Increasing the Performance of Linux Kernel by Tweaking the CPU configuration

The default installation of Linux installs a generic kernel. The generic will compromise compatibility with speed. In order to increase the we have to specify manually the processor installed on board. Doing so will help in increasing the performance of the kernel.

So, let's start. (You must have installed the kernel source in order to proceed further)
1. Start your terminal or shell.
2. Go to the filesystem root folder i.e. '/' folder.
3. cd /usr/src/kernels
4. Now open the folder containing your kernel source.
5. Pick one of the following:

• make config (Bash shell script)
  make menuconfig (uses text window curses)
• make xconfig
• make oldconfig

6. Select Processor type and features and then select Subarchitecture Type and then check the appropriate choice.
(X) PC-compatible
( ) AMD Elan
( ) Voyager (NCR)
( ) NUMAQ (IBM/Sequent)
( ) Summit/EXA (IBM x440)
( ) Support for other sub-arch SMP systems with more than 8 CPUs
( ) SGI 320/540 (Visual Workstation)
( ) Generic architecture (Summit, bigsmp, ES7000, default)
( ) Support for Unisys ES7000 IA32 series

7. Then select Processor family and select the processor installed on your system.

8. Save and exit.

9. Reboot the machine.

(NOTE: The list given above may vary.)