Intel EULA License prohibits benchmarks on new Linux microcode Patches
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Alessio1989
Disgusting.
PS: this kind of EULA do not have any legal effect in EU at all.
schmidtbag
I don't really see how Intel could possibly succeed by taking legal action with this new license. Most users have no idea that their microcode is updated, what it is updated to, and/or the fact it may come with an EULA. A lot of people can't control this update. So if they took someone to court over this, the hardware reviewer could be like "what EULA? I wasn't presented one and I didn't agree to it". Besides, plenty of people have benchmarked Intel's hardware on older microcodes. It doesn't take much effort for anyone to compare before and after results of microcode updates, even if they're not compared directly in the same article.
I also question if this EULA even has any power. I don't see how it's legal to silence individual/un-affiliated parties. Furthermore, couldn't Intel be counter-sued for what could be construed as "I paid for this CPU expecting a certain performance level, but I have to degrade that performance in order to remain secure".
As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing but a bluff. Maybe Intel knows this isn't going to work in their favor but they want to scare off people creating benchmarks.
schmidtbag
Even Phoronix is a bit risky. Intel gets a lot of positive attention there due to their contributions toward open-source projects. If Intel tries to punish them or stops giving away review samples, they're going to lose a lot of that publicity. Right now the Ryzen architecture is looking real good on Linux and FreeBSD (compared to Windows) so the last thing Intel needs is to give Linux users another reason to switch sides.
cryohellinc
@INTEL
Before Microcode Performance was Better
After it became Worse
Bite me!
Valken
Seriously Intel doing all the marketing for AMD here... I smell a class action lawsuit coming to Intel trying to limit security fixes AFTER the user has purchased a flawed product.
Bring the lawyers... I would gladly take a refund on my CPU and give that money to AMD.
schmidtbag
No - to my understanding, you're just not allowed to compare benchmarks of old microcode to new microcode.
Though honestly, when you compare the performance of Kaby Lake back when it was released compared to today's performance with all of the mitigations, it still doesn't look so great. Intel's IPC has suffered quite a bit, where AMD's is nearly on-par.
Wow that's quite the spike. Are we sure there isn't something else driving that? I find this EULA a little too obscure to be the culprit.
southamptonfc
What a ridiculous thing to try to do. Do they really think this behavior is acceptable to enterprise customers?
Intel, you've raised a big red flag by appearing to try to cover up performance issues. Guess what the first thing we're going to do is when we get new OS patches?
lucidus
Let the benchmarks begin.
tunejunky
Intel, as a Californian company, should know better as this is patently illegal and unenforceable in California.
but like i've been moaning on about, Intel is run by the marketing folks who likely see (wrongly) this as a way to avoid embarrassment re: Epyc and Threadripper
tsunami231
what? they be trying to hide something wait what it new about that
I bet some where in that eula there is "you can have your cake, but you cant eat" too
pimpineasy
Grab your tin foil
Angantyr
.... I can't imagine they would ever bother going after someone for publishing a benchmark. In any case, it looks super shady and all round awful on intel doing this.
Just let people publish the benchmarks ffs, otherwise it'll just fuel negative speculation. Morons.
RealNC
Intel behaving like scumbags? What a surprise.
tsunami231
they probably still think there top dog too, and im die hard intel cpu fan, and even i dont think that anymore, my next pc if I make another one will be one of amd cpu probably, less intel stop playing games
Angantyr
Well, at least they were quick to respond to this controversy;
[URL='https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-cpu-microcode-benchmark-mitigation,37684.html']
Updated: Intel Answers Complaints About Microcode Benchmarking Ban[/URL]
I'm sure they got lots of valuable feedback on this, lol.
FrostNixon
Intel are the gods of marketing and this statement is clearly stupid and not thoroughly processed. There is something bigger going on and I don't think we will like it.
Kaarme
It's one of the most high tech companies in the world, but it's run by marketing folks who can barely understand their own technology enough to know how to turn on a PC. Those folks really should have meetings with their engineers every now and then, lest they come up with more "brilliant" ideas like this.
ruthan
They just tried it, it could be big advantage for them, if it would pass..
They still have x86 licence patent trolling trump.. Imagine if would AMD went bankrupt, we would pray to VIA..
TheDeeGee
If it's not leak news it's something else.
Either way, it's driving me further away from getting Intel for my next upgrade.
nosirrahx
Intel can suck it.
I did some benchmarking with Optane and VROC with and without patches a while back on this forum, feel free to share these results with anyone.
I also feel compelled to do a new round of benchmarks with the latest patches on and off.
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/meltdown-and-specter-patch-performance-hit-tested-on-optane-and-vroc.421594/
