Intel XEON silver 4208 slow

[Jofranco]

Hi,

I'm an analyst and i work with a 3d visualisation mapping program.

My employer recently bought us new computers:

Intel XEON silver 4208, 8 cores, 11M cache, 2.10 GHz X 2

64GB ram DDR3

AMD® Radeon™ Pro WX 3200, 4 GB GDDR5, 4 mDP

The problem is that the computer is really really slow. When i tried to work with graphics elements, it lag so bad that i have to use my laptop instead (Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10310U CPU @ 1.70GHz 2.21 GHz, 16 GB ram, no graphic card), which do better than my supposed "Super computer".

What could be the problem? Is it a processor settings or just that this is the wrong processor for the job?

Thanks!

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Thank you so much for contacting Intel customer support,

I understand that your new system is not performing as well as you were expecting it to perform. When it comes to running 3rd party software, my recommendation is to always check what are the minimum and recommended specs that the software requires in order to work well, in case you haven’t done that you can always contact the developer of the software you are currently using and ask them if your new setup is supposed to work well with the software or if it’s lacking in any area.

Additionally, it is really important for you to consider that every environment being a laptop, desktop or workstation environment can perform, outperform or underperform based on a lot of different aspects, the usual recommendation before jumping into a new system is to make sure it is completely and fully updated with all the latest operating systems updates, drivers and firmware, so in case you haven’t done that you can start with that right after checking your system with the developer of the software you are currently using.

In case you have a doubt about whether your processor is working fine or not feel free to run the program below in case your operating system allows it in order to check the status of it, the tool will test specific processor features and will perform a stress test on the processor to make sure is working properly.

Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html

Best regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jofranco]

Hi Victor,

Thanks for your answer.

I will talk to the IT teams and try what you suggest.

Concerning the 3rd party program we're using, i did check with the software provider and they told me that my computers specs is more than enough to assure a good performance.

But i have the feeling that the XEON processor is not made to handle 1 big task but instead, a lot of small tasks in the same time.

Am i wrong?

Also, when i look at the CPU usage, It doesn't go higher than 3-4%. Is it normal?

In the mean time, we'll do all the necessary updates and use the diagnosis tool.

Thanks, have a nice day!

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Thank you so much for your response.

In regard to your questions please find them answered below:

But I have the feeling that the XEON processor is not made to handle 1 big task but instead, a lot of small tasks at the same time. Am I wrong?

R/ This processor belongs to the 2nd generation of Xeon scalable processors, which are mostly designed to handle workloads for enterprise and Cloud environments, high-performance computing (HPC) servers, storage, and communications; basically, is not that easy to just say that the CPU can’t handle 1 big task but a lot of small tasks instead, it’s just made for a specific type of use in mind and its performance may vary if it is used in a different environment.

Also, when I look at the CPU usage, it doesn't go higher than 3-4%. Is it normal?

R/ Depending on the task the usage of the CPU may vary; some programs are more focused on the usage of other components in the system for example the graphics card. I would say the usage is low but not entirely unusual, while running the stress test of the tool provided you can open the task manager and see how the CPU's usage will quickly rise since that tool specifically focuses on the processor while doing its test.

Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything else.

Best regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Please let me know if you still need further assistance

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jofranco]

Hi Victor,

I just ran the diagnosis tool on the processor. We tried to make all the updates the system fail to install many of them.

Hers's the result:

--- IPDT64 - Revision: 4.1.7.39

--- IPDT64 - Start Time: 2022-09-29 09:26:08

----------------------------------------------

-- Testing

----------------------------------------------

CPU 1 - Genuine Intel - Pass.

CPU 2 - Genuine Intel - Pass.

CPU 1 - BrandString - Pass.

CPU 2 - BrandString - Pass.

CPU 1 - Cache - Pass.

CPU 2 - Cache - Pass.

CPU 1 - MMXSSE - Fail.

CPU 2 - MMXSSE - Fail.

CPU 1 - IMC - Pass.

CPU 2 - IMC - Pass.

