MotoG : Pure CPU Benchmarks, the limits

To point out pure CPU Benchmark flaws, we'll observe how does a moto G (Falcon or Peregrine, this has no relevance) behaves with Linpack Benchmark when running on Stock 4.4.4 Motorola ROM or CM11-20141124-nightly (4.4.4).

We have seen previously that Linpack didn't use all cores and was limited to 3 threads in multi-thread benchmarking (when comparing s200 and s400 SoC).

Now, we will compare MFLOPS performance between two ROMs that has similar user experience (smoothness mostly)

Stock 4.4.4 Motorola ROM vs CM11

both @1190MHz, Interactive governor.

Stock Motorola features a nearly doubled score for both Single and Multi-Thread, but does that mean it is really better optimized?

• In a way, yes, CM11 is made to be compatible with most devices, so we encounter similar problem seen with Windows against iOS : 
• An OS that fits all against a fully optimized one made for a few specific hardware. Motorola obviously optimized their software to get the best of this great device
• If you compare with the MotoG vs MotoE test, you'll see that the MotoG running CM11 has lower results than MotoE running stock ROM ...

• On the other hand, that's not all a matter of optimization :
• CM11 features KSM, zRAM, and many things that use CPU cycles to compress memory (zRAM) or merging merge-able things (KSM) ==> this reduces CPU pure performance but increase multi-tasking ability.
• The war of versatility and customization against slickness and stability...
• Honestly i can't see difference in user-felt performances...

Actually, i don't see any issues by using CM11 as a daily driver on my XT1032 (Falcon), it is not because a Benchmark say something that it is true in "real life"...

• Don't use CM11 on Moto G if you want to show off with high CPU benchmark results ...
• Stock Motorola ROM is close enough to AOSP to be acceptable as daily driver
• Xposed helps you to get the best of stock ROM
• CM11 is great for end-user customization

The real conclusion is the following :

Don't trust Benchmarks as incontestable truth, they helps to compare devices and  ROMs, but never really tell you how good devices/ROMs are.

Moto G and Moto E : snapdragon 400 vs 200

Snapdragon 400 vs Snapdragon 200 based on msm8926/8226 vs msm8610

After we studied MFLOPS per MHz ...

It is now time to compare MotoE and MotoG:

Moto G and E features a Snapdragon 400 and 200 (respectively a Quad-core Cortex A7 @1.19GHz and a Dual-core Cortex A7 @1.19GHz)

Note that previous benchmarks were performed with ONDEMAND governor on CyangenMod11 ROM, but stock Moto ROM uses Interactive by default (i didn't expected that...) so the following has been made with interactive for both devices (needed to re-bench MotoG >_<)

to check above results are applicable despite governor modification : 

MFLOPS per governor on MotoG (Falcon, CM11) @1190MHz

No significant difference between ONDEMAND and Interactive governors for the specified test.

Moto G (Peregrine) vs Moto E (Condor) msm8926 vs msm8610

To improve accuracy, instead of using my Falcon (XT1032) running CM11, we will compare results obtained on a Peregrine (XT1039) running Stock Motorola ROM :

Both Benchmarks have been run on Motorola Stock 4.4.4 ROM on Moto G (Peregrine) and Moto E (Condor):

There is no differences between msm8226 (Falcon) and msm8926 (Peregrine) despite LTE capability of msm8926, that's why we will use a Peregrine for the following part.

MotoG (Peregrine) vs MotoE (Condor) @1190MHz, stock 4.4.4

We have quite similar results on Single Thread application for one simple reason, the number of cores does not have any impact. Since the clock speed is the same, the results are the one expected.

On Multi-thread the difference is quite huge between the quad-core and the dual-core, though we don't see a x2 ratio by doubling the cores number.

MFLOPS divided per the amount of cores

x/4 for msm8926 and x/2 for msm8610, Single Thread as control.

We should have observed a similar result between Single and Multi/nbCore...
Is the msm8926 really shitty at multithreading? i don't think so, looks more like if linpack or the system only uses 3 Threads...

If we apply a corrective divider (3 instead of 4) the results are perfect :

MFLOPS divided per the amount of threads used

x/3 for msm8926 and x/2 for msm8610, Single Thread as control.

Moto E (Condor) and Moto G (Peregrine or Falcon) should have similar performance in single threaded applications.

Though the 4 Cores may no be used at their full potential in some apps, multi-threaded applications should be better handled by the msm8926/8226 featured by moto G.

Moto G? or Moto E? Which one for What...

For moderate usage, Moto E is quite enough compared to Moto G : 

• It is not weaker on Single Threaded applications
• It has a smaller battery but both smaller CPU and half size Screen in pixels (960*540 vs 1280*720) will give it a great battery life.

Moto G is still the best quality/price in its category (prefer the Peregrine version and not the Moto G 2014 aka Titan)

• Multi-threaded applications will obviously run better on it
• The better Screen density improves user experience on long term usage
• A far better Camera...

A complete Moto G - Moto E versus is available on versus.com (note that Moto G Peregrine does not have 16GB of internal memory ... but only 8, and an SDcard slot.)

Installing Opera 26 and Adobe Flash Player? Pepper Flash!

After the Linux Mint 17.1 upgrade, why not trying Opera 26 ? (Opera had not been updated for Linux since Opera 12 before this new release)

Getting to the Opera Web Page and downloading the x64-only .deb :

Installing the deb package : (the package will seek for dependencies)

If you want Opera to get its updates with system updates, then :

Need Adobe Flash Player ?
What about using Pepper flash instead of Adobe oldies?

sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree

Restarting Opera, and we're done!

CPU Freq and Performances : Single and Multi Thread

Linpack Benchmarking for Moto G, Single and Multi-Threads...

Before we compare Moto G and E Snapdragon 400 and 200 (respectively a Quad-core Cortex A7 @1.19GHz and a Dual-core Cortex A7 @1.19GHz), let's see how the Moto G performs with ONDEMAND governor and increasing CPU Clock.

MFLOPS and CPU Clock speed On Moto G XT1032 aka Falcon, CM11

A MotoG XT1032, running CM11-20141124-NIGHTLY has been used for MFLOPS per MHz tests.

The CPU is downclocked at 787MHz, and then frequency is raised up to nominal Frequency that is 1190MHz. Here are Single and Multi-Thread MFLOPS results.

You can note that 998MHz had inconsistent results due to high standard deviation...

MFLOPS/MHz A closer look to the results

Multi-thread results raise quicker than Single Thread, let's explore this closer :

As we can see, 

• MFLOPS/MHz ratio does not increase much for Single Thread, but,
• For Multi-thread the ratio increases between 787 and 998MHz but then stagnates : This means that MFLOPS increases in a linear way as Frequency is raised.

This can be explained by the following fact : 

The OS needs some CPU cycles to stay ON, so under a certain frequency it conflicts with Linpack work and decreases performances more than expected.

Conclusion? As a conclusion, we can say that CPU clock increase is more effective on multi-threaded applications (in a quite linear manner) than on Single threaded ones.

2x5W Amplifier for mp3 player or line output (MK190) (part3)

Last update about the Audio-amplifier project,

While i was messing around to build a testing NAS with a Pentium D based set up (irrelevant to be used as a 24/7 NAS due to high power consumption of the platform...), i found an old 12Vcc/2.5A PSU from a broken external USB/Firewire HP DVD writer (that i had forgotten to own >_<).

What the DVD writer looked like ==> 

The wires were slightly damaged, so i simply re-soldered to the cable i previously made.

Here is the final result :

The Audio-amplifier project is now Closed and considered as finished. It is neither slick nor compact, but it's mine and works pretty well!