Unlocking CPU Power on OVH's Dedicated Server
Last week, I ordered a dedicated server from OVH at a surprisingly affordable rate of US$14.40 per month. The KImsufi KS-LE-C comes with impressive specifications that caught my attention.
The advertised CPU power of 3.7 GHz / 3.9 GHz seemed promising. However, after running initial tests with yabs, I noticed the speed was capped at 2.4 GHz, despite having the same processor model. Something wasn't quite right.
Solution
Thanks to helpful guidance from the forum community, I learned that the CPU needed to be "unlocked." Here's how to achieve the full processor potential:
First, install cpupower from the linux-tools-generic package:
sudo apt install linux-tools-generic
Before making any changes, document your current CPU frequency
sudo cat /proc/cpuinfo
Unlock the CPU's full power by setting the governor to performance mode
sudo cpupower frequency-set --governor performance
After Unlocked
After implementing these changes, the CPU speed increased from 2.4 GHz to its advertised 3.7 GHz. A simple fix for a significant performance boost!
Sat Nov 9 11:00:36 UTC 2024
Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime : 1 days, 7 hours, 29 minutes
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 v2 @ 3.70GHz
CPU cores : 8 @ 3699.755 MHz
AES-NI : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ✔ Enabled
RAM : 31.3 GiB
Swap : 1024.0 MiB
Disk : 876.9 GiB
Distro : Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Kernel : 6.8.0-48-generic
VM Type : NONE
IPv4/IPv6 : ✔ Online / ✔ Online
IPv6 Network Information:
---------------------------------
ISP : OVH SAS
ASN : AS16276 OVH SAS
Host : OVH Hosting, Inc
Location : Beauharnois, Quebec (QC)
Country : Canada
fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50) (Partition /dev/md3):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k (IOPS) | 64k (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 200.90 MB/s (50.2k) | 298.55 MB/s (4.6k)
Write | 201.43 MB/s (50.3k) | 300.12 MB/s (4.6k)
Total | 402.33 MB/s (100.5k) | 598.67 MB/s (9.3k)
| |
Block Size | 512k (IOPS) | 1m (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 341.10 MB/s (666) | 324.31 MB/s (316)
Write | 359.22 MB/s (701) | 345.91 MB/s (337)
Total | 700.33 MB/s (1.3k) | 670.22 MB/s (653)
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 218 Mbits/sec | 898 Mbits/sec | 78.0 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 253 Mbits/sec | 853 Mbits/sec | 82.6 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 260 Mbits/sec | 749 Mbits/sec | 189 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 234 Mbits/sec | 252 Mbits/sec | 245 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 258 Mbits/sec | 903 Mbits/sec | 68.2 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 291 Mbits/sec | 938 Mbits/sec | 9.83 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 265 Mbits/sec | 867 Mbits/sec | 119 ms
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv6):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 269 Mbits/sec | 887 Mbits/sec | 78.1 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 245 Mbits/sec | 812 Mbits/sec | 82.6 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 255 Mbits/sec | busy | 189 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 231 Mbits/sec | busy | 245 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 274 Mbits/sec | 892 Mbits/sec | 68.3 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 287 Mbits/sec | 926 Mbits/sec | 14.7 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 258 Mbits/sec | 326 Mbits/sec | 119 ms
Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test | Value
|
Single Core | 710
Multi Core | 2726
Full Test | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/8736839For comparison purpose, here another YABS. ColoCrossing KVM VPS with Intel E5 processor.
Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime : 6 days, 1 hours, 29 minutes
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2683 v4 @ 2.10GHz
CPU cores : 4 @ 2099.998 MHz
AES-NI : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ✔ Enabled
RAM : 7.8 GiB
Swap : 8.5 GiB
Disk : 153.9 GiB
Distro : Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Kernel : 6.8.0-48-generic
VM Type : KVM
IPv4/IPv6 : ✔ Online / ❌ Offline
IPv4 Network Information:
---------------------------------
ISP : HostPapa
ASN : AS36352 HostPapa
Host : ColoCrossing
Location : Los Angeles, California (CA)
Country : United States
fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50) (Partition /dev/vda1):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k (IOPS) | 64k (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 32.83 MB/s (8.2k) | 419.33 MB/s (6.5k)
Write | 32.88 MB/s (8.2k) | 421.54 MB/s (6.5k)
Total | 65.71 MB/s (16.4k) | 840.87 MB/s (13.1k)
| |
Block Size | 512k (IOPS) | 1m (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 576.43 MB/s (1.1k) | 636.62 MB/s (621)
Write | 607.06 MB/s (1.1k) | 679.02 MB/s (663)
Total | 1.18 GB/s (2.3k) | 1.31 GB/s (1.2k)
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 1.16 Gbits/sec | 804 Mbits/sec | 130 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 1.12 Gbits/sec | 1.56 Gbits/sec | 144 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 787 Mbits/sec | 286 Mbits/sec | 226 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 543 Mbits/sec | 1.36 Gbits/sec | 175 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 3.55 Gbits/sec | 2.26 Gbits/sec | 0.492 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 1.70 Gbits/sec | 2.16 Gbits/sec | 68.6 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 1.03 Gbits/sec | 126 Mbits/sec | 169 ms
Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test | Value
|
Single Core | 599
Multi Core | 1664
Full Test | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/8885403AdvinServers, LA location with AMD Genoa processor.
