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.
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?
OP this comment could be a major clue to whats happening with your AIO.
I have some fans connected via hub, but the pump and aio fan are connexted directly to the motherboard
That would be where I'd look first. A lot of AIO manufacturers only write drivers for Windows. There's an old Reddit thread that has a few things to try. If this is your first dip into Linux get used to googling things. A lot of things. Ubuntu or Kebuntu are great OS to start on because there is always a forum post or a Reddit thread that deals with exactly what you're dealing with. Once you are more comfortable I'd move onto Linux Mint or straight Debian. All those nice things that make Ubuntu easy to learn will eventually also hold you back.
If your AIO pump came with a hub you likely need to use it instead of plugging directly into the Mobo.
As an example my corsair AIO came with a hub and i didnt want to use it. Finished my build and found out i absolutely had to use it in order for the device to work properly.
Do you know what model AiO you have? Some models report pump speeds as higher since they have multiple magnets triggering the RPM sensor, so the 1600 might actually be 800 or even 400, which is way too low for the pump.
I would try setting the pump (and AiO fan) to 100% speed in the Bios for testing. Some pumps work well with a fan curve, some don't.
Edit with more technical details: Normally each revolution should generate 2 Pulses on the rpm Feedback wire. But Pumps don't always follow this spec so might over or underreport their actual rpm.
Check your motherboards manual, there may be a water cooling pump specific header.
AIOs typically pretend to be a fan and you would only need to use that with a custom loop.
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.
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.
Based on your update, are the AMD drivers loaded and working? Maybe it's using CPU for rendering instead of GPU.
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
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.
Wow, that is nice.
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.
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.
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.
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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