Intel Xeon E-2186G Benchmarks and Review of the Top End

Intel Xeon E-2186G Benchmarks

For this exercise, we are using our legacy Linux-Bench scripts which help us see cross-platform “least common denominator” results we have been using for years as well as several results from our updated Linux-Bench2 scripts. At this point, our benchmarking sessions take days to run and we are generating well over a thousand data points. We are also running workloads for software companies that want to see how their software works on the latest hardware. As a result, this is a small sample of the data we are collecting and can share publicly. Our position is always that we are happy to provide some free data but we also have services to let companies run their own workloads in our lab, such as with our DemoEval service. What we do provide is an extremely controlled environment where we know every step is exactly the same and each run is done in a real-world data center, not a test bench.

We are going to show off a few results, and highlight a number of interesting data points in this article.

Python Linux 4.4.2 Kernel Compile Benchmark

This is one of the most requested benchmarks for STH over the past few years. The task was simple, we have a standard configuration file, the Linux 4.4.2 kernel from kernel.org, and make the standard auto-generated configuration utilizing every thread in the system. We are expressing results in terms of compiles per hour to make the results easier to read:

High single thread speeds mean that the Intel Xeon E-2186G is able to perform well even against many 8 core CPU offerings. Having the newest microarchitecture improvements also helps.

c-ray 1.1 Performance

We have been using c-ray for our performance testing for years now. It is a ray tracing benchmark that is extremely popular to show differences in processors under multi-threaded workloads. We are going to use our 8K results which work well at this end of the performance spectrum.

This is far from the best benchmark architecture-to-architecture as AMD typically does extremely well here with Zen. You are going to notice the AMD Opteron X3421 result here. We have the HPE ProLiant ML30 Gen10 that will be tested with this CPU in the lab. We already published our HPE ProLiant ML110 Gen10 review and will have the ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 review online as well. We wanted to show data across HPE’s single-socket tower Gen10 portfolio here.

7-zip Compression Performance

7-zip is a widely used compression/ decompression program that works cross-platform. We started using the program during our early days with Windows testing. It is now part of Linux-Bench.

Our custom is to sort via decompression speed. One can see better compression performance from the Intel Xeon E-2186G than other CPUs here, and almost chart-topping decompression performance.

NAMD Performance

NAMD is a molecular modeling benchmark developed by the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More information on the benchmark can be found here. We are going to augment this with GROMACS in the next-generation Linux-Bench in the near future. With GROMACS we have been working hard to support Intel’s Skylake AVX-512 and AVX2 supporting AMD Zen architecture. Here are the comparison results for the legacy data set:

On the NAMD side, the six high-speed cores are able to outpace even the 8 core Intel Xeon Silver 4108 and AMD EPYC 7251 and EPYC 3251 offerings.

Sysbench CPU test

Sysbench is another one of those widely used Linux benchmarks. We specifically are using the CPU test, not the OLTP test that we use for some storage testing.

Here are the multi-threaded results:

We wanted to use this to show an important point, the biggest step function is adding more cores. At the same time, even with the same rated maximum turbo boost frequency, we saw slightly better, albeit similar, results between the Intel Xeon E-2186G and the Xeon E-2176G. If you are getting these for inexpensive single threaded performance, the Intel Xeon E-2176G should be one you evaluate as well.

OpenSSL Performance

OpenSSL is widely used to secure communications between servers. This is an important protocol in many server stacks. We first look at our sign tests:

Here are the verify results:

Again, fewer cores at higher clock speeds make a big difference in terms of performance. Since these are destined for many sub $1000 servers, the price differential between the Intel Xeon E-2186G and Xeon E-2176G is around 10% of many of the server costs. Buyers should evaluate if that is money well spent.

UnixBench Dhrystone 2 and Whetstone Benchmarks

Some of the longest-running tests at STH are the venerable UnixBench 5.1.3 Dhrystone 2 and Whetstone results. They are certainly aging, however, we constantly get requests for them, and many angry notes when we leave them out. UnixBench is widely used so we are including it in this data set. Here are the Dhrystone 2 results:

Here are the whetstone results:

On the dhrystone runs, you can see the single-thread performance a bit better where that shows how these chips are fast. In both charts, one can easily see how the newer chips are a vast improvement over the previous generation Intel Xeon E3-1280 V6.

GROMACS STH Small AVX2/ AVX-512 Enabled

We have a small GROMACS molecule simulation we previewed in the first AMD EPYC 7601 Linux benchmarks piece. In Linux-Bench2 we are using a “small” test for single and dual socket capable machines. Our medium test is more appropriate for higher-end dual and quad socket machines. Our GROMACS test will use the AVX-512 and AVX2 extensions if available.

One thing we can see is that the Intel Xeon D-2100 series, despite its official specs, has dual port FMA AVX-512. That is why the Intel Xeon D-2141I performs so well. Otherwise, the new Intel Xeon E-2100 chips perform well against other CPUs that do not have AVX-512 capabilities here.

Chess Benchmarking

Chess is an interesting use case since it has almost unlimited complexity. Over the years, we have received a number of requests to bring back chess benchmarking. We have been profiling systems and are ready to start sharing results:

One can see that the Intel Xeon E-2186G again performs strongly even against other 8-core CPUs. It is worth noting that the Intel Xeon E-2136 is not that far off from a relative perspective and is also considerably less expensive, albeit without an iGPU.

Next, we are going to have the power consumption, market positioning, and our final words.