Sun Nov 17 04:59:18 AM UTC 2024
Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime : 5 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes
Processor : AMD EPYC 9654 96-Core Processor
CPU cores : 4 @ 2399.998 MHz
AES-NI : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ✔ Enabled
RAM : 7.8 GiB
Swap : 0.0 KiB
Disk : 117.0 GiB
Distro : Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Kernel : 6.8.0-48-generic
VM Type : KVM
IPv4/IPv6 : ✔ Online / ✔ Online
IPv6 Network Information:
---------------------------------
ISP : Advin Services LLC
ASN : AS206216 Advin Services LLC
Host : Advin Services LLC
Location : Wilmington, Delaware (DE)
Country : United States
fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50) (Partition /dev/sda2):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k (IOPS) | 64k (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 207.48 MB/s (51.8k) | 1.73 GB/s (27.1k)
Write | 208.03 MB/s (52.0k) | 1.74 GB/s (27.2k)
Total | 415.52 MB/s (103.8k) | 3.48 GB/s (54.4k)
| |
Block Size | 512k (IOPS) | 1m (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 3.36 GB/s (6.5k) | 4.93 GB/s (4.8k)
Write | 3.54 GB/s (6.9k) | 5.26 GB/s (5.1k)
Total | 6.90 GB/s (13.4k) | 10.20 GB/s (9.9k)
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 426 Mbits/sec | 1.61 Gbits/sec | 128 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 892 Mbits/sec | 1.64 Gbits/sec | 147 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 615 Mbits/sec | 745 Mbits/sec | 262 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 653 Mbits/sec | 1.41 Gbits/sec | 253 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 3.71 Gbits/sec | 5.97 Gbits/sec | 0.385 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 879 Mbits/sec | 2.67 Gbits/sec | 68.8 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 734 Mbits/sec | 1.43 Gbits/sec | 166 ms
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv6):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 886 Mbits/sec | 503 Mbits/sec | 129 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 902 Mbits/sec | 1.36 Gbits/sec | 147 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 596 Mbits/sec | busy | 262 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 306 Mbits/sec | busy | 254 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 2.80 Gbits/sec | 4.22 Gbits/sec | 0.391 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 168 Mbits/sec | 2.70 Gbits/sec | 68.7 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 169 Mbits/sec | 1.41 Gbits/sec | 166 ms
Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test | Value
|
Single Core | 1675
Multi Core | 4526
Full Test | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/8885840Chunkserve, Netherland location. 20 EUR /y.
Mon Nov 18 03:03:20 PM UTC 2024
Basic System Information:
---------------------------------
Uptime : 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v4 @ 2.60GHz
CPU cores : 4 @ 2599.996 MHz
AES-NI : ✔ Enabled
VM-x/AMD-V : ✔ Enabled
RAM : 7.8 GiB
Swap : 0.0 KiB
Disk : 49.1 GiB
Distro : Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Kernel : 6.8.0-48-generic
VM Type : KVM
IPv4/IPv6 : ✔ Online / ✔ Online
IPv6 Network Information:
---------------------------------
ISP : Wojciech Czapkowicz
ASN : AS214481 Wojciech Czapkowicz
Host : Wojciech Czapkowicz
Location : Warsaw, Mazovia (14)
Country : Poland
fio Disk Speed Tests (Mixed R/W 50/50) (Partition /dev/vda1):
---------------------------------
Block Size | 4k (IOPS) | 64k (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 28.23 MB/s (7.0k) | 271.32 MB/s (4.2k)
Write | 28.25 MB/s (7.0k) | 272.75 MB/s (4.2k)
Total | 56.48 MB/s (14.1k) | 544.07 MB/s (8.5k)
| |
Block Size | 512k (IOPS) | 1m (IOPS)
------ | --- ---- | ---- ----
Read | 403.89 MB/s (788) | 426.29 MB/s (416)
Write | 425.35 MB/s (830) | 454.68 MB/s (444)
Total | 829.24 MB/s (1.6k) | 880.97 MB/s (860)
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv4):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 1.91 Gbits/sec | 1.80 Gbits/sec | 6.58 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 2.03 Gbits/sec | 1.85 Gbits/sec | 3.83 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 553 Mbits/sec | 1.08 Gbits/sec | 95.0 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 313 Mbits/sec | 1.06 Gbits/sec | 160 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 298 Mbits/sec | 148 Mbits/sec | 133 ms
Performing IPv4 iperf3 recv test from Leaseweb (Attempt #2 of 3)...
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 422 Mbits/sec | 789 Mbits/sec | 75.4 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 514 Mbits/sec | 479 Mbits/sec | 197 ms
iperf3 Network Speed Tests (IPv6):
---------------------------------
Provider | Location (Link) | Send Speed | Recv Speed | Ping
----- | ----- | ---- | ---- | ----
Clouvider | London, UK (10G) | 1.98 Gbits/sec | 1.80 Gbits/sec | 6.55 ms
Eranium | Amsterdam, NL (100G) | 2.03 Gbits/sec | 1.81 Gbits/sec | 0.991 ms
Uztelecom | Tashkent, UZ (10G) | 429 Mbits/sec | 688 Mbits/sec | 95.0 ms
Leaseweb | Singapore, SG (10G) | 518 Mbits/sec | 1.05 Gbits/sec | 159 ms
Clouvider | Los Angeles, CA, US (10G) | 264 Mbits/sec | 261 Mbits/sec | 135 ms
Leaseweb | NYC, NY, US (10G) | 504 Mbits/sec | 1.21 Gbits/sec | 75.4 ms
Edgoo | Sao Paulo, BR (1G) | 348 Mbits/sec | 215 Mbits/sec | 197 ms
Running GB6 benchmark test... *cue elevator music*
Geekbench 6 Benchmark Test:
---------------------------------
Test | Value
|
Single Core | 645
Multi Core | 2232
Full Test | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/8924020