[GUIDE] 19/8 UPDATE! 4.3 RESULTS! N7 'Best' Kernel (Performance & Battery Tests)

bcvictory · Sep 16, 2012

[GUIDE] *19/8 UPDATE!* 4.3 RESULTS! N7 'Best' Kernel (Performance & Battery Tests)

A lot of people have been posting in these forums, "Which kernel is the best"?
I was intrigued and decided to work this out for myself and share it with the rest of the community.
This is not meant to hurt the makers of these kernels.

But FIRST, it is not a fact that there is a 'best' kernel. 'Best' is an opinion and everyone has a different opinion.
On the Nexus 7, I personally believe there is no 'bad' kernel and none of these kernels I have tested perform badly or lag heaps.
People still like to push their N7's as hard as they can though.

The Main 2 Features people look for in a kernel are:
Performance & Battery Life

Some people prefer performance over Battery, or vice versa, or an all-round kernel.

NEXUS 7
8GB
Paranoid Android AOSPAL 3.97

KERNELS

Kernel[022]JB4.3(1.60Ghz Quad)UV,CIFS+UTF-8,PowerHAL,Linux-3.x Hybrid]
by faux123
Ultimate Edition 22

[KERNEL][GPL][N7] franco.Kernel - r75
by franciscofranco
r75

[KERNEL] [ANDROID 4.3] LeanKernel: Minimalistic Kernel [V2.0, 8/2/13]
by azoller1
Version 2

[Kernel][4.2.2] M-Kernel - a61[WiFi/3G]
by Metallice
a61

[KERNEL] [3.1.10] [JB 4.3/4.2.2] [Purified Kernel r130] [Linaro] [07-08-2013]
by eng.stk
r130

[KERNEL] [GROUPER/TILAPIA] [4.2.2/4.3] OXYDO [3.2.49] [Linaro]
by sgt. meow
v7

[KERNEL][Grouper][JB 4.3] 3.1.12-XPerience-04 [12/08/13]
by TeamMex
v4

[KERNEL] Bricked-Kernel Grouper/Tilapia
by show-p1984

4.3 Stock Kernel

I will test another kernel if someone requests me too. I will not post other's results because they most likely have a different setup and therefore different results making it inaccurate.

NEW! 4.3 RESULTS
19/8 UPDATE

PERFORMANCE

Performance was tested with Antutu. Tested three times and averaged.
1.3 RESULTS
Kernels set to 1.3GHz max and used the default governor for the test.
1. M-Kernel: 13489
2. Franco: 13440
3. LeanKernel: 13298
4. Bricked: 13194
5. Oxydo: 13179
6. Xperience: 13139
7. Faux: 13122
8. Purified: 13102
9. Stock: 12903

MAX RESULTS
Kernels set to highest clockspeed, performance governor.
1. Bricked (1.6): 15339
2. Oxydo (1.6): 14938
3. M-Kernel (1.7): 14463
4. LeanKernel (1.5): 14343
5. Faux (1.7): 14155
6. Xperience (1.6):14147
7. Franco (1.3): 13440
8. Purified (1.3): 13102
9, Stock (1.3): 12903

BATTERY LIFE
Default Governor, 100% Brightness
Watching HD 720p Video on a Loop (MX Player Software Decoding) in a 10% range. The reason for this is not to kill my battery lifetime.

Max Freq at stock speed (1.3GHz)
1. M-Kernel:7 hours 5 minutes
2. Oxydo: 7 hours
3. LeanKernel: 6 hours 20 minutes
4. Franco: 5 hours 50 minutes
5. Purified: 5 hours 35 minutes
6. Xperience: 5 hours 30 minutes
7. Faux: 5 hours 10 minutes
8. Bricked: 5 hours 5 minutes
9. Stock: 5 hours

Max Freq set as high as it can go.
1. LeanKernel (1.5): 6 hours
2. Franco (1.3): 5 hours 50 minutes
3. Purified (1.3): 5 hours 35 minutes
4. M-Kernel (1.7):5 hours 25 minutes
5. Oxydo (1.6): 5 hours 10 minutes
6. Stock (1.3): 5 hours
7. Bricked (1.6): 4 hours 55 minutes
8. Xperience (1.6): 4 hours 45 minutes
9. Faux (1.6): 4 hours 40 minutes

OVERALL

Best Performance:

[KERNEL] Bricked-Kernel Grouper/Tilapia
by show-p1984

[Kernel][4.2.2] M-Kernel - a61[WiFi/3G]
by Metallice
a61

Best Battery Life:

[KERNEL] [ANDROID 4.3] LeanKernel: Minimalistic Kernel [V2.0, 8/2/13]
by azoller1
Version 2

Best Overall:

