Hi,
my fedora 41, running on an “old” asus laptop X555LD, Intel® Core™ i5-4210U × 4, Linux 6.11.5-300.fc41.x86_6, is quite slow. I wonder why that might be. How can I check what processes are active and how much memory / CPU time they use? (beyond the programs I am have activated mysef that is)
There is a system monitor installed by default in your apps, you can have a look there.
Also don’t forget to update your system to the latest software versions.
What are you doing that is slow?
Slow compared to what?
Just normal activities like switching from a window to another, thunderbird freezes, other softare freezes, saving an open office doc takes forever … you know things lile these. I don’t have any high duty operations going on
An alternative to the system monitor is btop which I find to be much more informative.
Also LACT has nice graphs available for GPU info and has some GPU tweaking features.
CoreCtl can also help tweak performance
1 Like
It would also be good to know what Desktop Environment you’re using.
lxde and xfce are both known for being more minimal on resource usage. both have available fedora spins
If I run ps -A I get
PID TTY TIME CMD
1 ? 00:00:20 systemd
2 ? 00:00:00 kthreadd
3 ? 00:00:00 pool_workqueue_release
4 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-rcu_gp
5 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-sync_wq
6 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-slub_flushwq
7 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-netns
12 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-mm_percpu_wq
14 ? 00:00:00 rcu_tasks_kthread
15 ? 00:00:00 rcu_tasks_rude_kthread
16 ? 00:00:00 rcu_tasks_trace_kthread
17 ? 00:00:22 ksoftirqd/0
18 ? 00:01:08 rcu_preempt
19 ? 00:00:00 rcu_exp_par_gp_kthread_worker/0
20 ? 00:00:00 rcu_exp_gp_kthread_worker
21 ? 00:00:01 migration/0
22 ? 00:00:00 idle_inject/0
23 ? 00:00:00 cpuhp/0
24 ? 00:00:00 cpuhp/1
25 ? 00:00:00 idle_inject/1
26 ? 00:00:00 migration/1
27 ? 00:00:03 ksoftirqd/1
29 ? 00:00:00 kworker/1:0H-kblockd
30 ? 00:00:00 cpuhp/2
31 ? 00:00:00 idle_inject/2
32 ? 00:00:00 migration/2
33 ? 00:00:03 ksoftirqd/2
35 ? 00:00:00 kworker/2:0H-events_highpri
36 ? 00:00:00 cpuhp/3
37 ? 00:00:00 idle_inject/3
38 ? 00:00:00 migration/3
39 ? 00:00:02 ksoftirqd/3
41 ? 00:00:00 kworker/3:0H-events_highpri
42 ? 00:00:00 kdevtmpfs
43 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-inet_frag_wq
44 ? 00:00:00 kauditd
46 ? 00:00:00 oom_reaper
47 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-writeback
48 ? 00:08:31 kcompactd0
49 ? 00:00:00 ksmd
50 ? 00:00:00 khugepaged
51 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-cryptd
52 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kintegrityd
53 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kblockd
54 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-blkcg_punt_bio
55 ? 00:00:00 irq/9-acpi
58 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-tpm_dev_wq
59 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-ata_sff
60 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-md
61 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-md_bitmap
62 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-edac-poller
63 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-devfreq_wq
64 ? 00:00:00 watchdogd
65 ? 00:00:24 kworker/3:1H-kblockd
67 ? 00:07:27 kswapd0
75 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kthrotld
80 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-acpi_thermal_pm
81 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_0
82 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-scsi_tmf_0
83 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_1
84 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-scsi_tmf_1
85 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_2
86 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-scsi_tmf_2
87 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_3
88 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-scsi_tmf_3
94 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-dm_bufio_cache
96 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-mld
97 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-ipv6_addrconf
