I’m experiencing an issue with low CPU frequency when using any browser. In other applications, the frequency goes up to 2.80GHz or higher, but as soon as I switch to a browser window, the frequency drops to 400MHz across all cores.
I’ve tried the following without success:
intel_pstate=active, passive, no_hwp, disable;
cpupower -c all frequency-set -g performance -d 2.80GHz -u 4.7GHz;
disabled PowerDevil;
different kernels.
How can I keep the CPU frequency at an adequate level while using a browser?
Maybe you can gather some hints from here: Intel® Iris® Xe: free or non-free drivers?
Please provide the output of inxi -zv8
1 Like
I use a Tuxedo laptop with Xe and have the following in mkinitcpio.conf
MODULES=(i915 xe)
EDIT: 2025-11-11T11:15:00Z
It appears as not found ? In such case the comment is irrelevant - and I have made an assumption which turned out to be false.
My reasoning by suggesting the xe module is the close relation between CPU and iGPU on intel based systems and the fact that my Tuxedo laptop with Intel Core i7-13700H uses the xe driver
The development of browsers often implies - to some extent - hardware acceleration which lead me to think there could be a relation..
One of my team members suggest that having i915 in the MODULES line is unnecessary - maybe even causing conflits - I have yet to verify that.
On the other hand it seems possible - so I removed the i915 module.
Having the driver in MODULES array is ensuring kms is loaded as early as possible.
Ben
10 November 2025 13:02
4
I didn’t notice, at any point, where you actually stated that you have an issue… whereas basically this is likely the CPU governer being conservative.
Try temporarily forcing ‘performance’ to test:
echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor
3 Likes
It’s doubtful anyone could begin to answer your question without further detail. I have found links that might be remotely useful; only you can be the judge.
Explore Intel Iris Xe Graphics in this guide, highlighting its features, performance, and impact on visual experiences.
Please provide your system information as described (below) to allow others to identify possible contributors to your issue, or perhaps perform additional research.
Regards.
What follows is from a standard template.
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While information from *-fetch type apps might be fine for someone wishing to buy your computer, for Support purposes it’s better to ask your system directly;
Output of the inxi command (with appropriate parameters, and formatted according to forum guidelines) will generate information useful for those wishing to help:
a) inxi command (long-form):
inxi --filter --verbosity=8
b) inxi command (short-form):
inxi -zv8
Running inxi within a chroot environment
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1 Like
Right.
@BookWorm
I’d understand a suspicion of there being an issue if the frequency was always high(er) than it might need to be.
mkinitcpio -P ==> ERROR: module not found: ‘xe’
Typical situation:
analyzing CPU 3:
driver: intel_pstate
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 3
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
energy performance preference: performance
hardware limits: 400 MHz - 4.70 GHz
available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
current policy: frequency should be within 2.80 GHz MHz and 4.70 GHz.
The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency: 400 MHz (asserted by call to kernel)
boost state support:
Supported: yes
Active: yes
This causes noticeable lag: YouTube clips play with pauses, opening new pages takes a long time, and the frequency only restores after a delay, making the whole laptop feel sluggish.
System:
Kernel: 6.17.7-2-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/BOOT/default@/vmlinuz-6.17-x86_64
root=ZFS=ssd-pool/rootfs rw quiet splash zfs=ssd-pool/rootfs
root=ZFS=bpool/ROOT/default intel_idle.max_cstate=0
processor.max_cstate=1 intel_pstate=passive
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.5.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.19.0
wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LG product: 17Z90P-K.AAS9U1 v: 0.1
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: 0.1
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: LG model: 17Z90P v: FAB1 serial: <superuser required>
uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Phoenix v: T2ZF0320 X64 date: 04/23/2021
Battery:
ID-1: CMB0 charge: 56.5 Wh (95.1%) condition: 59.4/80 Wh (74.3%) volts: 8.25
min: 7.74 model: LG LGC-LGC type: Li-ion serial: <filter> charging:
status: not charging control: start: N/A end: 100% cycles: 25
Memory:
System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.31 GiB used: 10.13 GiB (66.2%)
Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB slots: 8 modules: 8 EC: None
max-module-size: 2 GiB note: est.