[Kernel][4.2.2] M-Kernel - a61[WiFi/3G]
by Metallice
a61

[URL="http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1950858"][KERNEL] [ANDROID 4.3] LeanKernel: Minimalistic Kernel [V2.0, 8/2/13]
by azoller1
Version 2

[/URL]

4.3 Results

DroidRunner · Sep 16, 2012

Nice! This should be a sticky to help reduce unnecessary threads about kernels. My only suggestion would be to run Quadrant 3 times and take the average number. Only because 3 runs will have different results every time

Sent from my Atrix 4.1.1

ÜBER™ · Sep 16, 2012

Best battery life can't really be determined since everyone uses their tablet differently i wouldn't even waste my time.

Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk

tntgdh · Sep 16, 2012

I am testing several kernels here. The fastest for me so far is trinity, but the battery is draining really fast. I then tried the 1400 MHz trinity and things got a little better with a good performance in quadrant.
I am testing motley now and seems good but a little slower than trinity. Home screen doesn't look as buttery as in trinity. I will keep testing a little longer.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

---------- Post added at 06:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:54 PM ----------

Crap...i just had a reboot while using motley and started playing dead trigger. I returned to trinity 111 and it is definitely smoother than the others for me. Maybe it is because it is the first one i flashed and now when i try others, even wiping, something remains and the other kernels don't work right. Who knows....

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

bcvictory · Sep 16, 2012

ÜBER™ said:
Best battery life can't really be determined since everyone uses their tablet differently i wouldn't even waste my time.

Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk

I was going to do a HD video playback test. See how long it lasts on each.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

StrangerWeather · Sep 16, 2012

Can't wait for the battery life results!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

erica_renee · Sep 16, 2012

I posted about the so called battery life screen shot thread in there thread.

the only way to really test battery life is to start with ful ly charged battery each day. 1 TEST PER DAY or charge cycle.

you will have to get a mathematical equation figured out first .it would have to be something like

cpu cycles x screen brightness x memory usage and s on divided by then another equation to determined battery pull watts im guessing

you would have to keep the first exact on each test device to determine the battery life ..

ok while typing this i have decided its way over my head and quite honestly not sure it can be done ..

HELP My brain now hurts ..

espionage724 · Sep 16, 2012

The best way to test CPU performance would be to make sure that all kernels are at the same exact core frequency max, and all cores enabled, on performance governor. Performance governor alone doesn't enable all cores, and benchmarks sometimes don't trigger all 4 cores as on either (it can, but not always, and that can lead to totally different numbers on different kernels).

Some kernels have higher max frequencies then others, some use the new CPU quiet driver and some don't (although this wouldn't really matter if all cores are forced on for testing).

Some kernels have higher GPU clocks then others, some have higher refresh rates then others, some have both higher refresh rates and clocks, etc.

Personally, the best way to judge a kernel is by what features are implemented in it for example, is it linaro compiled? Does it use the old hotplug method for CPU cores, or the new quiet driver? Updated WiFi driver? fsync toggle? Was it built with RNDIS drivers?

Quadrant isn't a stable means of benchmarking (run it 3 times in a row and watch those numbers change), but generally speaking, if the same kernel is compiled with linaro, vs no linaro, the linaro build would be faster (don't quote me on this). Not all those kernels are linaro that I'm aware of.

Also, Jay's buttery smooth tweaks, his fsync doesn't work on franco.Kernel. That kernel specifically uses a different command to toggle fsync, and unless that method was used, any I/O results would be void (basically comparing fsync kernels to non-fsync, where fsync would obviously dominate). And there is even the possibility the ROM you were using may interfere with CPU clocks and voltages unknowingly.

So with all that said, trying to find the "best" kernel, is going to take a bit more effort then just benching with Quadrant

And for my own personal opinion (no hard-testing done) I like franco.Kernel

Stock clocks and voltage, fsync toggle, new CPU quiet driver and WiFi driver, works awesomely

faux's kernel would be my second preferred kernel, only because lack of fsync control, and getting rid of the CPU quiet driver.

bcvictory · Sep 17, 2012

espionage724 said:
The best way to test CPU performance would be to make sure that all kernels are at the same exact core frequency max, and all cores enabled, on performance governor. Performance governor alone doesn't enable all cores, and benchmarks sometimes don't trigger all 4 cores as on either (it can, but not always, and that can lead to totally different numbers on different kernels).

Some kernels have higher max frequencies then others, some use the new CPU quiet driver and some don't (although this wouldn't really matter if all cores are forced on for testing).

