commands/hardware/hardware-profilers/by-component/profile-cpu.md

You are performing an exhaustive CPU (processor) profile of the system.

Your Task

Generate a comprehensive CPU analysis covering all aspects of processor hardware, configuration, features, and performance.

1. CPU Hardware Identification

• Vendor: Intel, AMD, ARM, or other
• Model name: Full processor name
• Microarchitecture: Zen 4, Raptor Lake, etc.
• Family: CPU family number
• Model: CPU model number
• Stepping: CPU stepping/revision
• CPU ID: CPUID signature
• Manufacturing process: Node size (5nm, 7nm, etc.)

2. Core and Thread Configuration

• Physical cores: Actual CPU cores
• Logical processors: Total threads (with SMT/HT)
• Threads per core: 1 or 2 (SMT/Hyper-Threading)
• Cores per socket: Core count per CPU
• Sockets: Number of CPU sockets
• NUMA nodes: Non-uniform memory access nodes
• Core layout: Physical topology and placement

3. Frequency and Clock Information

• Base frequency: Guaranteed base clock
• Maximum boost frequency: Single-core turbo
• All-core boost: Multi-core sustained boost
• Current frequencies: Per-core current clocks
• Frequency scaling: Available scaling governors
• Turbo mode: Status and configuration
• C-states: Power saving states available
• P-states: Performance states

4. Cache Hierarchy

• L1 data cache: Per-core L1D size
• L1 instruction cache: Per-core L1I size
• L2 cache: Per-core or shared L2 size
• L3 cache: Shared last-level cache size
• L4 cache: If present (rare)
• Cache line size: Typical 64 bytes
• Cache associativity: Set-associative configuration
• Total cache: Sum of all cache levels

5. CPU Features and Extensions

• Instruction sets: SSE, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512
• Virtualization: VT-x, AMD-V, VT-d, AMD-Vi
• Security features: SGX, SEV, TDX, etc.
• AES-NI: Hardware AES acceleration
• SHA extensions: Hardware SHA acceleration
• FMA: Fused multiply-add
• BMI/BMI2: Bit manipulation instructions
• TSX: Transactional synchronization
• Hardware monitoring: PMU, performance counters

6. Virtualization Capabilities

• Virtualization enabled: VT-x/AMD-V status
• IOMMU: VT-d/AMD-Vi for device passthrough
• Nested paging: EPT/RVI support
• Nested virtualization: Capability
• Hardware isolation: SGX, SEV, TDX
• Virtual machine extensions: Available features

7. Security Features

• CPU vulnerabilities: Spectre, Meltdown, etc.
• Mitigations: Enabled security mitigations
• Performance impact: Mitigation overhead
• Secure boot: Support status
• Memory encryption: SME, SEV support
• Control-flow enforcement: CET, IBT
• Branch prediction: IBRS, STIBP status

8. Thermal and Power Management

• TDP: Thermal design power
• Maximum temperature: Tjunction max
• Current temperature: Per-core temps
• Thermal throttling: Status and history
• Power consumption: Current package power
• Power limits: PL1, PL2 settings
• Voltage: Core voltage
• Power states: C-states and P-states usage

9. Performance Characteristics

• BogoMIPS: Rough performance indicator
• CPU benchmark: If available (sysbench, etc.)
• Context switch rate: Scheduler efficiency
• Interrupts: Interrupt rate per second
• Load average: 1, 5, 15 minute averages
• CPU utilization: Per-core usage
• Performance counters: PMU data if accessible

10. Memory Controller and Architecture

• Memory controller: Integrated or discrete
• Memory channels: Number of channels
• Maximum memory: Supported RAM capacity
• Memory types: Supported DDR generations
• Memory speed: Maximum supported speed
• ECC support: Error-correcting code capability
• Prefetchers: Hardware prefetch engines

11. Interconnect and Topology

• CPU interconnect: QPI, UPI, Infinity Fabric
• Interconnect speed: GT/s or MHz
• NUMA configuration: Node topology
• Core-to-core latency: Inter-core communication
• Socket topology: Multi-socket layout
• L3 slicing: Cache slice distribution

12. Microcode and Firmware

• Microcode version: Current CPU microcode
• Microcode date: Release date
• Update available: Check for updates
• Speculative execution: Firmware mitigations

Commands to Use

Basic CPU information:

• lscpu
• cat /proc/cpuinfo
• lscpu -e - Extended CPU list
• sudo dmidecode -t processor