CPU 1 - Math Xeon - Fail.

CPU 2 - Math Xeon - Fail.

CPU 1 - Floating Point - Fail.

CPU 2 - Floating Point - Fail.

CPU 1 - Xeon Math - Fail.

CPU 2 - Xeon Math - Fail.

CPU 1 - Prime Number - Fail.

CPU 2 - Prime Number - Fail.

CPU 1 - CPULoad - Fail.

CPU 2 - CPULoad - Fail.

CPU 1 - CPUFreq - Pass.

CPU 2 - CPUFreq - Pass.

IPDT64 Failed

--- IPDT64 - Revision: 4.1.7.39

--- IPDT64 - End Time: 2022-09-29 09:26:42

----------------------------------------------

FAIL

--- Genuine Intel Test ---

...

Version 1.0.23.64b.W

...

Expected -- GenuineIntel

Detected -- GenuineIntel

Genuine Intel CPU Module Success

--- Brand String Test ---

...

Version 1.0.25.64b.W

...

IntelR XeonR Silver 4208 CPU  2.10GHz

Brand String Module Success....

--- Cache Test ---

...

Version 1.0.21.64b.W

...

--- Reading Cache Size ---

- Detected L1 Data Cache Size -- 32

- Detected L1 Inst Cache Size -- 32

- Detected L2 Cache Size -- 1024

- Detected L3 Cache Size -- 11264

Cache Module Success

--- MMXSSE Test ---

...

Version 1.0.27.64b.W

...

..

..could not load DetectUtils64.dll

..

--- Integrated Memory Controller Test ---

...

Version 1.0.23.64b.W

...

--- Reading Memory Size ---

Detected Memory Size is -- 64.00GB

--- Subtest - Memory Size Test Passed  ---

--- Integrated Memory Controller Stress Test ---

Memory to be allocated  1048576 bytes

Memory Allocated.

Test 1 Ones and Zeros Moving Inversions write operations - Passed

Test 1 Ones and Zeros Moving Inversions verification operations - Passed

Test 2 32Bits Sliding Ones write operations - Passed

Test 2 32Bits Sliding Ones verification operations - Passed

Test 3 32Bits Sliding Zero write operations - Passed

Test 3 32Bits Sliding Zero verification operations - Passed

Memory Deallocated.

--- Subtest - Memory Stress Test Passed ---

--- Integrated Memory Controller Test Passed ---

--- DGEMM Stress Test ---

...

Version 1.0.14.64b.W

...

..

..could not load DetectUtils64.dll

..

--- Frequency Check ---

...

Version 1.0.5.64b.W

...

..........

..Measured frequency -- 2.093

..Expected Frequency -- 2.10

..

FrequencyCheck Passed....

Thank you!

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Thank you so much for your response.

I appreciate the results. Can you please provide us with the exact motherboard model that you have this processor installed on?

Best regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jofranco]

Hi,

Motherboard:

DELL INC.
BASEBOARD PRODUCT: 0804P1
BASEBOARD VERSION: A05

[JosueO_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Thank you for the information provided, in this case, please share with us the following information:

1. Screenshot of the task manager under the processes tab while performing the task that is giving issues. 

2. Name the software that you are using where the issue happens.

3. Does the issue only happens with that software?

Also, please download and install the Intel System Support Utility (Intel SSU):

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html

Open the application and select "Everything" click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel SSU will take you to the "Summary View". Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  

Click on "Next", save the report and attach it to your response.

Regards,

Josue O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JosueO_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

Were you able to check the previous post?  

Let us know if you still need assistance.  

Best regards, 

Josue O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Victor_G_Intel]

Hello Jofranco,

We have not heard back from you.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Regards,

Victor G.

Intel Technical Support Technician

[Jofranco]

Hi Victor,

I'm currently waiting for the technician to be available. We will be able to do more testing this week and se d you back the results. Sorry for the delay.

Jonathan

[Jofranco]

Hi,

There you go,

Sorry again for the delay.