Some kernels have higher GPU clocks then others, some have higher refresh rates then others, some have both higher refresh rated,
Personally, the best way to judge a kernel is by what features are implemented in it for example, is it linaro compiled? Does it use the old hotplug method for CPU cores, or the new quiet driver? Updated WiFi driver? fsync toggle? Was it built with RNDIS drivers?

Quadrant isn't a stable means of benchmarking (run it 3 times in a row and watch those numbers change), but generally speaking, if the same kernel is compiled with linaro, vs no linaro, the linaro build would be faster (don't quote me on this). Not all those kernels are linaro that I'm aware of.

Also, Jay's buttery smooth tweaks, his fsync doesn't work on franco.Kernel. That kernel specifically uses a different command to toggle fsync, and unless that method was used, any I/O results would be void (basically comparing fsync kernels to non-fsync, where fsync would obviously dominate). And there is even the possibility the ROM you were using may interfere with CPU clocks and voltages unknowingly.

So with all that said, trying to find the "best" kernel, is going to take a bit more effort then just benching with Quadrant

And for my own personal opinion (no hard-testing done) I like franco.Kernel Stock clocks and voltage, fsync toggle, new CPU quiet driver and WiFi driver, works awesomely faux's kernel would be my second preferred kernel, only because lack of fsync control, and getting rid of the CPU quiet driver.

Yeah. I know. I'm going to add a other features section. If someone else could do it that would be good. If not, I'll do it later.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

ÜBER™ · Sep 17, 2012

bcvictory said:
I was going to do a HD video playback test. See how long it lasts on each.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Who JUST watches video... would be as effective as leaving it on a white screen for hours. Like I said there is no point and would just give false hope.

Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk

genetic608 · Sep 17, 2012

Used Motleys 520 at first, probably still my favorite. Used trinity and both of clemsyns latest. Clemsyns elite 1.8 got too hot for my liking, I'm using the 1.5 UV right now and batteries not too great, but its very smooth. Trinity is smooth as well but Motleys 520 seemed to both perform better and give better battery life at comparable clock speeds to the rest.

So Motleys will be my daily, but I refuse to stop flashing!

razvanwin95 · Sep 17, 2012

this is very helpfully

thanx

bcvictory · Sep 22, 2012

Hey Guys! I have been running some battery tests over the last week. I'm finishing the results now. Show you guys soon!

bcvictory · Sep 22, 2012

Battery Tests are in the OP! Check them out, give your own opinion!

ÜBER™ · Sep 22, 2012

bcvictory said:
Battery Tests are in the OP! Check them out, give your own opinion!

Interesting... not what I expected.
They varied so much did you use all the same governor? Stock is interactive. All the same I/O? That is quite a difference a shocking one at that.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

bcvictory · Sep 22, 2012

ÜBER™ said:
Interesting... not what I expected.
They varied so much did you use all the same governor? Stock is interactive. All the same I/O? That is quite a difference a shocking one at that.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

Yeah. I used interactive on all of them. Set the minimum at the lowest it could go and the max as high as it could go on each kernel.

ÜBER™ · Sep 22, 2012

bcvictory said:
Yeah. I used interactive on all of them. Set the minimum at the lowest it could go and the max as high as it could go on each kernel.

-_- that's not fair.... nobody uses the absolute high... redo... at stock frequency.

You can't tell which is best if they are not under the same circumstances. Obviously Franco is top because his only goes to 1.3 which is stock. While others are over clocked... thats unreliable.

Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk

bcvictory · Sep 22, 2012

ÜBER™ said:
-_- that's not fair.... nobody uses the absolute high... redo... at stock frequency.

Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk

All of them at 1.3GHz Max? Whats the point of overclocking then?

ÜBER™ · Sep 22, 2012

bcvictory said:
All of them at 1.3GHz Max? Whats the point of overclocking then?

For benchmarks... not battery performance.

So your telling me the benchmarks where at different frequencies too? Wow have you never done a science expierenment? You don't test under different variables... that's inconsistent.

That's like frying an egg at 100F and comparing it to frying it at 120F. Obviously the 120F will fry faster. Cmon man.
Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

bcvictory · Sep 22, 2012

ÜBER™ said:
For benchmarks... not battery performance.

Sent From My N7 via White Tapatalk

Yeah. I guess... I was going to try Motley at 1.3 for fun anyway. See how I do...

[GUIDE] *19/8 UPDATE!* 4.3 RESULTS! N7 'Best' Kernel (Performance & Battery Tests)

Which Kernel is the 'Best'?

Stock

Trinity by morfic

Motley Kernel by _motley

Faux Kernel by faux123

Franco.kernel by franciscofranco

Clemsyn's Elite Kernel

GLaDOS by Ezekeel

Other

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[GUIDE] 19/8 UPDATE! 4.3 RESULTS! N7 'Best' Kernel (Performance & Battery Tests)