v, spx, 3gp, 3g2, m2v, m4v, ts, m2ts, adts, shn, tak, xm, mod, s3m, it, mtm, umx, mlp to m4a, alac, ape, flac, mp3, mp4 (using NeroAAC), ogg, raw, wav, wav(rf64), wma, WavPack, mpc, mp2, Speex, ofr, ac3, aiff, tak, snd and Shorten formats. Command Line parameters are supported. XRECODE3 features: Works on XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, 10 32/64 bit versions and under Wine. Parallel conversion by utilizing power of multi-core CPUs. Support of embedded CUE sheets (for FLAC, WavPack, APE and TAK files). Support of mp4, mka chapters (can split mp4, mka by chapters to any supported format). Built-in Metadata editor with Cover Art support. Has support for LossyWav. Supports portable mode. Merge input files to one large audio file and create CUE sheet. Converting to many formats at once using "Multiple" output mode. Grabbing of multi-channel Audio CDs to the desired format at once. Informative and resizable UI suited even for netbooks. Extracting audio from flv, avi, mov etc. video files (multiple audio streams are supported). Can export/import Metadata to/from external file. Support for 24/32bit audio files. Multilanguage support. Currently program is available in Dutch, English, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Spanish Traditional, Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Finnish, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish and Chinese (simplified) languages. What's new in XRECODE3: Native 64bit support. Added support for DSD/DST and DFF formats (including handling of SACD ISOs). Added option to extract audio without transcoding. Added option to encode several files to one multi-channel file. Added option to split file into individual track-per-channel for all available output formats. Added option to merge files per folder. Output and Metadata settings are now output format specific. Enhanced Metadata settings. Added support for multiple Cover pictures in Metadata editor. Added 32bit int/float output for formats which support them (e.g. WAV). Added dithering option in Output Settings. Added option to use EBUR128 in Normalize. Added option to Album Mode Normalize. Added option to configure Matrices under Output Settings. Added more output file pattern elements. Tabbed UI. CUE files are now displayed more nicely. Enhanced Shell Extension. XRECODE3 1.169 changelog: FIX: resolved an issue where playlist file names was created with 2 dots before the file extension. FIX: fixed issue with encoding some files to ac3 format. Download: XRECODE3 v1.169 (64-bit) | Portable | ~30.0 MB (Shareware) Download: XRECODE3 v1.169 (32-bit) | Portable Link: XRECODE3 Homepage | XRECODE3 Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • So... Tesla fails, SpaceX fails, not Starlink... I guess karma is a bitch...
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Itbob513626 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Itbob513626 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Rookie
      EdwardFranciscoVilla went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Week One Done
      MoJo624 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Collaborator
      aeganwn earned a badge
      Collaborator
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      619
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      242
    3. 3
      Xenon
      160
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      123
    5. 5
      +FloatingFatMan
      123
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!