Device-1: Controller0-ChannelA type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-2: Controller0-ChannelB type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-3: Controller0-ChannelC type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-4: Controller0-ChannelD type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-5: Controller1-ChannelA type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-6: Controller1-ChannelB type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-7: Controller1-ChannelC type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
Device-8: Controller1-ChannelD type: LPDDR4 detail: synchronous
size: 2 GiB speed: 4267 MT/s volts: curr: 0.6 width (bits): data: 16
total: 16 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: UBE3D4AA-MGCR serial: N/A
PCI Slots:
Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11 level: v4 note: check built: 2020
process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8C (140) stepping: 1
microcode: 0xBC
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
smt: enabled cache: L1: 320 KiB desc: d-4x48 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 5 MiB
desc: 4x1.2 MiB L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 4700 min/max: 400/4700 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
governor: performance cores: 1: 4700 2: 4700 3: 4700 4: 4700 5: 4700 6: 4700
7: 4700 8: 4700 bogomips: 44851
Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 avx512_bitalg avx512_vbmi2
avx512_vnni avx512_vp2intersect avx512_vpopcntdq avx512bw avx512cd
avx512dq avx512f avx512ifma avx512vbmi avx512vl bmi1 bmi2 bts cat_l2
cdp_l2 clflush clflushopt clwb cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16
cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr gfni ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp
hwp_notify hwp_pkg_req ibpb ibrs ibrs_enhanced ibt ida intel_pt invpcid
lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe movdir64b movdiri msr mtrr
nonstop_tsc nopl nx ospke pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs
pge pku pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pts rdpid rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp
rep_good sdbg sep sha_ni smap smep split_lock_detect ss ssbd sse sse2
sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_adjust
tsc_deadline_timer tsc_known_freq umip user_shstk vaes vme vmx vnmi
vpclmulqdq vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology
xtpr
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
Type: indirect_target_selection mitigation: Aligned branch/return thunks
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
Type: old_microcode status: Not affected
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB:
conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: SW loop, KVM: SW loop
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsa status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Type: vmscape status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] vendor: LG driver: i915
v: kernel alternate: xe arch: Xe process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21 ports:
active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a49
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Chicony LG Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-2:2 chip-ID: 04f2:b6fa
class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.20 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1600 s-dpi: 132 s-size: 492x307mm (19.37x12.09")
s-diag: 580mm (22.83") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x0695 built: 2020 res: 2560x1600
dpi: 178 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.682 y: 0.322 green: x: 0.263 y: 0.702
blue: x: 0.149 y: 0.047 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
size: 366x229mm (14.41x9.02") diag: 432mm (17") ratio: 16:10
modes: 2560x1600
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.6-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel Iris Xe Graphics (TGL
GT2) device-ID: 8086:9a49 memory: 14.95 GiB unified: yes
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 layers: 1 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
Iris Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 25.2.6-arch1.1
device-ID: 8086:9a49 surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo,xprop
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio vendor: LG
driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl alternate: snd_soc_avs,
snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl, snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0c8
class-ID: 0401
API: ALSA v: k6.17.7-2-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.9 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.3
chip-ID: 8086:a0f0 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp0s20f3 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter driver: r8152 type: USB
rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 bus-ID: 2-2:2
chip-ID: 0bda:8153 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
IF: enp0s13f0u2 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
