CPU Design · All levels
CPU Metrics Reference
Core metrics for front-end health, OoO efficiency, memory behavior, and silicon readiness.
Core metric families
Front-end: fetch bandwidth, branch MPKI, redirect penalty, bubble share.
OoO core: rename pressure, ROB occupancy, issue queue fairness, retire IPC.
Execution: port utilization, dependency stalls, LSQ pressure, forwarding quality.
Memory/system: cache/TLB misses, coherence traffic, NUMA locality, interconnect hotspots.
Silicon: perf-per-watt, thermal throttling, timing closure margin, bring-up velocity.
diagram
BEFORE / AFTER TREND - CPU Closure
metric quality
^
| o target region
| o post-fix rerun
| o
| o baseline (failing)
+----------------------------------------------> iteration
capture isolate mechanism close
Use this to prove improvement is causal and stable.