# Got a new CPU need some help with flags and kernel config

## lum-X

Hi to all, 

I just moved from intel t5550 to intel x9000 on m Gateway FX-6860 (  link to intel for CPU   ). i did a fresh install on for windows but i want to do another one for gentoo and try to use my CPU more. i dont want to start and rush up like e did on the first time about a month ago since i learned a lot afterwards. So i want to make a system a but more faster, use more flags( can i set sse3 and ssse3 or sse4.1 and so on since i dont know a lot now ) and make it only for my machine  :Shocked: .

I also want to start moving to gentoo and make it a full operating system so that i will use everyday and leave windwos only for gaming if i do. 

this is my lspci, since i forgot to do the same for USB and CPU i will do it now and post it later. another question si i am reading that ext4 is faster than ext3. what to o with that. 

if i ask a lot i want to learn so please forgive me   :Laughing: 

```

PCI ID      Works?   Vendor               Device                                       Driver         Kernel

80862a00   Yes      Intel Corporation      Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub         intel-agp   

80862a01         Intel Corporation      Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port      

80862834         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4      

80862835         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5      

8086283a         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2      

8086284b   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller            snd-hda-intel   v2.6.25-

8086283f         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1      

80862841         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2      

80862843         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3      

80862845         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4      

80862847         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5      

80862830         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1      

80862831         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2      

80862832         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3      

80862836         Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1      

80862448   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801 Mobile PCI Bridge   i810_rng   

80862811   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801HBM (ICH8M-E) LPC Interface Controller            iTCO_wdt      v2.6.25-

80862850   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller            ata_piix      v2.6.25-

80862828   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA IDE Controller      ata_piix      v2.6.25-

8086283e   Yes   Intel Corporation      82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller   i2c-i801      v2.6.25-

10de0609         nVidia Corporation   G92 [GeForce 8800M GTS]      

80864229   Yes   Intel Corporation      PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection   iwlagn         v2.6.25-

10953531   Yes   Silicon Image, Inc.      SiI 3531 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller      sata_sil24      v2.6.25-

10ec8168   Yes   Realtek Semiconductor    RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller   r8169         v2.6.25-

11c15811   Yes   Agere Systems         FW322/323                                    ohci1394   
```

```
Architecture:          i686

CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit

Byte Order:            Little Endian

CPU(s):                2

On-line CPU(s) list:   0,1

Thread(s) per core:    1

Core(s) per socket:    2

CPU socket(s):         1

Vendor ID:             GenuineIntel

CPU family:            6

Model:                 23

Stepping:              6

CPU MHz:               2793.195

BogoMIPS:              5585.70

Virtualization:        VT-x

L1d cache:             32K

L1i cache:             32K

L2 cache:              6144K

```

```
gentoo@Gentoo-11 ~ $ lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b027 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Gateway USB 2.0 Webcam

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. USB 2.0 multicard reader

Bus 007 Device 002: ID 1532:0007 Razer USA, Ltd DeathAdder Mouse
```

I have started to think what to do with the make.conf so i will post it there. I plan to instal netbeans since i use it for university to program in java and i plan to start opegl this summer.

I prefer gnome over kde for now and my touch pad does not work since i had an accident so i removed it from INPUT_DEVICES. 

```

CFLAGS="-march=core2 -O2 -msse4.1 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer" 

CXXFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" 

CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" 

MAKEOPTS="-j3" 

USE="X gtk hal gnome qt4 dhcp sse sse2 mmx -kde" 

VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" 

ALSA_CARDS="snd-hda-intel" 

INPUT_DEVICES="evdev mouse keyboard" 
```

i might start installing gentoo tonight if i'm not very tired from my second training today and if get any respond or advice before it it would be great so that i will improve my install from the start.

```
cat /proc/cpuinfo 

processor   : 0

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 23

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9000  @ 2.80GHz

stepping   : 6

cpu MHz      : 2792.973

cache size   : 6144 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 2

core id      : 0

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 0

initial apicid   : 0

fdiv_bug   : no

hlt_bug      : no

f00f_bug   : no

coma_bug   : no

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 10

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority

bogomips   : 5585.94

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

processor   : 1

vendor_id   : GenuineIntel

cpu family   : 6

model      : 23

model name   : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9000  @ 2.80GHz

stepping   : 6

cpu MHz      : 2792.973

cache size   : 6144 KB

physical id   : 0

siblings   : 2

core id      : 1

cpu cores   : 2

apicid      : 1

initial apicid   : 1

fdiv_bug   : no

hlt_bug      : no

f00f_bug   : no

coma_bug   : no

fpu      : yes

fpu_exception   : yes

cpuid level   : 10

wp      : yes

flags      : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority

bogomips   : 5585.69

clflush size   : 64

cache_alignment   : 64

address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

power management:

```

Last edited by lum-X on Wed May 04, 2011 10:56 am; edited 1 time in total

----------

## audiodef

You'll get better answers about your CPU from people other than me, but I can tell you with great confidence you'll learn a lot and have a nice kernel config by using Pappy's Kernel Seeds. Click on the "Projects" link in my sig, then look for "Pappy's Kernel Seeds" in the left menu. 

I always use a kernel seed. Pappy has me proof-read pages before he publishes them, so I've read every page. You don't have to read every page, though. Just follow the basic setup for a kernel seed. 

Ask questions of either me or Pappy. Go here if you want to post a question in the kernel seeds thread.

----------

## lum-X

oo yes i saw that today it was helpful. i think i will make a kernel tonight as soon as a eat some food cause i just got back from 2 hour swim session and since i can cange it i can make it smallet by the time and maybe when gnome3 is out i will do another fresh install with more research. i hate when i want to do something so bad and there are exams or assingmets. i really love this thing   :Razz: 

I believe that my CFLAGS are OK but if there is anything more that i can squeeze out of mu PC it would be nice  :Very Happy: 

----------

## IRQsRFun

If you are looking for reasonably safe flags, you may want to check out:

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Safe_Cflags

It may or may not be useful.

----------

## NeddySeagoon

lum-X,

CPU flags come in two sorts.  Those that go into CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS and are used whenever emerge builds a package.

A good choice here is -march=native  which tells gcc to work out whats best for your CPU.

The only time to not use   -march=native  is if you use distc or icecream to spread builds over several systems.

The second sort are USE flags that correspond to CPU flags, like mmx mmxext and so on.

Some programs have optional sections hand optimised for CPUs that support these features.  These USE flags turn on these optional code segments.

You should choose USE flags that match your CPU.  Typically, they are used for multimedia programs

----------

## BlackMajick64

CFLAGS="-O3 -march=corei7 -mtune=corei7 -pipe -funsafe-loop-optimizations -funsafe-math-optimizations -msse4.2"

works "wicked pissah" on core i7 extreme edition 990x .   "-march=corei7 -mtune=corei7" flags are only to be used on GCC 4.6.0 or greater, recommend using this as well.  compiles faster, code executes faster it seems and overall responsiveness is better in my opinion.  

not sure why the makeopts rules are the way they are, i.e. threads + 1, I have 24GB RAM and the 6-core extreme edition 990x and I use MAKEOPTS="-j100" and it goes ridiculous fast with almost no compile failures.  Boost regex fails with 100 but I put it down to 60 and it compiles just fine.  

Not even joking about the -j100..... if you are in a position where you want the fastest compiles and can tie up all your system resources for awhile try it, you might be pleasantly surprised.  Adjust the number down if you have less RAM for sure,   but dont be afraid to try MAKETOPS = # of threads times 3x or more , the compiler can handle it very well.

----------

