1y ago

Linux way way slower than Windows?

So I jumped ship from Windows to Kubuntu last night, and It's mostly been pretty good. However my general performance of the computer has been abysmal. Like it takes upwards of 5 seconds to open anything. All of my hardware seems to be running at max speeds, so I have no idea why it would be so sluggish? It's as if I'm running on 2gb of ram and a cpu at like 1.5ghz. My specs are:

i7-8700k at 4.7ghz max Amd Rx 6750xt 16gb ram at 3200mhz Linux is on an m.2

Any ideas? This is practically unusable for any normal operations, let alone any gaming.

Update: So it seems like my CPU is being throttled to it's min of 800mhz because the temp is just below 100c. Not sure why it's so high because I never got that high even in intensive gaming on Windows

93 comments

I would start by checking for any sort of errors in your system logs, such as /var/log/syslog or using dmesg -w. In my experience, Linux is almost universally faster than Windows.
- When I switched from Windows to Linux I found cockpit-project.org to be a true blessing when troubleshooting. Something about having logs and services in a Web GUI that can be really helpful.
  f.e.: https://cockpit-project.org/images/screenshot/journal.webp
- Yeah, there's probably something wrong. This is good advice. Maybe some tool can also do a performance benchmark to find the culprit. I've seen a lot of Linux computers. And except for some strange hardware, it's supposed to be (at least) as fast as anything else.
- Except for GNOME cause the DE is essentially a browser engine and CSS themes :)
  
  no, you are wrong about it being slower, and also about it being a browser
  
  isn't that basically what the windows ui is, too?

Since you mentioned high cpu temps, do you have a water cooler? It’s possible that the pump is running at a reduced speed or not at all. If it was functioning fine on windows that leads me to believe that it’s not hardware related like some are suggesting.
- I do have a AIO radiator. The pump itself is plugged into CHA_FAN1 and shows about 1600RPM, but I don't remember the normal speeds
  
  Are your AIO fans, pump, etc. connected to the motherboard or through a USB hub?
  
  I've had similar problems in the past with an AIO, the pump should always be at 100%, so I usually do this through BIOS. My old Mobo had a dedicated pump pin, but the new one doesn't, so I put it on a fan one and configured it to 100% all times. If the pump is not at maximum it might not move enough water for the system to cool.
  The problem here might be a difference between how Windows and Linux handle fan control, CHA_FAN1 is a chassis fan, it might be that Kubuntu is not using the CPU temp for it, instead relying on another sensor.
  Although to be honest I don't think this might be causing your issue. I'm leaning more to thinking this is related to either the snaps or some problem with the disk you have Linux on. My recommendation is to test a live iso for different distros, if the live iso for Kubuntu works better than on the disk it might imply some issue with the disk, if it's also slow it might be a problem with Kubuntu, I would recommend then testing different distros with KDE Plasma, they would look and feel the same but might be faster if the problem is Ubuntu's snaps. I personally don't like it but I've heard people speak highly of Fedora and OpenSuse.
  
  Check your motherboards manual, there may be a water cooling pump specific header.
  
  I've had a few issues with fan control on AMD hardware. In your motherboards BIOS, try taking all fan control off auto, and set it for full load. In your OS, download Radeon-Control (AMD GPU Fan control) and set it for full load. See if your Temps stay high. I think Kubuntu comes with Fan-GUI (I think that's what it's called). Disable it.

With temps that high in Linux and Windows, it almost sounds like the AIO water block is falling off the CPU.
- or the pump has failed

This sounds like a hardware problem. Keep in mind that thermal paste doesn't last forever. I'd rebuild it.

I agree it sounds like your cooler is failing or not installed correctly.
- Driver support or fan profile maybe?

Based on your update, are the AMD drivers loaded and working? Maybe it's using CPU for rendering instead of GPU.
- Is there a way I can tell? I haven't downloaded anything manually as my monitors seem to work out of the box unlike windows
  
  Install "nvtop" to see all GPUs Performance graph. I do not remember if Intel was supported for Performance graph, but at least you can see a change for your AMD GPU.
  There are AMD Top tools to see all data from AMD too.
  
  I haven't used Linux on desktop in ages but back in the.day we would do something like run gears to see if the animation was smooth and check the frame rate. Maybe use lsmod to check for the GPU's kernel module.
- I don't think it would be throttled to 800Mhz if this was the case, though. It definitely sounds like their cpu cooler isn't working right. Maybe due to a kernel bug somehow, or maybe it just coincidentally died right when they moved to Linux.
  
  yeah cpu fan/cooler does sound more likely.

Are you using snaps? Snaps are notorious for God awful performance.
- Any Ubuntu affiliated distro is required to use snaps, so Kubuntu will use them. Startup times are terrible, but running performance should be the same.
  Another simple distro to try would be either Mint or Pop-OS. Both are still Ubuntu based, but without snaps
  Mint's interface (Cinnamon) is similar to Windows, Pop-OS uses a modified GNome
  
  Fedora KDE is also a great option. Bleeding edge but stable.

Do you use some weird cooling solutions? Drivers may be an issue. The other possibilities I can think of are hardware related.

You didn't mention what kind of cpu cooler (that I see). Have you checked there is fan spin for cpu fan? Possibly in windows you've got software controlling fan speed and that link is missing in Linux so it's trying to just passively cool it? Even more complicated to diagnose if it's an aio but could be similar with no pump running.

