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description: The Linux 7.3 merge window brings a batch of scheduler improvements. Peter Zijlstra's 'flatten the pick' patch series overhauls cgroup scheduling, adding...
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# Linux 7.3 Scheduler Improvements: Help For Gaming, Hybrid CPUs, Lower Scheduler Latency

**[Phoronix](https://daily.dev/sources/phoronix)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

The Linux 7.3 merge window brings a batch of scheduler improvements. Peter Zijlstra's 'flatten the pick' patch series overhauls cgroup scheduling, adding cgroup_mode weight distribution methods ('up', 'max', 'concur', 'tasks') with 'concur' as the default, and moving cgroup scheduling to a single runqueue, showing gaming performance gains on older hardware like an Intel Sandy Bridge CPU with an AMD Radeon RX 580. Separately, Vincent Guittot's work lowers scheduling latency for short-slice tasks, showing significant cyclictest improvements. The update also fixes cluster scheduling for CPUs with asymmetric capacity (Intel hybrid CPUs) and makes NOHZ load balancing prefer fully idle cores.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.3-Scheduler>

## Questions this post answers

### What scheduler changes are included in Linux 7.3?

Linux 7.3 merges a 'flatten the pick' patch series from Peter Zijlstra that overhauls cgroup scheduling, adding cgroup_mode weight distribution options ('up', 'max', 'concur', 'tasks', with 'concur' as default) and moving cgroup scheduling to a single runqueue. It also includes Vincent Guittot's work to lower scheduling latency for short-slice tasks, a fix for cluster scheduling on Intel hybrid CPUs, and a change so NOHZ load balancing prefers fully idle cores.

_Kernel engineers tracking scheduler internals can follow Linux 7.3's changes on daily.dev._

### Does Linux 7.3 improve gaming performance on old hardware?

Yes, the 'flatten the pick' cgroup scheduling patch series from Intel engineer Peter Zijlstra was shown to boost gaming performance on older 'potato' hardware, tested with an Intel Sandy Bridge CPU paired with an AMD Radeon RX 580 Polaris GPU. It fixes long-standing cgroup scheduling problems, including mishandling of reniced tasks.

_Developers benchmarking Linux performance on legacy hardware can follow scheduler updates like this on daily.dev._

### How does Linux 7.3 handle scheduling on Intel hybrid CPUs?

Linux 7.3 includes an important fix to cluster scheduling for CPUs with asymmetric capacity, such as Intel hybrid CPUs, improving cluster load balancing between performance and efficiency cores. This was previously covered as a standalone change ahead of the full 7.3 scheduler merge.

_Engineers optimizing for hybrid CPU architectures can track kernel scheduling changes like this on daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [Linux 7.3 Expected To "Flatten The Pick" For Better Scheduling While Gaming & More](https://daily.dev/posts/linux-7-3-expected-to-flatten-the-pick-for-better-scheduling-while-gaming-more-4sk8p5nyz) · Phoronix · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- ["Flatten The Pick" Linux Patches Progress For Better cgroup Scheduling While Linux Gaming](https://daily.dev/posts/flatten-the-pick-linux-patches-progress-for-better-cgroup-scheduling-while-linux-gaming-hdbqr0cnv) · Phoronix · 1 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Linux 7.1 Scheduler Changes May Benefit Some Workloads](https://daily.dev/posts/linux-7-1-scheduler-changes-may-benefit-some-workloads-gjorr1itb) · Phoronix · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

---

Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#performance](https://daily.dev/tags/performance)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/linux-7-3-scheduler-improvements-help-for-gaming-hybrid-cpus-lower-scheduler-latency-qdaftmkiv)

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