AMD confirms Ryzen chips' stuttering performance on Windows 10, 11
- Reference: 1646761505
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/03/08/amd_stutter/
- Source link:
Reports of stuttering performance under Windows 10 and 11 on some Ryzen systems have been [1]rumbling for a while now and it appears the problem is lurking within Firmware Trusted Platform Module (fTPM) used in a number of AMD's chips.
TPM was infamously made a [2]requirement for Windows 11, although Windows 10 (and recent editions of Windows Server) can also take advantage of the technology. Its purpose is to carry out security-related functions in hardware and ward off miscreants.
[3]
The fTPM technology is implemented in the system firmware rather than requiring a dedicated chip and there are some issues.
[4]
[5]
AMD's [6]explanation is that "select AMD Ryzen system configurations may intermittently perform extended fTPM-related memory transactions in SPI flash memory ('SPIROM') located on the motherboard, which can lead to temporary pauses in system interactivity or responsiveness until the transaction is concluded."
The practical upshot of which is a stutter or lag that may last as long as one or two seconds, just enough to be slightly irritating for productivity workloads and disastrous for affected gamers.
[7]AMD, DoiT to help Google Cloud customers optimize for Epyc
[8]AMD, Xilinx complete world's biggest semiconductor merger thanks to stock boom
[9]AMD confirms Xilinx merger approved by regulators
[10]Another Massive Display as AMD hails 'outstanding' 2021, teases Genoa and Bergamo chips
The fix, according to AMD, is a firmware update. They company has handed the scheduling of the refresh over to motherboard manufacturers and reckons the first updates should turn up during May 2022.
With May being a while to wait, one immediate workaround for affected customers is to simply turn off the fTPM, although this carries risks of potential hardware compatibility issues. A fortunate few may be able to take AMD's advice and switch over to a hardware TPM (dTPM) for the time being, assuming it is supported by their motherboard. In all cases, care needs to be taken to avoid losing data. Using BitLocker? You might want to keep that encryption key to hand.
[11]
The fTPM problem is hardly the first AMD devices to have had issues for Windows users. For instance, there have been performance complaints for the company's chippery [12]slugged under Windows 11 last October with all workloads affected, but the problem again was particularly painful for gamers.
Going forwards, AMD has signed up to put Microsoft's latest effort at TPM, Pluton, [13]onto its silicon , with Lenovo due to ship its AMD-powered ThinkPad Z13 and Z16 laptops armed with the tech in May. Intel fans will have [14]a bit longer to wait. ®
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[1] https://youtu.be/TYnRL-x6DVI
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/28/microsoft_windows_11_insider_preview_released/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YifgImbt8eToHE68cAD7iwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YifgImbt8eToHE68cAD7iwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YifgImbt8eToHE68cAD7iwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/pa-410
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/17/amd_doit_google/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/amd_xilinx_merger/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/10/amd_xilinx_merger_approved/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/02/amd_q4_2021/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YifgImbt8eToHE68cAD7iwAAAIg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/07/windows_11_amd/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/05/microsoft_pluton/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/02/microsoft_pluton_chip/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If you ever needed to understand the importance of "open"
TPM might be advertised or even intended to ward off miscreants (sic) but the effective consequences are that you have even less control of your "stuff" than previously.
It really depends on your definition of miscreant to decide if TPM is a good idea.
For my education
is the TPM supported/available/required in Linux systems? Or do they just ignore it?
Re: For my education
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Trusted_Platform_Module
Re: For my education
Unless you take explicit steps to use it, TPM is simply ignored by Linux and Linux software.
Yuck.
How could you run real-time software on a CPU that is likely to stall for milliseconds and more?
Re: Yuck.
Obviously you can't.
Re: Yuck.
You are probably not running real-time software on Windows in the first place.
Re: Yuck.
Does pro-audio stuff on windows require a
real time kernel? I know on Linux a real time kernel is recommended for such workloads
Make the bios read-only without a specific key and password. You set the password when you set it up stored it the bios correctly. No backdoors and no cheat sheets. Reset yes but get that to reinstall the initial bios. Adjust the OS to use some of the security measures now in place such as containers.
No TPM needed.
Maybe I'm missing something but this doesn't seem difficult to me to do that without introducing secret code. Happy to listen to other thoughts on this subject as I'm genuinely curious.
Everything must lock, ask for the key.
I don't believe baking in TMP anything into a CPU should be a requirement, seems more like a feature I wouldn't pay for.
There's so much you don't control over a modern CPU that maybe the point is to force everyone to the "cloud" so you don't have to worry about control.