This page compares the performance impact of changing the default buffer size for pipes
Pipe Buffer Sizes (MB/sec)
| CPU | Freq | Cache | 64 KB | 256 KB | 1 MB | 4 MB | 8 MB |
| Core2Quad Q9650 (4 Cores) | 3.00 GHz | 2×6 MB | 4581 | 6161 | 6224 | 2175 | 1726 |
| i5 2540m (2 Cores + HT) | 2.60 GHz | 3 MB | 6538 | 7096 | 7722 | 4549 | 4776 |
| i5 3320m Power Save | 1.20 GHz | 3 MB | 3358 | 4119 | 4501 | 3199 | 3192 |
| i5 3320m (2 Cores + HT) | 2.60 GHz | 3 MB | 7231 | 8919 | 9789 | 5922 | 5991 |
| i5 3320m Turbo | 3.30 GHz | 3 MB | 8590 | 11058 | 11702 | 7008 | 6522 |
| i7 4770 (4 Cores + HT) | 3.40 GHz | 8 MB | 9827 | 12929 | 14104 | 13027 | 8576 |
| E5-1650 v3 (6 Cores + HT) | 3.50 GHz | 15 MB | 8251 | 10098 | 9970 | 10058 | 7319 |
| E5-1650 v3 Turbo | 3.80 GHz | 15 MB | 9651 | 12292 | 12848 | 13178 | 8393 |
| E5-2650 v0 (8 Cores + HT) | 2.00 GHz | 20 MB | 5580 | 6384 | 6538 | 6984 | 6653 |
| E5-2650 v0 Turbo | 2.80 GHz | 20 MB | 6701 | 7496 | 7882 | 7607 | 7852 |
| E5-2670 v0 (8 Cores + HT) | 2.60 GHz | 20 MB | 7101 | 8006 | 8278 | 7716 | 8919 |
| E5-2670 v0 Turbo | 3.30 GHz | 20 MB | 7431 | 8896 | 9799 | 9385 | 9275 |
{{pipebuffersize/pipe_bandwidth_2017-06-01.png?1000}}
Linux pipe(7) – Linux increased the default from 64 KB to 1 MB in kernel 4.9