With Intel having sunset Clear Linux, when it comes to aggressive out-of-the-box Linux performance there is the Arch Linux based CachyOS as the leading contender. Given the recent releases of Ubuntu 25.10 and Fedora Workstation 43, if you are curious about the out-of-the-box performance here are some fresh benchmarks of all three using the Framework Desktop.
That huge difference cant be an optimized kernel. Must be graphics driver differences…A kernel cant double the fps you get. Maybe a few more frames but thats it. Perhaps cachy has proper drivers and you had poor drivers on the other one.