Message: Output throttled. IPs: 12; Limit: 10; Override: --limit [1-x;-1
all]
Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX201 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-10:5 chip-ID: 8087:0026
class-ID: e001
Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Device-1: bpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 4.5 GiB
free: 3.28 GiB allocated: 1.22 GiB zfs-fs: size: 4.36 GiB free: 3.14 GiB
Components: Online:
1: nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 size: 5 GiB
Device-2: ssd-pool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw:
size: 218 GiB free: 158 GiB allocated: 59.6 GiB zfs-fs: size: 211.39 GiB
free: 151.67 GiB
Components: Online:
1: nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4 size: 219.69 GiB
Drives:
Local Storage: total: raw: 232.89 GiB usable: 223.94 GiB
used: 54.56 GiB (24.4%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 250GB
size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B2QEXE7 temp: 38.9 C
scheme: GPT
Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: N/A size: 163.13 GiB used: 11.46 GiB (7.0%) fs: zfs
logical: ssd-pool/rootfs
ID-2: /boot raw-size: N/A size: 3.45 GiB used: 316 MiB (9.0%) fs: zfs
logical: bpool/BOOT/default
ID-3: /boot/efi raw-size: 200 MiB size: 196.9 MiB (98.45%)
used: 663 KiB (0.3%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 label: N/A
uuid: E941-8C30
ID-4: /home raw-size: N/A size: 170.28 GiB used: 18.61 GiB (10.9%) fs: zfs
logical: ssd-pool/home
ID-5: /media/work raw-size: N/A size: 167.18 GiB used: 15.51 GiB (9.3%)
fs: zfs logical: ssd-pool/work
ID-6: /root raw-size: N/A size: 151.68 GiB used: 5.4 MiB (0.0%) fs: zfs
logical: ssd-pool/home/root
ID-7: /tmp raw-size: N/A size: 151.85 GiB used: 183.7 MiB (0.1%) fs: zfs
logical: ssd-pool/tmp
ID-8: /var raw-size: N/A size: 160.15 GiB used: 8.48 GiB (5.3%) fs: zfs
logical: ssd-pool/var
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A
uuid: 44e5e522-ecb0-4530-b3b1-f2435f96d447
Unmounted:
Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 2-2:2 info: Realtek RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
type: Network driver: r8152 interfaces: 1 rev: 3.0
speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 power: 256mA
chip-ID: 0bda:8153 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 3-2:2 info: Chicony LG Camera type: video driver: uvcvideo
interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
power: 500mA chip-ID: 04f2:b6fa class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Device-2: 3-3:3 info: Microsoft 2.4GHz Transceiver v8.0 used by mouse
Wireless Desktop 900 type: keyboard,mouse,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid
interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
power: 100mA chip-ID: 045e:07b2 class-ID: 0300
Device-3: 3-7:4 info: Shenzhen Goodix USB2.0 MISC type: <vendor specific>
driver: N/A interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1
mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 27c6:6a94 class-ID: ef00 serial: <filter>
Device-4: 3-10:5 info: Intel AX201 Bluetooth type: bluetooth driver: btusb
interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
power: 100mA chip-ID: 8087:0026 class-ID: e001
Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
Packages: 1438 pm: pacman pkgs: 1428 libs: 380 tools: pamac pm: flatpak
pkgs: 10
Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
1: https://mirror.alwyzon.net/manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
2: https://forksystems.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
3: https://nnenix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
4: https://volico.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
5: https://ziply.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
6: https://mirror.freedif.org/Manjaro/testing/$repo/$arch
Processes:
CPU top: 5 of 455
1: cpu: 20.0% command: QtWebEngineProcess pid: 200305
mem: 288.6 MiB (1.8%)
2: cpu: 7.5% command: vivaldi-bin pid: 203061 mem: 256.6 MiB (1.6%)
3: cpu: 5.7% command: MellowPlayer pid: 200074 mem: 260.0 MiB (1.6%)
4: cpu: 5.4% command: vivaldi-bin pid: 226014 mem: 208.7 MiB (1.3%)
5: cpu: 5.2% command: vivaldi-bin pid: 176388 mem: 277.3 MiB (1.7%)
Memory top: 5 of 455
1: mem: 450.6 MiB (2.8%) command: plasmashell pid: 1141 cpu: 1.4%
2: mem: 445.1 MiB (2.8%) command: Telegram pid: 1400 cpu: 0.3%
3: mem: 380.1 MiB (2.4%) command: remmina pid: 189431 cpu: 0.5%
4: mem: 369.1 MiB (2.3%) command: kontact pid: 1396 cpu: 0.8%
5: mem: 342.1 MiB (2.1%) command: vivaldi-bin pid: 77795 cpu: 3.9%
Info:
Processes: 455 Power: uptime: 1h 28m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.11 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.39
It’s mysterious! With the latest kernel update [Testing Update] 2025-11-10 , the CPU behavior has become normal. Now the frequency no longer drops when working in a browser window. What changed in the kernel? How can this be made permanent?
at their disposal – instead, please help others to make informed suggestions based on information you provide.