102 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kstrp
284 ? 00:00:23 kworker/2:1H-kblockd
291 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kaluad
292 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kmpath_rdacd
536 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-uas
583 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-ttm
584 ? 00:00:02 card2-crtc0
585 ? 00:00:00 card2-crtc1
586 ? 00:00:00 card2-crtc2
591 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-ttm
1043 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kdmflush/253:0
1044 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kcryptd_io-253:0-1
1045 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kcryptd-253:0-1
1046 ? 00:00:57 dmcrypt_write/253:0
1072 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-worker
1073 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-delalloc
1074 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-flush_delalloc
1075 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-cache
1076 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-fixup
1077 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-endio
1078 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-endio-meta
1079 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-rmw
1080 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-endio-write
1081 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-compressed-write
1082 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-freespace-write
1083 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-delayed-meta
1084 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-btrfs-qgroup-rescan
1085 ? 00:00:00 btrfs-cleaner
1086 ? 00:05:17 btrfs-transaction
1157 ? 00:00:00 psimon
1173 ? 00:00:10 systemd-journal
1203 ? 00:00:01 systemd-userdbd
1205 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kmpathd
1206 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kmpath_handlerd
1216 ? 00:00:08 systemd-udevd
1222 ? 00:00:00 psimon
1268 ? 00:00:26 kworker/1:2H-kblockd
1271 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-asus_wireless_workqueue
1291 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-cfg80211
1304 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-led_workqueue
1306 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-kmemstick
1328 ? 00:00:00 wl_event_handler
1338 ? 00:00:00 jbd2/sda2-8
1339 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-ext4-rsv-conversion
1407 ? 00:04:58 systemd-oomd
1409 ? 00:00:59 systemd-resolve
1417 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-rpciod
1418 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-xprtiod
1436 ? 00:00:00 auditd
1442 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker-lau
1443 ? 00:00:17 dbus-broker
1446 ? 00:00:02 avahi-daemon
1447 ? 00:00:00 bluetoothd
1451 ? 00:00:03 low-memory-moni
1452 ? 00:00:00 mcelog
1454 ? 00:00:29 polkitd
1455 ? 00:00:03 rtkit-daemon
1457 ? 00:00:00 smartd
1461 ? 00:00:00 accounts-daemon
1465 ? 00:00:00 switcheroo-cont
1466 ? 00:00:05 systemd-homed
1467 ? 00:00:04 systemd-logind
1468 ? 00:00:05 systemd-machine
1469 ? 00:00:21 thermald
1470 ? 00:00:27 udisksd
1471 ? 00:00:20 upowerd
1486 ? 00:00:04 psimon
1487 ? 00:00:00 alsactl
1536 ? 00:00:00 psimon
1543 ? 00:00:00 chronyd
1546 ? 00:00:00 avahi-daemon
1556 ? 00:00:00 abrtd
1593 ? 00:00:01 ModemManager
1594 ? 00:00:02 firewalld
1599 ? 00:00:02 abrt-dump-journ
1600 ? 00:00:01 abrt-dump-journ
1601 ? 00:00:00 abrt-dump-journ
1630 ? 00:00:25 NetworkManager
1669 ? 00:00:07 wpa_supplicant
1683 ? 00:00:00 cupsd
1685 ? 00:00:45 tuned
1686 ? 00:00:02 gssproxy
1725 ? 00:01:18 tuned-ppd
1797 ? 00:00:00 gdm
1829 ? 00:00:00 uresourced
1935 ? 00:00:00 colord
2367 ? 00:00:00 krfcommd
2760 ? 00:00:00 gdm-session-wor
2782 ? 00:00:19 systemd
2784 ? 00:00:00 (sd-pam)
2802 ? 00:00:00 gnome-keyring-d
2817 tty2 00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
2822 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker-lau
2826 ? 00:00:27 dbus-broker
2831 tty2 00:00:00 gnome-session-b
2888 ? 00:00:00 gnome-session-c
2889 ? 00:00:05 uresourced
2893 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd
2895 ? 00:00:01 gnome-session-b
