perf: comparing "CPU performance / CPU impact" of two binaries?
<p>Let's say I have two binaries which perform the same task - they convert complex data from one format to another.</p>

<p>I will run them on a busy server at low priority and I don't really care if one is faster than the other - I want to know which of them will have lower "CPU impact" to perform the same task.</p>

<p>binary_1:</p>

<pre><code>26879408.172126      task-clock:u (msec)       #    0.709 CPUs utilized
              0      context-switches:u        #    0.000 K/sec
              0      cpu-migrations:u          #    0.000 K/sec
     1142192473      page-faults:u             #    0.042 M/sec
 81241884199345      cycles:u                  #    3.022 GHz                      (83.59%)
 65593453047217      stalled-cycles-frontend:u #   80.74% frontend cycles idle     (83.59%)
 34800591044061      stalled-cycles-backend:u  #   42.84% backend cycles idle      (67.09%)
 98783244945290      instructions:u            #    1.22  insn per cycle
                                               #    0.66  stalled cycles per insn  (83.64%)
 18250463170335      branches:u                #  678.976 M/sec                    (83.60%)
   169450790563      branch-misses:u           #    0.93% of all branches          (83.59%)

37911.679793230 seconds time elapsed
</code></pre>

<p>binary_2:</p>

<pre><code>33134123.016486      task-clock:u (msec)       #    1.071 CPUs utilized
              0      context-switches:u        #    0.000 K/sec
              0      cpu-migrations:u          #    0.000 K/sec
     1947142971      page-faults:u             #    0.059 M/sec
105227191042973      cycles:u                  #    3.176 GHz                      (83.69%)
 80721331715962      stalled-cycles-frontend:u #   76.71% frontend cycles idle     (83.69%)
 46245245856602      stalled-cycles-backend:u  #   43.95% backend cycles idle      (67.25%)
140459525725760      instructions:u            #    1.33  insn per cycle
                                               #    0.57  stalled cycles per insn  (83.93%)
  9187630340020      branches:u                #  277.286 M/sec                    (83.70%)
   112107883833      branch-misses:u           #    1.22% of all branches          (83.69%)

30949.033426941 seconds time elapsed
</code></pre>

<p>As you can see, binary_1 was executing for 37911 seconds, and binary_2 for 30949 seconds.</p>

<p>On the other hand, binary_2 used more cycles and instructions.</p>

<p>Because I will be running it on a busy server, I think that binary_1 will have lower impact on the CPU (and, other tasks). Is my reasoning correct?</p>