I know that Garuda uses the zen kernel, if I remember correctly.
How would this make the distribution faster or better then another distribution that uses the normal Arch kernel?
Like what are the advantages of this kernel?
I’m on Endeavour os ATM, but I might try Garuda if I were to get a new laptop
Comparing it to Endeavour is disingenuous since they’re both based on Arch. Moreover, it’s bad mojo in the Linux world to put down one distro in order to make a another one look better. If you’re happy with Endeavour, stick with it. Otherwise your best bet is to install Garuda in a VM or on some spare hardware and come to your own conclusion.
I don’t think there was any intent to put down another distro, just to know what advantages there are to the zen kernel and why choose it as default.
Detailed Feature List · zen-kernel/zen-kernel Wiki · GitHub
By the way, same question was asked I think two weeks ago or so, I don’t find it again.
There are more differences between the two distros than just the default kernel.
I never used Endeavor though. It was basically a coin toss when I installed, I tried Garuda first and did not look back, I’m sure I would have been happy with Endeavor too (and met quite a few of the same people there).
I’d say the default kernel is not even that relevant, one can install another on any distro.
The zen one has some performance improvements and is generally stable, so I guess it makes a good default, also considering that Garuda is somewhat gaming/high-end hardware focused. That said, I run it on an old laptop and it rocks.
I’m not necessarily looking to give up on endeavour os or another operating system, but…
I was looking to compare the kernels, cuz the zen Kernel was always praised and I wanted to ask about this
Google will help you answer this
I searched and documented myself about it, it’s better on new computers, not refurbished ones 
But next refurbished small laptop I’ll buy Will be on Garuda
I wanted to see actual user feedback, cuz I knew Garuda uses this by default
You can install the Zen kernel on Endeavour OS and try it out for yourself if you wish; it’s in the [extra] repo so you can just install it with Pacman.
sudo pacman -S linux-zen linux-zen-headers
You can’t say like that. The Zen kernel runs great on my 12-year-old hardware. 
From M$ Vista 2009 to Garuda i3wm 2024 
(15-year-old hardware)
System:
Kernel: 6.7.6-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1 clocksource: tsc
avail: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=114d424f-4806-4c3e-a473-62231c91e18b rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet quiet
rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3 s5wol=1 ibt=off
Console: pty pts/1 DM: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: MEDIONPC model: MS-7501 v: 3.1 serial: N/A
uuid: 387a1a6f-55b8-dc11-9ff4-6d4f28413f34 BIOS: American Megatrends v: A7501MLN.30E
date: 04/28/2009
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Phenom 9650 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K10 level: v1 built: 2007-08
process: AMD 65nm family: 0x10 (16) model-id: 2 stepping: 3 microcode: 0x1000095
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 512 KiB desc: d-4x64 KiB; i-4x64 KiB
L2: 2 MiB desc: 4x512 KiB L3: 2 MiB desc: 1x2 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1150 min/max: 1150/2300 boost: disabled base/boost: 2300/2300 scaling:
driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil volts: 1.5 V ext-clock: 200 MHz cores: 1: 1150 2: 1150
3: 1150 4: 1150 bogomips: 18360
Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD RV710 [Radeon HD 4550] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire driver: radeon v: kernel
alternate: amdgpu arch: TeraScale code: R6xx/RV6xx/RV7xx process: TSMC 55-65nm built: 2005-13
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16 ports: active: none
empty: DVI-I-1,HDMI-A-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:9540 class-ID: 0300 temp: 40.0 C
Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.11 driver: X: loaded: radeon unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: r600 gpu: radeon tty: 158x37
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.276 layers: 3 device: 0 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 16.0.6 128 bits)
driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 24.0.1-arch1.1 (LLVM 16.0.6) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
API: OpenGL Message: GL data unavailable in console, glxinfo missing.
Audio:
Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus-ID: 00:14.2 chip-ID: 1002:4383 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD RV710/730 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4000 series] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aa38 class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.7.6-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.3 status: off with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: off 2: wireplumber
status: off 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI
RTL8111/8168/8411 driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e800
bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Device-2: IMC Networks AW-NU222 802.11bgn Wireless Module [Ralink RT2770+RT2720]
driver: rt2800usb type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-4:2
chip-ID: 13d3:3247 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
IF: wlp0s19f2u4 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.6 TiB used: 716.2 GiB (43.7%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Corsair model: Force GT size: 111.79 GiB block-size:
physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 3 scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital model: WD6400AACS-00G8B1 size: 596.17 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 4C05 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Hitachi model: HDT721010SLA360 size: 931.51 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
fw-rev: A31B scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 111.79 GiB size: 111.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 19.15 GiB (17.1%) fs: btrfs
block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-2: /home raw-size: 111.79 GiB size: 111.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 19.15 GiB (17.1%) fs: btrfs
block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-3: /var/log raw-size: 111.79 GiB size: 111.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 19.15 GiB (17.1%)
fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-4: /var/tmp raw-size: 111.79 GiB size: 111.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 19.15 GiB (17.1%)
fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 3.82 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100 comp: zstd
avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: N/A mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 39.5 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 4 GiB available: 3.82 GiB used: 700.9 MiB (17.9%)
Processes: 201 Power: uptime: 1m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep avail: s2idle
wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 1.51 GiB
services: upowerd Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1323 libs: 389 tools: octopi,pacseek,paru Compilers: gcc: 13.2.1
Shell: garuda-inxi (sudo) default: Bash v: 5.2.26 running-in: pty pts/1 (SSH) inxi: 3.3.33
Garuda (2.6.23-1):
System install date: 2023-03-20
Last full system update: 2024-02-28
Is partially upgraded: No
Relevant software: snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot: No/Undetected
Failed units:
Total system updates: 82
--> Updates per week: 1
This is the oldest BIOS I’ve seen in the forum!
