Analyzing Fedora's Slow Performance On The Framework Laptop 13 Pro With Intel Panther Lake

In my recent Linux testing of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro, I found that Fedora Workstation 44 typically ran slower than the other five modern Linux distributions benchmarked. This led me to delve deeper into the performance anomalies unique to Fedora Workstation 44. One key difference between Fedora Workstation 44 and the other Linux distributions was the version of Intel Thermald being used.

Fedora Workstation 44 shipped with Intel Thermald 2.5.9, while the other distributions used Thermald 2.5.11 or the latest Thermald 2.5.12. Intel Thermald is known to be crucial for Linux on modern Intel laptops, and outdated versions can lead to power management issues.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that Fedora switched from Power-Profiles-Daemon to Tuned in Fedora 44. Most other Linux distributions utilize power-profiles-daemon rather than Red Hat Tuned. Power-profiles-daemon is not installed by default on Fedora 44, but it is available. By swapping Tuned for power-profiles-daemon and re-running the benchmarks, Fedora 44 showed a significant improvement in performance, now performing much more competitively with the other Linux distributions on the Intel Panther Lake laptop.

While a newer version of Thermald may help Fedora 44 on newer Intel laptops, the switch from Tuned to power-profiles-daemon turned out to be the more impactful factor in allowing the Framework Laptop 13 Pro to better compete with the other Linux distributions.