Detailed specifications:

• lscpu -J - JSON output for parsing
• sudo lshw -class processor
• cpuid (if installed)
• x86info (if installed, x86 systems)

Frequency information:

• lscpu | grep MHz
• cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep MHz
• cpufreq-info (if installed)
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/cpuinfo_max_freq
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Cache information:

• lscpu -C
• getconf -a | grep CACHE
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cache/index*/size

CPU features:

• cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep flags | head -1
• lscpu | grep -i flag

Virtualization:

• lscpu | grep -i virtualization
• cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -E '(vmx|svm)'
• dmesg | grep -i "vt-d\|amd-vi"

Security and vulnerabilities:

• lscpu | grep -i vulnerab
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/*
• spectre-meltdown-checker (if installed)

Thermal and power:

• sensors (if lm-sensors installed)
• cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp
• cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
• sudo turbostat --quiet --show Package,Core,CPU,Avg_MHz,Busy%,Bzy_MHz,PkgTmp --interval 1 (if available)
• sudo powertop --time=10 (if installed)

Performance monitoring:

• top -bn1 | grep "Cpu(s)"
• mpstat -P ALL 1 5 (if sysstat installed)
• vmstat 1 5
• uptime
• cat /proc/loadavg

Microcode:

• cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep microcode | head -1
• dmesg | grep microcode

NUMA topology:

• numactl --hardware
• lscpu | grep NUMA
• cat /sys/devices/system/node/node*/cpulist

Benchmarking (optional):

• sysbench cpu --threads=$(nproc) run (if installed)
• 7z b (7-zip benchmark if installed)

Output Format

Executive Summary

CPU: [manufacturer] [model name]
Architecture: [microarchitecture] ([process node])
Cores/Threads: [physical cores] cores / [logical threads] threads
Base/Boost: [base GHz] / [boost GHz]
Cache: [L1] + [L2] + [L3 MB]
Features: [key features like AVX-512, virtualization]

Detailed CPU Profile

Hardware Identification:

• Vendor: [Intel/AMD/ARM]
• Model Name: [full processor name]
• Microarchitecture: [architecture name]
• Family: [hex family]
• Model: [hex model]
• Stepping: [stepping number]
• CPU ID: [cpuid signature]
• Manufacturing: [nm process]

Core Configuration:

• Physical Cores: [count]
• Logical Processors: [count]
• Threads per Core: [1/2]
• Sockets: [count]
• NUMA Nodes: [count]
• Topology: [description]

Frequency Information:

• Base Frequency: [GHz]
• Maximum Turbo: [GHz] (single-core)
• All-Core Turbo: [GHz]
• Current Frequencies:
  • CPU 0: [MHz]
  • CPU 1: [MHz]
  • ...
• Scaling Governor: [powersave/performance/schedutil]
• Turbo Boost: [Enabled/Disabled]

Cache Hierarchy:

• L1 Data Cache: [KB] per core ([total KB])
• L1 Instruction Cache: [KB] per core ([total KB])
• L2 Cache: [KB/MB] per core ([total MB])
• L3 Cache: [MB] shared ([MB] total)
• Cache Line Size: [bytes]
• Total Cache: [MB]

Instruction Set Extensions:

• Base: [x86-64-v2/v3/v4]
• SIMD: [SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512, etc.]
• Virtualization: [VT-x/AMD-V, VT-d/AMD-Vi]
• Security: [AES-NI, SHA, SGX, SEV]
• Other: [FMA, BMI, BMI2, TSX, etc.]

Feature Flags (Key):

[vmx/svm, aes, avx, avx2, avx512f, sha_ni, fma, bmi1, bmi2, etc.]

Virtualization Capabilities:

• VT-x/AMD-V: [Enabled/Disabled]
• VT-d/AMD-Vi (IOMMU): [Enabled/Disabled]
• EPT/RVI: [Supported]
• Nested Virtualization: [Supported/Not Supported]
• Hardware Isolation: [SGX/SEV/TDX support]

Security Status:

• Vulnerabilities:
  • Spectre v1: [mitigated/vulnerable]
  • Spectre v2: [mitigated/vulnerable]
  • Meltdown: [mitigated/vulnerable]
  • [other vulnerabilities...]
• Active Mitigations: [list]
• Performance Impact: [estimated %]

Thermal and Power:

