I've been using Ubuntu 24 on my Thinkpad T14, and I've noticed it runs at an idle temperature of around 38°C, which is pretty consistent across my PC and Acer laptop. Recently, I got a T480s that runs Fedora 42, and its idle temperature is only 26°C. This made me curious—does the choice of Linux distro affect idle temperatures, or is it more about the hardware itself?
2 Answers
Sort of! Distros like Arch or Gentoo generally use less power than Ubuntu or Mint. You can further optimize these systems for performance. Consider using minimal distros like Debian or Lubuntu. If you don’t need a full Windows-style desktop, try a lightweight window manager like i3, or stick with something like XFCE. Also, limit the number of background services to keep CPU usage down, and maybe try a manual fan management tool to control temperatures better.
It totally depends on how much processing power the distro is using. There’s no universal 'temperature property' within distros. Some are designed to be lighter, while others can be resource-heavy which affects CPU and thus temperatures.
Really? I’m skeptical about Gentoo being cooler, especially during updates unless you stick to using binary packages. Also, Arch might run hotter if you add a heavy desktop environment with effects and background apps like Discord, which can spike temperatures. Different kernels play a role too, but the heating issue can be serious if the kernel lacks proper fan control!