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Arjun’s Systems Brief: Last week, Phoronix benchmarked Fedora 44 against five other distributions on a Framework Laptop 13 Pro and Fedora finished at the back of the pack. Before you panic and switch distributions, I want to tell you something from years of performance work: the “slow Fedora” headlines are overblown. Fedora ships with two specific settings that make it look slow, and both are fixable in under ten minutes. This guide walks you through exactly what happened, how to check your own system, and the two commands that fix the problem.
You booted your Fedora machine this morning, and it felt sluggish. Applications take a beat longer to open, the desktop stutters, and video playback is not as smooth as it should be. Your first instinct is to blame Fedora. On August 11, 2026, a Phoronix benchmark gave that instinct some fuel: Fedora Workstation 44 finished slower than five other distributions on a Framework Laptop 13 Pro with an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processor.
Here is the part the headline does not tell you. Fedora was not slow because of some fundamental flaw. It was slow because of two packaging decisions that were already being corrected. The benchmark itself found the culprits, and the fixes are now in the Fedora 44 repositories. If you are new to Linux, this article is for you. I am going to show you how to check whether your Fedora system is affected, apply the fixes, and understand what the benchmark actually meant.
Why Fedora Ran Slow on the Framework Laptop 13 Pro
The Phoronix test pitted Fedora Workstation 44 against CachyOS, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and other popular distributions on the same hardware. Fedora finished slower across several workloads, and the investigation narrowed it down to two root causes. Neither is a performance bug in Fedora itself. Both are configuration issues.
Cause 1: An outdated thermald. Fedora shipped with thermald version 2.5.9 while the upstream project was already at 2.5.12. Thermald is Intel’s thermal management daemon, the software that watches your CPU temperature and adjusts performance before things get too hot. Running an older thermald means the thermal governor is making decisions based on stale code, which can hold your CPU back unnecessarily.
The delay had a paper trail. Fedora’s engineering steering committee (FESCo) filed tickets because the thermald maintainer was not responding, then approved an exception to push the fixed version through. The updated thermald 2.5.12 is now available in the Fedora 44 updates repository.
Cause 2: The default power daemon. Since Fedora 41, Fedora ships tuned-ppd as the default power profile daemon instead of power-profiles-daemon, which most other distributions use. On the Framework laptop, tuned-ppd’s handling of the “performance” profile behaved differently and left performance on the table in several tests. CachyOS, the fastest distribution in that round, uses power-profiles-daemon.
Pro Tip: Both of these problems were already fixed in Fedora’s repositories by the time the benchmark was published. A plain sudo dnf upgrade pulls in the new thermald. The power daemon swap is one command. You do not need to reinstall Fedora or switch distributions.
Step 1: Update Everything First
Before we touch anything else, get your system fully updated. Fedora 44 was released on April 28, 2026, and it has received steady kernel and package updates since. The stale thermald fix is in those updates, so a full upgrade is your first and easiest win.
fosslinux@fedora:~$ sudo dnf upgrade [sudo] password for fosslinux: Upgrading: thermald x86_64 0:2.5.12-2.fc44 updates 703.4 KiB replacing thermald x86_64 0:2.5.9-3.fc44 Transaction Summary: Upgrading: 1 package Replacing: 1 package [3/4] Upgrading thermald-0:2.5.12-2.fc4 100% | 706.4 KiB [4/4] Removing thermald-0:2.5.9-3.fc44. 100%
This output is from a live Fedora 44 machine I captured while writing this guide. Notice the Replacing thermald x86_64 0:2.5.9-3.fc44 line. That is the exact stale version the Phoronix investigation flagged, being replaced by 2.5.12 from the updates repository.
Fedora 44 uses DNF5, the next-generation package manager. If you have been following older tutorials that use yum or expect DNF4 syntax, ignore them. DNF5 is faster and its output looks a little different, but the everyday commands you need are the same.