What i would figure out first is why tf your hardware runs on max all the time.(Maybe a bugged out program?) You can do so via top/htop/btop etc.

Generally I would say the exact opposite is the norm. Every Linux flavor I have tried feels a lot faster than any of its peer windows versions
- For me, Garuda Linux with Gnome or KDE felt very laggy. But this experience is old.
  But a lot of distros do feel much smoother than Windows for me too.

Honestly it sounds like a slight hardware issue that was made worse by Linux not having hardware modules written by the manufacture

if your CPU is at 100%, running "top" will show you what's taking CPU time
- htop is another good option. And for OP if they aren't familiar, it's control-c to exit these little terminal apps.
  
  My current favorite is btop. Very nice TUI.
  
  I think pressing Q works too to exit htop.

I'm not sure about how much up to date Kubuntu's drivers are but maybe, if the software is at fault, changing to a more bleeding edge distro, like Fedora KDE, would solve this issue with temperature.

The thing I experienced on my laptop was: I used on Linux Max Performance while on windows I let it be the default (balanced or smth I think). The result: my Laptop hit way too often 100°C when playing games that my CPU throttled to 800mhz. It was a quick fix by just using balanced instead so it can decide for itself when to cool a tiny bit to not throttle, like windows.
There are multiple tools to set the Intel Power Management Profile to "Balanced" instead of "Performance"

Lubuntu or xubuntu are quicker (especially on lesser machines), but it does sound like you've got cooling issues.
I always find Kde heavy-handed with resources to deliver the GUI.
- KDE wouldn't be slow on the kind of hardware he's using. I've used it on far lower end hardware with no noticeable slowdowns.
  Yes, KDE requires hardware accelerated graphics and more memory to run smoothly, but anything built in the last 10y should have no issues meeting those requirements.

When you know it's overheating, you could as well try and remove dust, with some compressed air. It can't hurt.
Edit: Actually there's plenty other that thinks this could be a combo of software and hardware, so my point is still valid.
Check your hardware if you start getting overheating problems.
- Sure, but it's not like the dust suddenly appeared when switching to linux, this is a software/driver issue.
  
  Sorry I should have started my comment with a disclaimer that I absolutely know it's a software problem but. It's always prudent to ensure against crud buildup inside the computer.

Did you change some hardware when you switched? Put a new SSD in? Maybe you knocked something for cooling lose. Or blocked some vent.
Do you have the Windows installation still? You could try to see if it's showing the same symptoms. Or download some other Linux and boot that from USB.
- So windows also gives me a reading of just under 100C but has no problem running my cpu at 2ghz or higher. So I'll have to take a look at my radiator and see what's up.
  I installed a SATA ssd to boot windows to because I need it for university, but didn't mess with cooling. Thanks for the help
  
  Your cooler isn't working, or poor contact with the CPU maybe.
  With an AIO you should not be seeing more than 60-70C on most setups.
  
  Does windows give you just under 100C when you're just browsing the web or watching videos??
  If so then your thermal set up is not working properly. You should check to make sure you've got thermal paste on your CPU and the cooler is mounted properly and making good contact. Also some people may accidentally leave the clear plastic sticker on the cooler where it makes contact with the CPU.
  I've never water cooled so I can't give advice there.
  The 8700k is rated for a max temperature of 100C so it shouldn't really be anywhere near that at idle. https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126684/intel-core-i7-8700k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz.html
  For context my 7900x is at about 40C at idle and I don't think I've seen it go over 75C under load.
  CPUs thermal throttle as they reach their maximum rated tempuratures which would explain why everything is running slower.
  
  Linux may have different thermal cutoffs for when to throttle compared to Windows, so that might explain it.
  I'd reseat the connector for the water pump. I just installed a new PSU last week and when I turned it on, I had no RGB. I didn't even think I went near the RGB header, but I ended up having to reseat it.
  
  Can you try changing the power profile to "balanced" or "performance" in gnome/kde settings? Or is it stuck to "power save"?

That's really interesting that's for sure, since I'm experiencing the opposite of it? Did you try Wayland perhaps? It handles displaying stuff in a different way. You can choose it in the login screen on the bottom left side probably.
- Is it not default yet?
  
  Wayland is default on Gnome.
  
  Not on KDE yet, but Idunno if Kubuntu changed this or not.

Some distros have always seemed to perform better than others for me. Ubuntu was always lagging, mint has always performed very well. I never figured out why. But some hopping might be the easiest solution.

This is purely based on my experience but somehow I think that Pop OS works better on laptops. System76 is a laptop manufacturer so it makes sense they'd optimize for that, I suppose. You may want to give that a try
- *also a laptop manufacture

Sometimes one might have issues with delayed opening of GTK apps, but I’m pretty sure there can be multiple causes. All misconfiguration, so it would be weird since you’re on Kubuntu.

Open your activity monitor (or hit Ctrl+Esc) and sort by CPU usage. What's your computer doing?
Also, have you installed all necessary drivers? I've never had your problem, so there's a chance you don't have the right drivers.
Could you follow the instructions on https://linux-hardware.org/?view=howto , upload a hardware probe and share the link here?

Go to terminal and type in top .. Maybe something like fs-miner is chewing CPU cycles? File indexing can sometimes do this.

While I doubt this will work, uninstall something like xdg-portal-gnome if you have it. It significantly increased app startup times on my machine
- Gnome portal on a Kde UI?
  Tell me more stories
  
  Which is why I said it was unlikely. Personally I tried out multiple DEs before settling on one so I had it installed