Hw timestamping code caused performance regression in ixgbe driver when the
timestamping is not enabled. The culprit is IXGBE_READ_REG call in the Rx
path which is executed for every received skb. This call is not needed when
the timestamping is disabled or for non-ptp packets.
netperf results:
The ixgbe side of the connection was acting as a server, the netperf command
line on the other side was:
netperf -H 192.168.1.23 -T0,0 -t UDP_STREAM -l 20
The values below mean throughput as reported by netperf (local/remote), for
3 runs, with timestamping not enabled.