It runs like a clockwork here too:
System:
Kernel: 6.7.6-x64v-xanmod1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-xanmod
root=UUID=5bbcdef9-4b8e-4599-a39b-d20535e0cf95 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.10 tk: Qt v: 5.15.12 info: frameworks
v: 5.115.0 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookPro9,2 v: 1.0 serial: <filter>
Chassis: type: 10 v: Mac-6F01561E16C75D06 serial: <filter>
Mobo: Apple model: Mac-6F01561E16C75D06 v: MacBookPro9,2 serial: <filter>
uuid: 61f102c4-7fc1-8153-a264-a2fa59b6ac56 UEFI: Apple v: 425.0.0.0.0
date: 10/26/2021
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 52.2 Wh (96.7%) condition: 54.0/62.9 Wh (85.9%)
volts: 12.4 min: 10.9 model: SMP bq20z451 type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: full cycles: 461
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-3210M socket: U2E1 bits: 64 type: MT MCP SMP
arch: Ivy Bridge gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm
family: 6 model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 4x 128 KiB (512 KiB) desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 4x 512 KiB (2 MiB)
desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 4x 3 MiB (12 MiB) desc: 1x3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2479 high: 3100 min/max: 1200/3100 base/boost: 2500/2500
scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq governor: performance volts: 0.8 V
ext-clock: 25 MHz cores: 1: 3100 2: 3100 3: 2519 4: 1197 bogomips: 19953
Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Apple driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports:
active: LVDS-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3,
VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Apple FaceTime HD Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-1.1:3 chip-ID: 05ac:8509
class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.4
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x800 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 338x211mm (13.31x8.31")
s-diag: 398mm (15.69")
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: Apple 0x9ccb serial: <filter> built: 2009
res: 1280x800 hz: 60 dpi: 114 gamma: 1.2 size: 286x179mm (11.26x7.05")
diag: 337mm (13.3") ratio: 16:10 modes: 1280x800
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: crocus surfaceless: drv: crocus x11:
drv: crocus inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.2 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.0.1-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB
GT2) device-ID: 8086:0166 memory: 1.46 GiB unified: yes
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.276 layers: 3 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.0.1-arch1.1
device-ID: 8086:0166 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
(LLVM 16.0.6 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 24.0.1-arch1.1 (LLVM
16.0.6) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.7.6-x64v-xanmod1-1 status: kernel-api tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.3 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57765 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3
v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 01:00.0
chip-ID: 14e4:16b4 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp1s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme
driver: wl v: kernel modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4331 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Apple Bluetooth USB Host Controller driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-1.8.1.3:9
chip-ID: 05ac:821d class-ID: fe01
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0 lmp-v: 6
status: discoverable: no pairing: no
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.36 TiB used: 16.18 GiB (1.2%)
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD10SPZX-21Z10T0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0 spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 02.0 scheme: GPT
SMART Message: Unknown smartctl error. Unable to generate data.
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD5000BEVT-80A0RT0 family: Scorpio Blue Serial ATA size: 465.76 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B sata: 2.6 speed: 3.0 Gb/s
tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01 temp: 32 C scheme: GPT
SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 6y 147d 0h cycles: 10435
Old-Age: g-sense error rate: 65545 Pre-Fail: reallocated sector: 181
threshold: 140
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 170.61 GiB size: 170.61 GiB (100.00%)
used: 16.18 GiB (9.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda5
maj-min: 8:5
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 1004 KiB (0.3%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 170.61 GiB size: 170.61 GiB (100.00%)
used: 16.18 GiB (9.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda5
maj-min: 8:5
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 170.61 GiB size: 170.61 GiB (100.00%)
used: 16.18 GiB (9.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda5
maj-min: 8:5
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 170.61 GiB size: 170.61 GiB (100.00%)
used: 16.18 GiB (9.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda5
maj-min: 8:5
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 50 (default 100)
zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.67 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 67.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.67 GiB used: 2.63 GiB (34.3%) igpu: 64 MiB
Processes: 297 Power: uptime: 7m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 3.05 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1314 libs: 389 tools: octopi,pamac,paru
Compilers: gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: Bash v: 5.2.26
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.33
Garuda (2.6.23-1):
System install date: 2024-02-10
Last full system update: 2024-02-27
Is partially upgraded: No
Relevant software: snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot: No/Undetected
Failed units:
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