Configuring laptop for long life

[ameyjoshi3068]

I installed garuda on a brand-new laptop.
I want to ask for suggestions about maximizing my laptop's life with garuda.
There are a few questions in my mind

1. Garuda's default swappiness is 133. I noticed like 1.5G swap being used in system monitor though i have 2-3G memory unused. Is it wearing down my SSD?

2. My CPU temp varies between 50-80 during normal use and peaks 95-98 during heavy use(approx 3 times a day) Is it causing my CPU to wear quickly?

3. Please give any other suggestions

╰─λ garuda-inxi
System:
Kernel: 6.1.12-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=5db7243d-174d-446d-8935-c049889ff0f7 rw [email protected]
sysctl.vm.swappiness=10
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.1 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 info: latte-dock
wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Laptop 15s-fq5xxx v: N/A
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: HP model: 8A20 v: 20.19 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: AMI
v: F.17 date: 10/20/2022
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 32.3 Wh (79.6%) condition: 40.6/41.0 Wh (98.9%)
volts: 11.9 min: 11.4 model: HP Primary type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
status: discharging cycles: 101
CPU:
Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
arch: Alder Lake level: v3 note: check built: 2021+
process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x9A (154) stepping: 4
microcode: 0x429
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 10 mt: 2 tpc: 2 st: 8 threads: 12 smt: enabled
cache: L1: 928 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB, 2x48 KiB; i-2x32 KiB, 8x64 KiB
L2: 6.5 MiB desc: 2x1.2 MiB, 2x2 MiB L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1910 high: 2500 min/max: 400/4400:3300 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 1107 2: 2500 3: 1102
4: 2500 5: 1145 6: 1020 7: 1054 8: 2500 9: 2500 10: 2500 11: 2500 12: 2500
bogomips: 59904
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-UP3 GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics]
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-12.2
process: Intel 10nm built: 2021-22+ ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,
DP-2, DP-3, DP-4, HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:46a8
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Quanta HP TrueVision HD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 1-3:3 chip-ID: 0408:536c class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.8
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: gpu: i915 note: X driver n/a display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x153b built: 2020 res: 1920x1080
hz: 60 dpi: 142 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5")
ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL GT2)
direct-render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl
alternate: snd_hda_intel,snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:51c8 class-ID: 0401
Sound API: ALSA v: k6.1.12-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.66 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtw_8822ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8822ce
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:c822 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-10:4 chip-ID: 0bda:b00c class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 45.48 GiB (9.5%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNU512GZH
size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: HPS1 temp: 33.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 56.59 GiB size: 56.59 GiB (100.00%) used: 15.3 GiB (27.0%)
fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
used: 23.5 MiB (4.6%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p8 maj-min: 259:8
ID-3: /home raw-size: 119.27 GiB size: 119.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 30.16 GiB (25.3%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 maj-min: 259:7
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 56.59 GiB size: 56.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.3 GiB (27.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 56.59 GiB size: 56.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.3 GiB (27.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 50 (default 100)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.44 GiB used: 1.62 GiB (21.7%)
priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 343 Uptime: 2h 9m wakeups: 3196 Memory: 7.44 GiB
used: 5.01 GiB (67.4%) Init: systemd v: 253 default: graphical
tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 clang: 15.0.7 Packages: pm: pacman
pkgs: 1652 libs: 498 tools: pamac,paru,yay Shell: fish v: 3.6.0
default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.25
Garuda (2.6.15-1):
head: cannot open '/var/log/pacman.log' for reading: No such file or directory
System install date:
Last full system update: 2023-02-24
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager mkinitcpio
Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:            shadow.service

[meanruse]

The default swappines is because there is zram, it basically means "aggressively compress in memory".
There isn't even a physical swap device by default, unless things changed since when I installed.
It's good like that, and won't affect the SSD.
By the way, to preserve SSD life, automatic defrag is already turned off in the mount options:

UUID=... /root btrfs subvol=/@root,defaults,noatime,noautodefrag,compress=zstd 0 0 #Modified_by_garuda-hotfixes(1)

(mine is an old install and the setting was put there by an upgrade)

The CPU temp gets somewhat too high.
First thing is, be sure the ventilation is clean. Other than that, I think thermald may help.
Note that heat may actually come from the GPU though, what kind of heavy use is it?

I don't know this particular model, but in general laptops are weak on the ventilation.
That is something to consider, they may be not ideal for long heavy workloads, including some games.

[ameyjoshi3068]

I place my laptop on a stand so that there is at least 5 cm of space below the vents while playing games. So the temperature remains below 85.

Running my code containing infinite loops or any other very heavy tasks, etc. sometimes causes a spike of 90-95 degrees, which I must quickly control.

[Hanuman]

I also place something at the base of the laptop to lift the ventilation area and help with cooling; while outputting on the TV.

CPU/GPU temperature is very often 92% and that's normal on laptop. It auto-regulates power to maintain that temperature threshold. I've run games and intense tasks for hours, never seen it as a problem.

[cleanerspam]

• Use linux or linux-lts kernel , default zen is performnace based kernel .
• You cant have both performance and no heating .
• Identify components using more CPU and disable or remove them .
• If you dont need that extra zRAM disable it
• the only downside of 90-95 temperature is wearing out of battery faster .
• Undervolt and disable turbo , if you dont need that much power .
• Use powertop to see what is using most battery

[ameyjoshi3068]

Thanks everyone.
It's nice to know my SSD is not wearing due to swap. I am not disabling zram because it is really useful for me.
I will try changing kernel and disabling Intel turbo to increase battery life.