Canonical is now publishing daily ISO images for Ubuntu 26.10, codenamed “Stonking Stingray,” that include support for the amd64v3 architecture. This addition, beginning with images released on September 4th, aims to improve performance on newer CPUs by leveraging advanced instruction set features.
The x86_64-v3 micro-architecture feature level allows the system to assume the availability of AVX/AVX2, FMA, BMI2, MOVBE, and other newer CPU instruction set architectures (ISAs). This can lead to performance gains. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 already mandates x86_64-v3 support, which generally encompasses CPUs from the last 13+ years, including Intel Haswell and AMD Excavator processors and newer.
Previously, users wanting to utilize amd64v3 packages had to first install the standard amd64 ISO and then manually adjust their APT configuration to upgrade to the amd64v3 packages. The inclusion of amd64v3 ISOs streamlines this process, offering a more direct installation experience. Canonical continues to produce standard amd64 packages for systems older than 2013. The latest Ubuntu 26.10 daily live ISOs are available at cdimages.ubuntu.com. Phoronix reports that benchmarks comparing amd64 and amd64v3 versions of Ubuntu 26.10 are forthcoming.
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