-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [qubes-users] Number of cores and other CPU characteristics Local Time: February 2, 2017 9:50 AM UTC Time: February 2, 2017 9:50 AM From: groups-no-private-mail--contact-me-at--contact.v6ak....@v6ak.com To: qubes-users <qubes-users@googlegroups.com>
Choosing the right CPU is about choosing the right tradeoff. The tradeoff is not only between price, power consumption and performance. We can also balance single-core performance to multi-core performance, or we might want some enhancements for some specific tasks, like AES-NI. And many more. I'd like to ask how should Qubes affect my choice (looking at Qubes 4 and newer): * Obviously, it needs to meet the requirements mentioned at https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/system-requirements/ . * I might want TXT for AEM (this is not performance-related, though). * Qubes has GPU for all VMs emulated on CPU. (I believe the GPU emulation runs in the VM itself or in its stubdom.) This might increase need for multiple cores. (Unsure how much.) This might become more important when considering hiDPI or other GPU-intensive tasks. * Qubes will typically use encryption (at least for data storage), which makes AES-NI potentially useful. It might also utilize an extra core. * Qubes typically runs multiple VMs at once. I believe this introduces just a minor CPU overhead – while you have more OSes running at once, one VM will have fewer processes. Typically, IMHO at most one VM is performing CPU-bound tasks. There are my more specific questions: 1. Does Qubes affected desicion between dual-core and quad-core CPUs? While Qubes will more likely utilize multiple cores, I believe that dual-core should be enough in most cases. 2. Is there anything wrong with Intel's U-series? One of considered CPUs is Intel i7 7500U, which seems to provide excellent single-core performance with low power consumption. AFAIK, [this attack](http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/01/intel-debugger-interface-open-to.html) only work on the U-series. 3. Should I be picky about integrated graphics? Since it is used in dom0 only, I don't think its performance is important in QubesOS. Maybe it will become important when XenGT is integrated in QubesOS (which is not sure if it happens at all). 4. Is there anything else I should be aware of when looking at recent i7 (or maybe i5) CPUs? Regards, Vít Šesták 'v6ak' -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to qubes-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to qubes-users@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/509f624e-267a-407e-aadb-5672f562dd35%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. --WillyPillow ---------- https://blog.nerde.pw/ PGP fingerprint = B57E 7237 B211 419C 35C4 AF5B EB4D 3264 A318 73CB ---------- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to qubes-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to qubes-users@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/If3P9npSvWYiqwpqZhWK0FlICfwGvItZBIukXTipuHwtQ4DAUN8yEy49DRcq3oXSJ5N3t8S73cW0Yd86hthwBvWeIRn2z8H9_1vldIQaVDQ%3D%40nerde.pw. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