2907 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd-fuse
2916 ? 00:07:39 pipewire
2948 ? 03:51:38 gnome-shell
2972 ? 00:00:00 xdg-permission-
2986 ? 00:00:00 at-spi-bus-laun
2992 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker-lau
2993 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker
2994 ? 00:00:00 at-spi2-registr
3010 ? 00:00:01 gnome-shell-cal
3011 ? 00:00:00 dconf-service
3030 ? 00:00:16 gjs
3035 ? 00:06:33 ibus-daemon
3038 ? 00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
3042 ? 00:00:03 gsd-color
3043 ? 00:00:00 gsd-datetime
3046 ? 00:00:16 gsd-housekeepin
3049 ? 00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
3051 ? 00:00:04 gsd-media-keys
3059 ? 00:00:04 gsd-power
3062 ? 00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
3073 ? 00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
3079 ? 00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
3080 ? 00:08:52 gnome-software
3091 ? 00:00:03 gsd-sharing
3096 ? 00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
3103 ? 00:00:00 gsd-disk-utilit
3104 ? 00:00:00 gsd-sound
3106 ? 00:00:00 ibus-dconf
3110 ? 00:00:00 gsd-usb-protect
3111 ? 00:01:05 ibus-extension-
3116 ? 00:00:00 evolution-alarm
3123 ? 00:00:00 gsd-wacom
3184 ? 00:00:00 ibus-portal
3188 ? 00:00:03 abrt-applet
3215 ? 00:00:08 pcscd
3233 ? 00:00:15 gjs
3296 ? 00:01:32 ibus-engine-sim
3303 ? 00:00:02 gvfs-udisks2-vo
3313 ? 00:00:00 evolution-sourc
3323 ? 00:00:00 gvfs-mtp-volume
3328 ? 00:00:00 gvfs-gphoto2-vo
3334 ? 00:00:00 gsd-printer
3344 ? 00:00:03 abrt-dbus
3355 ? 00:00:00 gvfs-goa-volume
3363 ? 00:00:00 goa-daemon
3370 ? 00:00:15 goa-identity-se
3372 ? 00:00:04 gvfs-afc-volume
3415 ? 00:09:22 pipewire-pulse
3502 ? 00:00:05 xdg-desktop-por
3520 ? 00:03:40 xdg-document-po
3527 ? 00:00:00 fusermount3
3534 ? 00:00:13 xdg-desktop-por
3582 ? 00:00:04 xdg-desktop-por
3635 ? 00:00:01 evolution-calen
3682 ? 00:00:00 evolution-addre
3695 ? 00:00:03 passimd
3766 ? 00:00:01 python3
4108 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd-metadata
4506 ? 00:01:36 Xwayland
4511 ? 00:00:05 gsd-xsettings
4529 ? 00:00:01 ibus-x11
4551 ? 00:00:08 mutter-x11-fram
4800 ? 00:00:00 flatpak-session
4805 ? 00:00:00 p11-kit-server
4856 ? 00:00:00 glib-pacrunner
6427 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd-http
25975 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd-trash
26051 ? 00:00:01 gvfsd-recent
26055 ? 00:00:00 gvfsd-network
26066 ? 00:00:01 gvfsd-dnssd
26072 ? 00:00:04 gvfsd-wsdd
26080 ? 00:00:06 wsdd
26306 ? 00:06:37 tracker-miner-f
68437 ? 00:00:00 tracker-miner-f
101029 ? 00:00:00 tracker-xdg-por
146557 ? 00:00:20 kworker/0:2H-kblockd
147095 ? 00:00:17 wireplumber
276879 ? 00:00:00 irq/48-mei_me
276920 ? 00:00:13 kworker/u17:1-i915_flip
276948 ? 00:00:00 kworker/0:1H-kblockd
277087 ? 00:00:02 sssd_kcm
289899 ? 00:00:10 kworker/u16:3-btrfs-endio
292749 ? 00:00:11 kworker/u16:1-btrfs-endio
293346 ? 00:00:07 kworker/u16:8-btrfs-endio
295890 ? 00:00:03 kworker/u16:2-btrfs-endio
296044 ? 00:00:00 tracker-extract
296265 ? 00:00:04 kworker/u16:6-kcryptd-253:0-1
296536 ? 00:00:03 kworker/u16:12-btrfs-endio
296709 ? 00:00:01 konsole
296818 pts/0 00:00:00 bash
296867 ? 00:00:00 kworker/1:1-events
296880 ? 00:00:23 packagekitd
297327 ? 00:00:00 scsi_eh_4
297328 ? 00:00:00 kworker/R-scsi_tmf_4
297329 ? 00:00:00 usb-storage
297508 ? 00:00:01 kworker/1:2-events
297587 ? 00:00:01 kworker/u16:4-btrfs-endio
297598 ? 00:00:00 kworker/u17:0
297657 ? 00:00:00 xterm
297666 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
297847 ? 00:00:01 kworker/0:2-events
297896 ? 00:00:00 kworker/3:2-events
297914 ? 00:00:01 kworker/2:1-events
298084 ? 00:00:00 kworker/1:0-events
298105 ? 00:00:01 kworker/u16:7-btrfs-endio
298364 ? 00:00:00 kworker/3:0-events
298389 ? 00:00:00 kworker/0:0-events
298518 ? 00:00:00 kworker/2:2-events
298674 ? 00:00:00 systemd-userwor
298675 ? 00:00:00 systemd-userwor
298676 ? 00:00:00 systemd-userwor
298763 ? 00:00:00 kworker/3:1-events
298792 ? 00:00:00 kworker/0:1-events
298913 ? 00:00:00 kworker/u16:0-btrfs-endio
298938 ? 00:00:00 kworker/2:0-events
298960 pts/1 00:00:00 ps
I have no experience with OS performance but these seem to me like way too many processes. Are they all useful?
