Linux on 12th Gen Intel CPUs (Galago Pro) with Linux Issues

[MurphCID]

I have a Galago Pro with the 12th Gen Intel i5 CPU, 16gb of Ram, and a 500gb NVMe drive. Specs are as follow (from System 76 site) running Linux.

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TECH SPECS
Operating System
Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Firmware
System76 Open Firmware (coreboot, EDK2, System76 Firmware Apps)

System76 Open Source Embedded Controller Firmware

Processor
12th Gen Intel® Core i5-1240P: Up to 4.4 GHz - 12MB Cache - 4 P-Cores - 8 E-Cores

12th Gen Intel® Core i7-1260P: Up to 4.7 GHz - 18MB Cache - 4 P-Cores - 8 E-Cores

Display
14.1″ 1920×1080 FHD, Matte Finish

Graphics
Intel® Iris Xe Graphics

Memory
Up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4 @ 3200MHz

Storage
1 × M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe. Up to 4TB total.

Expansion
1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C / Thunderbolt™ 4, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, SD Card Reader

Networking
Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5

Video Ports
HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C w/ DisplayPort 1.4

Battery
Li-Ion - 53 Wh

Charger
90 Watts, AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC-out 19V, 4.74A

90W+ USB Type-C Charging Compatible

Weight
3.2 lbs (1.45kg)

Base weight. Varies on configuration.

Model
galp6 - Technical Documentation 

During the time I have had this device, I have had multiple Linux distros installed as follows and they have been used for several months at a time:
Linux Mint 21.0
Fedora 37 Cinnamon w/ 6.0 kernel
Linux Mint 21.1 to include OEM kernels (6.+) and later the System 76 PPA installed and TLP uninstalled.
Now POP!_OS with the 6.2.6-x kernel running on System 76 power profiles.

Some observations regarding Linux use on this device; It runs hot. Despite being the i5-1240p, it runs hot. None of my other laptops run hot like this, and I have a Lemur Pro (10th gen Intel), Darter Pro (11th Gen Intel), and HP Dev One (AMD 5850U). Despite having a non-i7 chip, this device puts out more heat than any other laptop. A discussion on another board has revealed that Intel has designed these chips to run hot and there is no Linux optimization at this time that can fully compensate for the chip design decisions by Intel.

Power usage: Despite TLP on everything except POP!_OS which uses its own power profile, the best, absolute best I can get out of this device is 3-4 hours with screen brightness at 10-15% maximum, no keyboard backlight, bluetooth off. I got the best power usage under Fedora 37 with a 6.1 kernel, and Mint 21.1 with the 6.1 series kernel with TLP enabled. As this system has become somewhat of a testing computer, I have also tried Endevour OS which did not work well with the coreboot firmware. Debian and MX linux would not even run since they need a proprietary firmware driver.

Using HTOP as a system monitor, the 12th gen chips tend to "tick" at a higher rate of usage than the earlier gen chips or the AMD 5850U. I have gone in and checked the system using inxi- Fxz and have also noticed that battery life seems poor with the battery having a total of 12 charge cycles showing 96% life. HTOP shows 16 threads/processors for the i5.

I understand that the 13th gen chips run even hotter compared to the 12th gen, with 235 TDP being reported on i7 and i9 CPU, and 180 TDP for the i5. Essentially you are getting a space heater.

On the standard Mint 5.15 kernel, this thing got 2-3 hours max even with TLP enabled. The 6.x series kernels are supposed to be more optimized for the 12th Gen (and later) chips but once more there is no provision to throttle down the power that these chips use. WIth a 6.x series kernel, battery life for power is at most 4-5.5 hours. And I get this with only two terminals being open, Thunderbird, and Chrome. So the power is for web surfing, email, and NO VIDEO watching. If I watch videos I lose anywhere between 20-40% battery life. I am not sure if this is an artifact of Chrome under Linux, or something specific to the 12th gen chips set and video rendering.

The HP DEV ONE with Mint 21 was adequate, but installing Mint 21.1 with the System 76 PPAs ( needed due to a firmware issue), has really improved both the performance and battery life of this laptop. Again, I am not sure which optimizations were added which had made this possible, but it also shows a 16 thread unit like the Galago Pro.

So, in the end unless you need the power for whatever, and are willing to keep your power brick close, stick to the earlier chips, which run amazingly well under the latest versions of Linux. I have not attempted to use Windows on this device, but I suspect that Linux will most likely be equal to Windows in power use.

[Professor_Slughorn]

Interesting. Out of curiosity I tested my new i5-12400F using CPU-X – Prime numbers (slow). Ran the test for 3 minutes using all 12 threads. All threads were at 100% with core temperatures ranging from 50-57 C. Not bad. Makes me glad for a few reasons:
1. The stock cooler (RM1) works fine
2. Did not install the cooler upside down…
3. My decision to avoid the 12th or 13th gen CPUs with their inefficiency cores was a good one.

“I understand that the 13th gen chips run even hotter compared to the 12th gen, with 235 TDP being reported on i7 and i9 CPU, and 180 TDP for the i5. Essentially you are getting a space heater.”

Yes! All that heat needs to get removed from a package that is only 45.0 mm x 37.5 mm. Honey, where did you put the liquid nitrogen? My CPU cooler needs a refill…..

[t42]

Please note there was a kernel 6.1 and 6.2 regression affecting Alder Lake, the cause mostly remains unclear but fix in 6.2 and 6.3 was mentioned:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/2011817

Also poor performance in 1280P confirmed comparing newer Ubuntu 23.04 with 22.10: https://www.phoronix.com/review/ubuntu-2304-laptops/5

[MurphCID]

I am so far, not impressed with the 12th gen processors. I think the AMD offerings are better at this point.

[Petermint]

There is also PCIe version 225, USB 98, Ethernet 50 GHz, or whatever. Each increase in speed requires more power burning through the chips.

The first USB 3.1 Gen 2 chips ran HOT. The second generation run only at hot.

With Intel and others, the usual approach is a big speed/power/heat jump in existing silicon then some cell downsizing to get the incendiary device back down from a burning Tesla level to normal. Given the problems with building new fabs with smaller cells, you might have to wait for cooler chips, perhaps Gen 30.

[MurphCID]

Yes, I suspect that I should have waited for the 13th Gen chips to come out.

[MurphCID]

My 12th Gen System 76 unit is running pretty decently on the 6.2 and later kernels. Right now I have it on the 6.4.6 series and while I am not getting amazing battery life, it is steady and stable.

[MurphCID]

I had to completely re-install Mint 21.2 since Mageia 9 was so bad. Did my normal installation, but updated to the 6.2 kernel. With TLP active, I am getting 4 1/2 to 5 hours of battery life, and things are working just perfectly. It is really nice.

[MurphCID]

6.5 Kernel has made all the difference in the world on this laptop. Not only does it "feel" better and much more responsive, battery life seems much, much more stable with 4-5 hours normal usage at 15% brightness.