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NixOS⚓︎

Performance Tuning⚓︎

Slow System Performance⚓︎

After installing NixOS, the system may feel sluggish. This is often caused by the CPU governor being set to powersave mode by default.

Diagnosing the Issue⚓︎

Check the current CPU governor for each core:

Bash
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Output showing powersave mode:

Text Only
powersave
powersave
powersave
powersave
powersave
powersave
powersave
powersave

Available Governors⚓︎

Use cpufrequtils to check available governors:

Bash
nix-shell -p cpufrequtils
cpufreq-info | grep "governor"

Solution⚓︎

Add the following to your configuration.nix:

Nix
powerManagement.cpuFreqGovernor = "performance";

After rebuilding, verify the change:

Bash
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Output should now show:

Text Only
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance
performance

Known Issues⚓︎

VirtualBox Kernel Incompatibility⚓︎

VirtualBox may fail to install or run on kernel 6.12 due to module compilation issues.

Tracking Issue: nixpkgs#363887

Workaround: Consider using an alternative virtualization solution or downgrading the kernel until the issue is resolved.

References⚓︎