GNOME desktop
those are all processes made by the kernel and operating system. it is normal to see that many, you would see that many on windows too if the task manager showed you everything that was really running.
ps -A isn’t super helpful since it doesn’t sort by cpu or memory usage
How much RAM?
Please show the output of inxi -Fzxx so we may see more details about the hardware (and post it as preformatted text).
8GB Ram
and the result of the inxi command:
System:
Kernel: 6.11.5-300.fc41.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 2.43.1-2.fc41
Desktop: GNOME v: 47.1 tk: GTK v: 3.24.43 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM
Distro: Fedora Linux 41 (Workstation Edition)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X555LD v: 1.0
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X555LD v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: ASUS-NotebookSKU UEFI: American Megatrends v: X555LD.402
date: 10/29/2015
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 25.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 25.1/38.0 Wh (66.1%)
volts: 7.9 min: 7.9 model: ASUSTeK X555-48 serial: N/A status: not charging
CPU:
Info: dual core model: Intel Core i5-4210U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Haswell rev: 1 cache: L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB L3: 3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2676 min/max: 800/2700 cores: 1: 2676 2: 2676 3: 2676
4: 2676 bogomips: 19155
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-7.5 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a16
Device-2: NVIDIA GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT
620M/625M/630M/720M] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau v: kernel arch: Fermi
pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1140
Device-3: Realtek USB Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-5:14 chip-ID: 0bda:57b5
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.14 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4
compositor: gnome-shell driver: gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x045c res: 1366x768 dpi: 101
diag: 396mm (15.6")
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.2.6 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
device-ID: 8086:0a16 display-ID: :0.0
API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a0c
Device-2: Intel 8 Series HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9c20
API: ALSA v: k6.11.5-300.fc41.x86_64 status: kernel-api
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.6 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n vendor: Lite-On driver: wl
v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4365
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Lite-On Broadcom BCM43142A0 Bluetooth Device driver: btusb v: 0.8
type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-6:7 chip-ID: 04ca:2006
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0 lmp-v: 6
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 719.69 GiB (77.3%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS541010A9E680
size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 929.91 GiB used: 719.36 GiB (77.4%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0
mapped: luks-3e7f967e-9be4-4bab-8946-55486173e635
ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 320.6 MiB (32.9%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sda2
ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/sda1
ID-4: /home size: 929.91 GiB used: 719.36 GiB (77.4%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/dm-0 mapped: luks-3e7f967e-9be4-4bab-8946-55486173e635
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.51 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C pch: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 2800
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.51 GiB used: 3.17 GiB (42.2%)
Processes: 288 Power: uptime: 13m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 256
target: graphical (5) default: graphical
Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm pm: flatpak pkgs: 13
Compilers: gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.32 running-in: xterm inxi: 3.3.36
You are using the release version of the kernel and I assume that also means you have done no updates.
Please update the system to the latest version of software sudo dnf upgrade --refresh then reboot so we know whether your issue may be related to the older software versions in use or if it is something else. We cannot tell if this is something that may have already been corrected until you have completed the update.
