Processor compatibility mode definitions

You can learn about each processor compatibility mode and the servers on which each mode can run.

The following table describes each processor compatibility mode and the servers on which the logical partitions that use each processor compatibility mode can successfully operate.

Table 1. Processor compatibility modes
Processor compatibility mode	Description	Supported servers
POWER7®	The POWER7 processor compatibility mode allows you to run operating-system versions that use all the standard features of the POWER7 processor.	Logical partitions that use the POWER7 processor compatibility mode can run on POWER7, POWER8®, and POWER9™ processor-based servers.
POWER8	The POWER8 processor compatibility mode allows you to run operating-system versions that use all the standard features of the POWER8 processor.	Logical partitions that use the POWER8 processor compatibility mode can run on POWER8 and POWER9 processor-based servers.
POWER9 Base	The POWER9 Base processor compatibility mode allows you to run operating-system versions that use the features of the POWER9 processor enabled by the firmware at level FW910.	Logical partitions that use the POWER9_Base processor compatibility mode can run on POWER9 processor-based servers.
POWER9	The POWER9 processor compatibility mode allows you to run operating-system versions that use the features of the POWER9 processor enabled by the firmware at level FW940.	Logical partitions that use the POWER9 processor compatibility mode can run on POWER9 processor-based servers at firmware level FW940, or later.
default	The default processor compatibility mode is a configured processor compatibility mode that enables the hypervisor to determine the effective mode for the logical partition. When the configured mode is set to default, the hypervisor sets the effective mode to the most fully featured mode supported by the operating environment. In most cases, this is the processor type of the server on which the logical partition is activated.	The servers on which logical partitions with the configured processor compatibility mode of default can run depend on the effective processor compatibility mode of the logical partition.