With Ubuntu 26.10 shipping and Fedora Workstation 45 approaching release, Phoronix has begun answering a question its readers have been putting to it repeatedly: how do these two mainstream distributions compare, head-to-head, against the performance-tuned, Arch-based CachyOS?
According to Phoronix, the review puts all three through their paces on a single AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D2 desktop system — the first time the outlet has benchmarked this particular three-way matchup. The framing matters as much as the hardware: the comparison is not a general "which distro is best" verdict, but a controlled test of three different philosophies of desktop Linux running on identical silicon.
Three distributions, three design goals
The reason this trio is worth comparing is that each occupies a distinct position in the ecosystem. Ubuntu 26.10 is Canonical's latest interim release, aimed squarely at users and organisations that value a stable, well-supported, enterprise-friendly base. Fedora Workstation 45, nearing its release, is the upstream-forward option — closer to the leading edge of the kernel, toolchain and desktop stack than Ubuntu typically ships. CachyOS takes a different route entirely: an Arch-derived distribution whose selling point is that its packages and scheduler settings have been optimised for throughput on modern hardware.
For anyone choosing an operating system for a general-purpose mixed workload — development, browser-heavy work, and periodic bursts of compilation or media work — those differences in intent are exactly what a benchmark suite is designed to surface.
How to read the comparison
Benchmark roundups of this kind are most useful when readers treat them as a measurement of a specific test environment rather than a universal ranking. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D2 is a high-end desktop part with a large cache; results on it may not carry over to older CPUs, laptops, or servers. Similarly, a distribution's default configuration — which scheduler it uses out of the box, how aggressively it compiles packages, what it enables by default — is part of what is being measured, not a distraction from it.
The practical takeaway for a system builder is to match the distribution's design intent to the job. A workstation whose priority is predictable upgrades and long-lived support will lean toward Ubuntu or Fedora; a machine whose owner wants to squeeze the most from the hardware and is comfortable with Arch's rolling model will find CachyOS the natural fit. Where a benchmark confirms or complicates that intuition is the value of the exercise.
What the review does and does not tell you
It is worth being precise about scope. Phoronix's review reports on this specific hardware configuration at a specific point in the release cycle — Ubuntu 26.10 is new, and Fedora 45 is not yet final, so its figures reflect a pre-release build. Neither point makes the data uninteresting, but both argue against reading a narrow set of results as a permanent verdict.
For Hong Kong IT professionals and open-source enthusiasts evaluating a workstation refresh, the comparison is a useful reference point rather than a decision by itself: it shows what the three distributions' respective priorities look like when measured on equal hardware, and gives a baseline to revisit once Fedora 45 reaches general availability.
The review itself covers this scope rather than raw scores — for the underlying figures, per-test breakdowns and full test configuration, Phoronix's result set shows which of the three came out ahead in each workload, and it remains the sole source for any specific numbers from this run.
隨著 Ubuntu 26.10 正式發布、Fedora Workstation 45 亦即將發行，Phoronix 開始回應讀者一直反覆提出的問題：這兩款主流發行版，與經過性能調校、基於 Arch 的 CachyOS 正面交鋒，究竟孰優孰劣？
據 Phoronix 表示，是次評測以單一部 AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D2 桌面系統測試三者表現——這是該媒體首次為此三方對決進行基準測試。測試框架與硬件本身同樣重要：這並非一場泛泛而談的「哪個發行版最好」評級，而是一項受控測試，比較三種不同的 Linux 桌面哲學在相同芯片上的表現。
三個發行版，三種設計目標
這三款發行版值得比較之處，在於它們各自佔據生態系統中截然不同的位置。Ubuntu 26.10 是 Canonical 最新的過渡版本，目標直指重視穩定、支援完善、適合作為企業環境基礎的用戶及機構。即將發布的 Fedora Workstation 45 則屬於向上游傾斜的選擇——其 kernel、工具鏈及桌面套件均較 Ubuntu 通常發布的版本更接近技術前沿。CachyOS 則走完全不同的路線：這款衍生自 Arch 的發行版，賣點在於其軟件包及 scheduler 設定已針對現代硬件的吞吐量作出優化。
對於任何需要為混合負載工作——包括開發、密集瀏覽網頁、以及間歇性的編譯或媒體處理——挑選作業系統的人來說，這些設計意圖上的差異，正是基準測試套件所要揭示的重點。
如何解讀這項比較
這類基準測試總結，只有當讀者將其視為特定測試環境的量度數據、而非通用排名時，才最能發揮參考價值。Ryzen 9 9900X3D2 是一款配備大容量緩存的高端桌面處理器，在此得出的結果未必適用於較舊的 CPU、手提電腦或伺服器。同樣，發行版的預設配置——出廠時採用哪種 scheduler、編譯軟件包時的積極程度、預設啟用哪些功能——本身就是被量度的一部分，而非無關的枝節。
對系統組裝者而言，實際的啟示是將發行版的設計意圖與工作需要相匹配。一部以升級可預期及長期支援為優先的工作站，會傾向選擇 Ubuntu 或 Fedora；而希望充分利用硬件性能、並能接受 Arch 滾動更新模式的用戶，則會發覺 CachyOS 是自然之選。是次基準測試在何處印證、又在何處令這種直覺判斷變得更複雜，正是這項測試的價值所在。
是次評測能與不能告訴你的事
對於測試範圍，有必要作出精確說明。Phoronix 的評測報告的是特定硬件配置在特定發布周期節點下的表現——Ubuntu 26.10 剛推出，而 Fedora 45 尚未定稿，其數據反映的是發行前的版本。這兩點並不會令數據失去參考價值，但都說明不宜將一組有限的結果視為永恆的定論。
對於正考慮更新工作站的香港 IT 從業員及開源愛好者而言，這項比較是有用的參考基準，而非決策本身：它展示了三款發行版各自的優先考量在相同硬件下量度出來的面貌，並為日後 Fedora 45 正式發行時重新檢視提供一個基線。
是次評測聚焦於上述範圍而非原始分數——原始數字、各項測試的分項數據及完整測試配置，可到 Phoronix 的結果數據查閱，當中載有三者在各項工作負載中誰勝誰負的資料，亦是今次測試中任何具體數字的唯一來源。