Step 2: Check Your Hardware
Not every “slow Fedora” problem is the one from the benchmark. Slow performance can come from many places, and it is worth spending two minutes checking your hardware before you assume it is the power daemon. These four commands give you a complete picture.
fosslinux@fedora:~$ lscpu | grep -E "Model name|CPU\(s\)|Core|Socket" Architecture: x86_64 CPU(s): 16 Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 285 Thread(s) per core: 1 Core(s) per socket: 4 Socket(s): 4
lscpu shows you what your processor actually is. If you see low core counts or an old model, the “slowness” is just hardware reality, not a software bug. This particular machine is a 16-thread Intel system, which is more than capable.
fosslinux@fedora:~$ free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 7.2Gi 2.4Gi 364Mi 3.9Mi 4.7Gi 4.8Gi
Swap: 7.2Gi 16Ki 7.2Gi
free -h tells you whether RAM is your bottleneck. The available column is the number that matters. It shows how much memory is genuinely free for new programs, including cache that the kernel can reclaim. If your available is above 20% of total RAM, memory is not your problem.
fosslinux@fedora:~$ df -h / Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/nvme0n1p3 18G 12G 6.3G 65% /
df -h / checks your root filesystem. When a drive is above 90% full, performance starts to degrade noticeably. I have seen systems crawl because someone filled their root partition to 98% and the system was thrashing trying to find free blocks.
If you want a deeper look at temperatures, SMART disk health, and load, I covered the full diagnostic toolkit in my Linux thermal monitoring guide. The short version: sensors for temperatures, smartctl -H /dev/nvme0n1 for drive health, and inxi -Fxz for a complete hardware summary.
Step 3: Fix the Power Daemon (The Big One)
Here is the fix that mattered most in the Phoronix benchmark. Fedora ships tuned-ppd as its default power profile daemon, and on some hardware it leaves performance on the table compared to power-profiles-daemon. The fix is a single swap command that replaces one with the other.
First, let me show you what the problem looks like on a stock Fedora 44 system:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ rpm -q tuned-ppd power-profiles-daemon tuned-ppd-2.27.0-1.fc44.noarch package power-profiles-daemon is not installed fosslinux@fedora:~$ tuned-adm active Current active profile: balanced
That package power-profiles-daemon is not installed line is the giveaway. Your Fedora system is running tuned-ppd. To switch to power-profiles-daemon, run this one command:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ sudo dnf swap tuned-ppd power-profiles-daemon Removing: tuned-ppd noarch 0:2.27.0-1.fc44 Removing unused dependencies: tuned noarch 0:2.27.0-1.fc44 kernel-tools x86_64 0:7.0.14-201.fc44 Installing: power-profiles-daemon x86_64 0:0.30-3.fc44 Transaction Summary: Installing: 1 package Removing: 11 packages After this operation, 16 MiB will be freed
DNF’s swap command removes one package and installs another in a single atomic transaction, cleaning up any dependencies that are no longer needed. In this capture it removed eleven packages that only existed to support tuned-ppd and installed power-profiles-daemon in their place.
Insight: Removing eleven packages is expected, not a bug. Packages like tuned, kernel-tools, and hdparm were only pulled in as dependencies of tuned-ppd. When the daemon goes, so do they. Your system will not lose any functionality you were actually using.
After the swap, verify the new daemon is in place and active:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ rpm -q tuned-ppd power-profiles-daemon package tuned-ppd is not installed power-profiles-daemon-0.30-3.fc44.x86_64 fosslinux@fedora:~$ powerprofilesctl get balanced
powerprofilesctl get reads the active power profile from the new daemon. The default is balanced, which is what you want for everyday use. Your GNOME Settings panel now controls power profiles through power-profiles-daemon, exactly like the distributions that benchmarked faster than Fedora.
After the swap, GNOME Settings manages your power mode through power-profiles-daemon.
The same swap trick works in reverse if you ever want to go back to tuned-ppd: sudo dnf swap power-profiles-daemon tuned-ppd.
