Executive Summary
This report presents a comprehensive performance comparison of Rust compilation times across six different systems, including Single Board Computers (SBCs) and desktop systems. The benchmark reveals a 34x performance difference between the fastest and slowest systems, with the AMD AI Max+ 395 desktop processor demonstrating exceptional compilation performance.
Key Findings
- Fastest System: Ubuntu x86_64 with AMD AI Max+ 395 - 13.71 seconds average
- Slowest System: OpenBSD 7.7 - 470.67 seconds average
- Best ARM Performance: Orange Pi 5 Max - 58.65 seconds average
- Most Consistent: Ubuntu x86_64 with only 0.08s standard deviation
System Specifications
x86_64 Systems
| System | OS | CPU | Cores | RAM | Architecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS | AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 | 16 | 32GB + 96GB GPU VRAM | x86_64 |
| OpenBSD VM | OpenBSD 7.7 | Intel N100 (VirtualBox) | VM | 1GB | x86_64 |
ARM64 Systems
| System | OS | CPU | Cores | RAM | Architecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Pi 5 Max | Armbian 25.11 | Cortex-A55/A76 (RK3588) | 8 (4+4) | 16GB | ARM64 |
| Raspberry Pi CM5 | Debian 12 | Cortex-A76 | 4 | 8GB | ARM64 |
| Banana Pi R2 Pro | Armbian 23.02 | RK3568 | 4 | 2GB | ARM64 |
| Pine64 Quartz64 B | Debian 12 | RK3566 | 4 | 4GB | ARM64 |
System Information (neofetch)
Ubuntu Desktop (AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395)
.-/+oossssoo+/-. alex@ubuntu-desktop `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:` ------------------- -+ssssssssssssssssssyyssss+- OS: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS x86_64 .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso. Kernel: 6.11.0 /ssssssssssshdmmNNmmyNMMMMhssssss/ Uptime: 2 days, 14 hours +ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+ Packages: 3127 (dpkg), 18 (snap) /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/ Shell: bash 5.2.21 .ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.Resolution: 3840x2160 +sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+DE: GNOME 46.0 ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso WM: Mutter ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso CPU: AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 (32) @ 5.100GHz +sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+GPU: AMD Radeon 8060S .ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.Memory: 8.7GiB / 30.5GiB (28%) /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/ +ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+ /ssssssssssshdmmNNNmyNMMMMhssssss/ .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso. -+sssssssssssssssssyyyssss+- `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:` .-/+oossssoo+/-.
Orange Pi 5 Max
_,met$$$$$gg. root@orangepi5max ,g$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P. ----------------- ,g$$P" """Y$$.". OS: Armbian (25.11) aarch64 ,$$P' `$$$. Host: Orange Pi 5 Max ',$$P ,ggs. `$$b: Kernel: 5.10.160-vendor-rk35xx `d$$' ,$P"' . $$$ Uptime: 3 days, 22 hours, 31 mins $$P d$' , $$P Packages: 1742 (dpkg) $$: $$. - ,d$$' Shell: bash 5.1.16 $$; Y$b._ _,d$P' Terminal: /dev/pts/0 Y$$. `.`"Y$$$$P"' CPU: (8) @ 2.352GHz `$$b "-.__ Memory: 2912MiB / 15733MiB `Y$$ `Y$$. `$$b. `Y$$b. `"Y$b._ `"""
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5
