Intel has introduced a noteworthy update for Linux users running its ARC graphics chips. Developers and advanced users now have the option to disable certain security protections—including defenses against vulnerabilities like Spectre—using a new neo_disable_mitigations compilation flag in the Intel Compute Runtime., Ubuntu maker Canonical in cooperation with Intel is preparing to disable these security mitigations in the Ubuntu packages in order to recoup this lost performance. I haven't looked at the Intel graphics security mitigation costs as closely as on the CPU side but apparently now it's up to around 20%., Canonical and Intel are Reportedly Disabling GPU Security Mitigations, Which Will Improve Intel Graphics Performance by up to 20%. With security flaws such as Spectre and Meltdown, which were , According to an Ubuntu Launchpad bug report for the Intel Compute Runtime, users can expect up to 20% performance improvement when disabling Intel graphics security mitigations on the GPU compute stack for OpenCL and Level Zero. In other words, disabling these driver-level mitigations can significantly boost the performance on heavy compute , What happened? Canonical, the guardians of the Ubuntu gospel, and Intel, the veterans of x86 realpolitik, are removing the Spectre mitigations for integrated Intel GPUs from the compute runtime with the upcoming Ubuntu 25.10. The performance gains: up to 20 %. The security gains beforehand: tend to be academic., .