Step 4: Verify Thermald
Now let us make sure thermald is current. On Fedora, thermald has been part of the default Workstation install since Fedora 33, so it should already be present. Check what version you have and what the repositories offer:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ rpm -q thermald thermald-2.5.9-3.fc44.x86_64 fosslinux@fedora:~$ dnf info thermald | grep -E "Version|Repository" Version : 2.5.9 Version : 2.5.12 Repository : updates
If your installed version is 2.5.9, you are on the stale build from the benchmark. The 2.5.12 line with Repository: updates is the fixed version. Your sudo dnf upgrade from Step 1 should have already installed it. If it did not, or if you want to force it, run:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ sudo dnf upgrade thermald [sudo] password for fosslinux: thermald x86_64 0:2.5.12-2.fc44 updates 703.4 KiB Transaction Summary: Upgrading: 1 package Replacing: 1 package fosslinux@fedora:~$ rpm -q thermald thermald-2.5.12-2.fc44.x86_64
You can also check whether the service is running. On a physical laptop it should be active once thermald is updated and you have rebooted. Here is the exact status output from the Fedora 44 machine I used while writing this guide:
fosslinux@fedora:~$ systemctl status thermald --no-pager
● thermald.service - Thermal Daemon Service
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/thermald.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)
Condition: start condition unmet at Thu 2026-08-13 01:18:38 EDT; 1 day 18h ago
ConditionVirtualization=no was not met
Why is it inactive? The machine in the capture is a virtual machine. thermald intentionally does not start under virtualization because it is only useful on real hardware, so the service reports ConditionVirtualization=no was not met. That is correct behavior, not a problem. On your physical laptop, the condition is met and the service activates normally.
Step 5: Check Your Drivers
If you are still seeing poor performance after the power daemon and thermald fixes, graphics drivers are the next suspect. Running the open-source nouveau driver on NVIDIA hardware instead of the proprietary driver is one of the most common causes of sluggish GNOME on Fedora, and it is a completely different fix from the one in the benchmark.
I wrote a dedicated Fedora driver installation guide that covers NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel step by step. The short version for NVIDIA users is to enable RPM Fusion and install the akmod build with sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia, then confirm the loaded version with modinfo -F version nvidia.
If you use DNF5, the old dnf versionlock workflow for pinning the driver is replaced by sudo dnf mark user akmod-nvidia. The driver also depends on your microcode being current, which I covered in my Intel microcode update guide. Outdated microcode can hold back CPU performance on Intel systems, so pair the two guides if you are on an Intel laptop.
Worth Knowing: The sensors command comes from the lm_sensors package, which is not installed by default on a fresh Fedora Workstation. If you get “command not found,” install it first with sudo dnf install lm_sensors. And note that 90 degrees is a warning zone, not an emergency — modern Intel chips generally begin throttling around 95 to 105 degrees Celsius.
Why Other Distributions Benchmarked Faster
The Phoronix test is useful, but it is easy to misread. CachyOS and openSUSE Tumbleweed finished ahead of Fedora on the Framework laptop. Does that mean you should switch? No. Here is what actually differed: those distributions default to power-profiles-daemon, and CachyOS ships an aggressively tuned kernel with a performance-oriented scheduler by default.
Those are deliberate engineering choices with trade-offs. A performance-tuned kernel can cost you battery life and stability. Fedora’s defaults are chosen for broad hardware compatibility and reliability across millions of machines. The gap was largely closed by the two fixes in this guide. If you are curious how Fedora’s defaults compare philosophically to other distributions, my Ubuntu vs Fedora comparison breaks down the different design priorities.
Why It Matters: A benchmark measures one laptop on one day. It does not measure your workflow, your hardware, or your battery needs. Before you let one headline push you into reinstalling your operating system, spend ten minutes applying the fixes above. In the vast majority of cases, that is all the “slow Fedora” really is.
Beginner Mistakes That Fake Slowness
Over years of helping people with slow Linux systems, I have noticed that a handful of everyday mistakes create the illusion of poor performance even when nothing is wrong with the distribution. Run through this checklist before you blame Fedora.
Power mode set to power-saver. If your laptop is on battery and the power mode dropdown is on “Power Saver,” everything will feel sluggish on purpose. That is the mode working as designed. Switch to balanced or performance when you need speed. This is managed in GNOME Settings under Power, and you can also switch it from the terminal.