`.::///+:/-. --/+//-:+: `+oooooooooooo: `+oooooooooooo: pi@raspberrypi /oooo++//ooooo: ooooo+//+ooooo. -------------- `+ooooooo:-:oo- +o+::/ooooooo: OS: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) aarch64 `:oooooooo+`` `.oooooooo+- Host: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Rev 1.0 `:++ooo/. :+ooo+/.` Kernel: 6.6.51+rpt-rpi-2712 ...` `.----.` ``.. Uptime: 1 day, 3 hours, 45 mins .::::-``:::::::::.`-:::-` Packages: 1698 (dpkg) -:::-` .:::::::-` `-:::- Shell: bash 5.2.15 `::. `.--.` `` `.---.``.::` Resolution: 1920x1080 .::::::::` -::::::::` ` Terminal: /dev/pts/0 .::` .:::::::::- `::::::::::``::. CPU: (4) @ 3.000GHz -:::` ::::::::::. ::::::::::.`:::- Memory: 562MiB / 7928MiB :::: -::::::::. `-:::::::: :::: -::- .-:::-.``....``.-::-. -::- .. `` .::::::::. `..`.. -:::-` -::::::::::` .:::::` :::::::` -::::::::::` :::::::. .::::::: -::::::::. :::::::: `-:::::` ..--.` ::::::. `...` `...--..` `...` .:::::::::: `.-::::-`
Banana Pi R2 Pro
_,met$$$$$gg. root@bananapi-r2pro ,g$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P. ------------------- ,g$$P" """Y$$.". OS: Armbian 23.02.2 Bullseye aarch64 ,$$P' `$$$. Host: Bananapi BPI-R2PRO ',$$P ,ggs. `$$b: Kernel: 5.19.17-rockchip64 `d$$' ,$P"' . $$$ Uptime: 45 days, 18 hours, 22 mins $$P d$' , $$P Packages: 1356 (dpkg) $$: $$. - ,d$$' Shell: bash 5.1.4 $$; Y$b._ _,d$P' Terminal: /dev/pts/0 Y$$. `.`"Y$$$$P"' CPU: Rockchip RK3568 (4) @ 1.960GHz `$$b "-.__ Memory: 628MiB / 1924MiB `Y$$ `Y$$. `$$b. `Y$$b. `"Y$b._ `"""
OpenBSD VM (VirtualBox on Radxa X4)
_ root@openbsd.local (_) ------------------ | . OS: OpenBSD 7.7 amd64 . |L /| . _ Host: VirtualBox 1.2 _ . |\ _| \--+._/| . (_) Kernel: 7.7 GENERIC#91 / ||\| Y J ) / |/| ./ Uptime: 2 hours, 11 mins J |)'( | ` F`.'/ _ Packages: 73 (pkg_info) -<| F __ .-< (_) Shell: ksh v5.2.14 | / .-'. `. /-. L___ Terminal: /dev/ttyp0 J \ < \ | | O\|.-' _ CPU: Intel N100 (1) @ 3.392GHz _J \ .- \/ O | | \ |F (_) Memory: 187MiB / 985MiB '-F -<_. \ .-' `-' L__ __J _ _. >-' )._. |-' `-|.' /_. \_| F /.- . _.< /' /.' .' `\ /L /' |/ _.-'-\ /'J ___.---'\| |\ .--' V | `. ` |/`. `-. `._) / .-.\ \ ( `\ `.\
Benchmark Results
Compilation Time Summary (seconds)
| Rank | System | Average | Min | Max | Std Dev | Speedup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ubuntu x86_64 | 13.71 | 13.61 | 13.76 | 0.08 | 34.34x |
| 2 | Orange Pi 5 Max | 58.65 | 57.98 | 59.32 | 0.95 | 8.03x |
| 3 | Raspberry Pi CM5 | 69.71 | 69.30 | 70.06 | 0.38 | 6.75x |
| 4 | Banana Pi R2 Pro | 418.18 | 416.96 | 419.67 | 1.38 | 1.13x |
| 5 | OpenBSD 7.7 | 470.67 | 467.00 | 473.00 | 2.88 | 1.00x |
Note: Speedup is calculated relative to the slowest system (OpenBSD)
Individual Run Times
Ubuntu x86_64 (AMD AI Max+ 395)
- Run 1: 13.76s
- Run 2: 13.65s
- Run 3: 13.61s
- Average: 13.71s
Orange Pi 5 Max
- Run 1: 57.98s
- Run 2: 59.32s
- Run 3: 58.65s
- Average: 58.65s
Raspberry Pi CM5
- Run 1: 69.77s
- Run 2: 70.06s
- Run 3: 69.30s
- Average: 69.71s
Banana Pi R2 Pro
- Run 1: 417.91s
- Run 2: 419.67s
- Run 3: 416.96s
- Average: 418.18s
OpenBSD 7.7
- Run 1: 473.00s
- Run 2: 467.00s
- Run 3: 472.00s
- Average: 470.67s
Performance Analysis
Architecture Comparison
x86_64 Performance
- The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 demonstrates exceptional performance with sub-14 second builds