Not sure if you ment re-running the inxi command. However I run it again after the update and share its output below, just in case you case spot anything unusual:
System:
Kernel: 6.12.11-200.fc41.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 14.2.1
Desktop: GNOME v: 47.4 tk: GTK v: 3.24.43 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM
Distro: Fedora Linux 41 (Workstation Edition)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X555LD v: 1.0
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X555LD v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: ASUS-NotebookSKU UEFI: American Megatrends v: X555LD.402
date: 10/29/2015
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 25.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 25.1/38.0 Wh (66.1%)
volts: 7.9 min: 7.9 model: ASUSTeK X555-48 serial: N/A status: not charging
CPU:
Info: dual core model: Intel Core i5-4210U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Haswell rev: 1 cache: L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB L3: 3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 798 min/max: 800/2700 cores: 1: 798 2: 798 3: 798 4: 798
bogomips: 19155
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-7.5 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a16
Device-2: NVIDIA GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT
620M/625M/630M/720M] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau v: kernel arch: Fermi
pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1140
Device-3: Realtek USB Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-5:2 chip-ID: 0bda:57b5
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.15 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.5
compositor: gnome-shell driver: gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x045c res: 1366x768 dpi: 101
diag: 396mm (15.6")
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.3.4 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
device-ID: 8086:0a16 display-ID: :0.0
API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
Info: Tools: api: glxinfo x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a0c
Device-2: Intel 8 Series HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9c20
API: ALSA v: k6.12.11-200.fc41.x86_64 status: kernel-api
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11b/g/n vendor: Lite-On driver: wl
v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4365
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Lite-On Broadcom BCM43142A0 Bluetooth Device driver: btusb v: 0.8
type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-6:3 chip-ID: 04ca:2006
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0 lmp-v: 6
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 721.76 GiB (77.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS541010A9E680
size: 931.51 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 929.91 GiB used: 721.39 GiB (77.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0
mapped: luks-3e7f967e-9be4-4bab-8946-55486173e635
ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 361.8 MiB (37.2%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sda2
ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/sda1
ID-4: /home size: 929.91 GiB used: 721.39 GiB (77.6%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/dm-0 mapped: luks-3e7f967e-9be4-4bab-8946-55486173e635
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.51 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C pch: 41.5 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 2700
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.51 GiB used: 2.98 GiB (39.7%)
Processes: 280 Power: uptime: 17m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 256
target: graphical (5) default: graphical
Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm pm: flatpak pkgs: 13
Compilers: gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.32 running-in: xterm inxi: 3.3.37
Run this in a Terminal:
watch --interval '0.5' grep \'cpu MHz\' '/proc/cpuinfo'
Ideally it looks like it should be above 2000 when doing stuff.
Can try forcing to max perf temporarily with this (the above frequency test should go higher):
sudo x86_energy_perf_policy --all 'performance' --turbo-enable '1' --force
On the right-side power mode drop down on GNOME (power off/reboot/log-out/wifi; might say Balanced), if it’s visible make sure it’s Performance.
If Performance isn’t available, or the whole power selection section not visible (no Balanced), and you have higher CPU/perf after doing x86_energy_perf_policy above, I’d recommend doing this (sets max CPU on AC but balanced BATT), but I suspect this shouldn’t be an issue out-the-box.
GNOME is one of the “heaviest” desktops. You probably don’t want to run that on a i5-4210U. Also, you’re running a hard drive? Hitachi HTS541010A9E680 - this is likely your #1 problem here.
You should try LXDE or XFCE as they’re much lighter. And get an SSD, huge difference in system responsiveness. Also, yeah btop is great for tracking what uses your system resources.
Most running desktop environments use roughly about the same resources in absolute numbers, both in terms of CPU as well as memory usage. There are ofcourse some differences, but generally not any that would have a significant impact using OP’s hardware.
In practical terms, if you take the average base memory usage of each DE:
Then it would be easy to conclude that Gnome is one of the heaviest. But knowing that an average Firefox or Chrome session will easily reach 1.5GB memory use or more:
it becomes clear that the desktop environments themselves are generally not the bottleneck on most systems (unless you are running on a 4GB Raspberry Pi or other very low-spec system) .
The Hitachi 2.5" 5400 rpm drive that you mentioned is very very slow however, that might play a role.
F41 Workstation GNOME 47 with 11 Firefox tabs open:
After log-in I’m around 2GB overall RAM usage with GNOME, and 900 MB Xfce FreeBSD (didn’t compare what GNOME/Linux is doing but I intentionally configured FreeBSD/Xfce light 
)
People tend to focus on memory usage but forget, or even dismiss, the storage performance when it comes to OSs (including Windows) and desktop environments. It’s slow mechanical HDD storage that often causes sluggish overall system response and poor user experience as there is significant IO activity in almost ant modern OS.
I tried out of curiosity last year and there is a day and night difference between Windows 11 or latest distros like Ubuntu running off of a mechanical HDD (3.5" 7200rpm) and just a lowly SATA SSD.
Right, most of the memory is used by Firefox (Isolated Web Containers are the separate FF tabs).
So that’s
409 + 235.7 + 113.8 + 104.3 + 94.8 + 76.8 +76.7 + 49.5 + 37.8 + 32.3 + 29.7 = 1260MB
in total.
2 Likes
Eh, it’s probably fine. Going from GNOME to LXDE is… not for everybody. Like you said, the HDD is almost certainly the main problem.
@antsco, you could try to benchmark the HDD with GNOME Disks.