Missed kernel and microcode updates. Fedora is a rolling-forward distribution with frequent kernel releases. An old kernel, or old microcode, can leave known performance bugs unfixed. My microcode guide shows how to check. This matters more than most people realize on newer Intel chips.
No swap or zram configured. If your system runs out of RAM and has no swap, it will freeze rather than slow down. I covered swap and zram in my Linux RAM optimization guide. A little swap or zram goes a long way on an 8GB machine.
Too many startup applications. Every extra app that launches at login consumes RAM and CPU for the first few minutes. Check GNOME Settings, or run systemd-analyze blame to see which services take the longest at boot. Some can be disabled safely; most people do not need the full set.
If you want a broader performance toolbox beyond Fedora-specific fixes, my general Linux performance guide covers the fundamentals that apply to every distribution.
When to Worry About Thermal Throttling
The thermald update matters most if your system is thermal throttling. Throttling is when your CPU deliberately slows itself down because it is getting too hot, and it is the single most common cause of “my laptop gets slow after ten minutes of work” complaints. The symptoms are distinctive: performance is fine when you boot, then drops off once the machine warms up.
If you see that pattern, check your temperatures with sensors while under load. Anything sustained above roughly 90 degrees Celsius on a modern Intel laptop is worth investigating. The thermald 2.5.12 update improves how the daemon manages those situations, so it is especially relevant for owners of the newer Intel Core Ultra machines like the one in the benchmark.
Laptops with inadequate cooling will throttle regardless of software. If your temperatures are high even after updates and the power daemon swap, the problem is physical, not software. A quick check of my thermal monitoring guide will help you tell the difference between a config problem you can fix and a cooling problem you cannot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to switch away from Fedora to get fast performance?
No. The benchmark that made Fedora look slow found two specific config issues, both already fixed in the repositories. Apply the updates and the power daemon swap in this guide, and you get the same performance profile the faster distributions use, on Fedora itself.
Is it safe to swap tuned-ppd for power-profiles-daemon?
Yes. It is a supported package swap that DNF handles atomically. The swap removes eleven dependency packages, which is expected, and installs power-profiles-daemon. Your GNOME power settings continue to work through the new daemon. If you ever want to revert, the exact reverse command brings tuned-ppd back.
Is thermald the same as TLP or power-profiles-daemon?
No. Thermald manages CPU temperatures and thermal policy. Power-profiles-daemon (or tuned-ppd) manages performance versus power consumption profiles. TLP is a separate laptop power tool that focuses on battery optimization. They solve different problems and are not interchangeable.
How do I know if my Fedora has the updated thermald?
Run rpm -q thermald. If it reports 2.5.12 or higher, you are current. If it reports 2.5.9, run sudo dnf upgrade thermald to pull in the fixed version.
Will these fixes work on Fedora 41 or 42?
The thermald and power daemon fixes are Fedora 44 specific in the exact forms shown here, but the same dnf swap technique works on any recent Fedora. For older releases, check what versions are in your repositories first. My general Fedora fixes guide covers troubleshooting that applies across versions.
Fixing a Slow Fedora Comes Down to Two Commands
Fedora 44 was not slow in that benchmark because it is a bad distribution. It was slow because it shipped an outdated thermal daemon and a power profile daemon that underperforms on specific hardware. Both problems are fixable with commands you now know by heart: sudo dnf upgrade to pull in thermald 2.5.12, and sudo dnf swap tuned-ppd power-profiles-daemon to match the power management of the fastest distributions.
I have been working with performance and storage systems for years, and the pattern in that Phoronix story is one I see constantly: a benchmark headline makes a distribution look bad, and users panic-switch before checking whether the cause is a config detail with a one-line fix. Do not be that user. Check your hardware, update your system, and swap the power daemon. Then decide for yourself.
For more Fedora performance and hardware tuning, see my driver installation guide, my RAM and swap optimization guide, and my general Linux performance tips. Between those three, you will cover most of what can make a Linux desktop feel fast.