system76-scheduler VS linux

> I don't know what Popos does to make it more "gaming focused" than vanilla Ubuntu.

They have a few changes, chief among them being the PopOS scheduler which I find to be quite effective: https://github.com/pop-os/system76-scheduler

The desktop itself is a weird custom-baked x11/GNOME customization you won't really get on Ubuntu. Not many distributions can claim the title of being truly "unique", but PopOS does deserve the title in my opinion. Even still it wouldn't be my choice for gaming, but I'll defend it's identity as something more than another GNOME/Debian spin.

Power management kinda doesn't work on Linux. There are very minimal rules once you disconnect from AC, and most of the time you'll switch into high-usage mode when it isn't needed. There's not a clean way to fix this, to my knowledge; the Linux scheduler stack is just kinda based around desktop and server hardware.

That being said, I also use Linux on my Thinkpad anyways. There are decent enough workarounds that I can keep my system up for 5-6 hours when away from AC:

- Switching into battery-saver mode will keep clock speeds down, which generally reduces power usage (as long as you aren't slamming the cores)

- tlp can help if your hardware has power-draining characteristics (I don't use it, my defaults are good enough)

- Using an auto-nicer can keep your system feeling responsive when in power saving mode: https://github.com/pop-os/system76-scheduler

So... caveat emptor, YMMV. Linux is far from the most efficient OS away from the wall, but with a little bit of configuration I feel like my system does indeed work as a "normal laptop".

ran rtcqs as a replacement for realtimeconfigquickscan at the suggestion of Brock from System 76 (thank you Brock ily). As it kept suggesting that I build a custom kernel and I would rather switch back to Windows than do that, I checked github issues on system76-scheduler, found this: https://github.com/pop-os/system76-scheduler/issues/99. Seems to fit with everything I know about the situation.

system76-scheduler

For starters, you will get better performance using the stock (System76 kernel) but that's another conversation. To solve your specific issue you will need to install the missing dependencies with this command

And installing and configuring system76-scheduler, it works by allocating the most resources to the window you have in focus, so say a full screen game or a browser you have open. Keep in mind that it only works with the POP-Shell extension and if you don't use it, you will need this one instead.

If you start a game with game mode, then system76-scheduler lowers the game priority and makes your FPS lower: https://github.com/pop-os/system76-scheduler/issues/57

Interesting! I've used Linux Mint for the last 5+ years (and am using the Xanmod kernel, which is on 6.6), but have always been Pop OS curious. This increases my curiosity, I may have to give it a go on my laptop.

https://xanmod.org/

For those on Linux mint you can install the xanmod kernel for improved performance, specifically tailored for gaming on Debian based distros.

Generally, Arch is the better platform for getting various kernel versions, but there's always stuff like Xanmod which is easy to do in any distro. Worst case, could always use linux-tkg script to build your own kernel - with that kind of hardware it shouldn't take long for the kernel to be built.

Still a bit of a noob. I haven't heard of that one. Do you mean this: https://xanmod.org/? Is there any stability or compatibility issues that come with it?

The ArchWiki has some tips that can help tuning your system to squeeze more performance: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/gaming

This launcher does help too: https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode

On top of that, you can use a patched kernel like: https://xanmod.org/

You can check support status for games here: https://www.protondb.com/

If you run games via Proton with DXVK, you can use the environment variable DXVK_HUD=1 to show a HUD with an FPS meter. Some others prefer mangohud.

Setting your CPU frequency scaling governor and GPU to performance mode also helps.

Xanmod Kernel

There are different drivers available but the best way is to install linux kernel 6.3 which has built in support for rtl wifi. I also have similar adapter and had the problem. I recommend xanmod kernel because it is newer and has the needed driver and it is focussed on desktop performance.

For Debian : https://xanmod.org

Alternatively, try the xanmod kernel https://xanmod.org/