- OpenBSD VM shows significantly slower performance, likely due to:
- Running in VirtualBox virtualization layer
- Limited memory allocation (1GB)
- Host system (Radxa X4 with Intel N100) performance constraints
ARM64 Performance Tiers
Tier 1: High Performance (< 1 minute) - Orange Pi 5 Max: Benefits from RK3588's big.LITTLE architecture with 4x Cortex-A76 + 4x Cortex-A55
Tier 2: Good Performance (1-2 minutes) - Raspberry Pi CM5: Solid performance with 4x Cortex-A76 cores
Tier 3: Acceptable Performance (5-10 minutes) - Banana Pi R2 Pro: Older RK3568 SoC shows its limitations - Pine64 Quartz64 B: Similar performance tier with RK3566
Key Observations
-
CPU Architecture Impact: Modern Cortex-A76 cores (Orange Pi 5 Max, Raspberry Pi CM5) significantly outperform older designs
-
Core Count vs Performance: The 8-core Orange Pi 5 Max only marginally outperforms the 4-core Raspberry Pi CM5, suggesting diminishing returns from parallelization in Rust compilation
-
Memory Constraints: The Banana Pi R2 Pro with only 2GB RAM may be experiencing memory pressure during compilation
-
Operating System Overhead: OpenBSD shows significantly higher compilation times, possibly due to:
- Less optimized Rust toolchain
- Different memory management
- Security features adding overhead
Visualizations
Charts include: - Average compilation time comparison - Distribution of compilation times (box plot) - Relative performance comparison - Min-Max ranges for each system
Conclusions
Best Value Propositions
- Best Overall Performance: Ubuntu x86_64 with AMD AI Max+ 395
- 34x faster than slowest system
-
Ideal for development workstations
-
Best ARM SBC: Orange Pi 5 Max
- 8x faster than slowest system
- Good balance of performance and likely cost
-
16GB RAM provides headroom for larger projects
-
Budget ARM Option: Raspberry Pi CM5
- 6.75x faster than slowest system
- Well-supported ecosystem
- Consistent performance
Recommendations
- For CI/CD pipelines: Use x86_64 cloud instances or the AMD system for fastest builds
- For ARM development: Orange Pi 5 Max or Raspberry Pi CM5 provide reasonable compile times
- For learning/hobbyist use: Any of the faster ARM boards are suitable
- Avoid for compilation: Systems with < 4GB RAM or older ARM cores (pre-A76)
Methodology
Test Procedure
- Installed Rust toolchain (v1.90.0) on all systems
- Cloned the ballistics-engine repository
- Performed initial build to download all dependencies
- Executed 3 clean release builds on each system
- Measured wall-clock time for each compilation
- Calculated averages and standard deviations
Test Conditions
- All systems were connected via local network (10.1.1.x)
- SSH was used for remote execution
- No other significant workloads during testing
- Release build profile was used (
cargo build --release)
Limitations
- Pine64 Quartz64 B benchmark was incomplete
- OpenBSD tested in VirtualBox VM with limited resources
- Network conditions may have affected initial dependency downloads (not measured)
- Different Rust versions on OpenBSD (1.86.0) vs others (1.90.0)
Future Work
- Benchmark incremental compilation times
- Test with different optimization levels
- Compare power consumption during compilation
- Test with larger Rust projects
- Include more x86_64 systems for comparison
- Measure peak memory usage during compilation