• TDP: [W]
• Maximum Temperature: [°C]
• Current Temperature:
  • Package: [°C]
  • Core 0: [°C]
  • Core 1: [°C]
  • ...
• Power Consumption: [W]
• Power Limits: PL1=[W], PL2=[W]
• Throttling Status: [None/Active]

Memory Controller:

• Controller: [Integrated]
• Memory Channels: [count]
• Maximum Memory: [GB]
• Supported Types: [DDR4, DDR5]
• Maximum Speed: [MT/s]
• ECC Support: [Yes/No]

Current Performance:

• CPU Utilization: [%] average
• Per-Core Usage:
  • CPU 0: [%]
  • CPU 1: [%]
  • ...
• Load Average: [1min], [5min], [15min]
• Context Switches: [/sec]
• Interrupts: [/sec]
• BogoMIPS: [value]

NUMA Topology (if applicable):

• NUMA Nodes: [count]
• Node 0 CPUs: [list]
• Node 1 CPUs: [list]
• Node 0 Memory: [GB]
• Node 1 Memory: [GB]

Microcode:

• Version: [hex version]
• Date: [date if available]
• Update Status: [check if current]

Performance Assessment

Performance Tier:

• Consumer: Entry/Mainstream/High-end/Enthusiast
• Server: Entry/Mid-range/High-end
• Generation: [relative age]

Bottleneck Analysis:

• Core count: [adequate/limited for workload]
• Clock speed: [competitive/dated]
• Cache size: [generous/adequate/limited]
• Memory channels: [optimal/bottleneck]

Optimization Recommendations:

• Frequency scaling: [suggestions]
• Power management: [tuning options]
• NUMA configuration: [if applicable]
• Security mitigation tuning: [performance vs. security]

AI-Readable JSON

{
  "hardware": {
    "vendor": "intel|amd|arm",
    "model_name": "",
    "microarchitecture": "",
    "family": "",
    "model": "",
    "stepping": 0,
    "process_nm": 0
  },
  "cores": {
    "physical_cores": 0,
    "logical_processors": 0,
    "threads_per_core": 0,
    "sockets": 0,
    "numa_nodes": 0
  },
  "frequency": {
    "base_ghz": 0.0,
    "max_turbo_ghz": 0.0,
    "all_core_turbo_ghz": 0.0,
    "scaling_governor": ""
  },
  "cache": {
    "l1d_kb_per_core": 0,
    "l1i_kb_per_core": 0,
    "l2_kb_per_core": 0,
    "l3_mb_total": 0,
    "total_cache_mb": 0
  },
  "features": {
    "instruction_sets": [],
    "virtualization": {
      "vmx_svm": false,
      "iommu": false
    },
    "security": {
      "aes_ni": false,
      "sha_extensions": false,
      "sgx": false
    }
  },
  "thermal_power": {
    "tdp_watts": 0,
    "max_temp_celsius": 0,
    "current_temp_celsius": 0,
    "current_power_watts": 0
  },
  "memory_controller": {
    "channels": 0,
    "max_memory_gb": 0,
    "supported_types": [],
    "ecc_support": false
  },
  "vulnerabilities": {
    "spectre_v1": "",
    "spectre_v2": "",
    "meltdown": ""
  },
  "microcode": {
    "version": "",
    "date": ""
  }
}

Execution Guidelines

1. Gather comprehensive data: Use multiple commands to cross-verify
2. Parse carefully: Extract specific values from verbose output
3. Check all cores: Get per-core data where applicable
4. Monitor dynamic state: Capture current frequencies and temps
5. Assess features: Identify valuable CPU capabilities
6. Security review: Check vulnerabilities and mitigations
7. Performance context: Relate specs to real-world capability
8. NUMA awareness: Handle multi-socket systems properly
9. Format clearly: Present technical data accessibly
10. Provide insights: Don't just list specs, interpret them

Important Notes

• Some commands require root privileges (dmidecode, turbostat)
• Install lm-sensors and run sensors-detect for thermal monitoring
• sysstat package needed for mpstat
• cpuid and x86info provide additional details if installed
• Virtualization features require BIOS enablement
• Security mitigations can impact performance significantly
• Microcode updates are critical for security
• NUMA topology only relevant for multi-socket systems
• Thermal data accuracy varies by motherboard
• Governor settings affect performance and power consumption

Be extremely thorough - capture every detail about the CPU subsystem.