diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
index 4af3e07de2..fb79ca8796 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
@@ -15,13 +15,9 @@ jobs:
     env:
       CCACHE_DIR: /var/cache/ccache/kindred-create
       CCACHE_COMPRESS: "true"
-      CCACHE_COMPRESSLEVEL: "5"
-      CCACHE_MAXSIZE: "2G"
-      CCACHE_NODIRECT: "true"
-      CCACHE_NOHASHDIR: "true"
-      CCACHE_NOINODECACHE: "true"
+      CCACHE_COMPRESSLEVEL: "6"
+      CCACHE_MAXSIZE: "4G"
       CCACHE_SLOPPINESS: "include_file_ctime,include_file_mtime,pch_defines,time_macros"
-      CCACHE_COMPILERCHECK: "%compiler% -dumpfullversion -dumpversion"
 
     steps:
       - name: Install node if needed
@@ -59,15 +55,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Configure (CMake)
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          # Use system GCC instead of conda Clang to avoid illegal instruction errors
+          # Use conda Clang with modern CPU optimizations
           pixi run cmake --preset conda-linux-release \
-            -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=gcc \
-            -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=g++ \
-            -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS="" \
-            -DCMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS=""
+            -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3" \
+            -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3"
 
       - name: Build
-        run: pixi run cmake --build build/release -j16
+        run: pixi run cmake --build build/release -j$(nproc)
 
       - name: Show ccache statistics
         run: pixi run ccache -s
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 7f23601788..12588c6b26 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -18,15 +18,14 @@ jobs:
     env:
       CCACHE_DIR: /var/cache/ccache/kindred-create
       CCACHE_COMPRESS: "true"
-      CCACHE_COMPRESSLEVEL: "5"
-      CCACHE_MAXSIZE: "2G"
-      CCACHE_NODIRECT: "true"
-      CCACHE_NOHASHDIR: "true"
-      CCACHE_NOINODECACHE: "true"
+      CCACHE_COMPRESSLEVEL: "6"
+      CCACHE_MAXSIZE: "4G"
       CCACHE_SLOPPINESS: "include_file_ctime,include_file_mtime,pch_defines,time_macros"
-      CCACHE_COMPILERCHECK: "%compiler% -dumpfullversion -dumpversion"
       BUILD_TAG: ${{ github.ref_name || inputs.tag }}
       MAKE_INSTALLER: "true"
+      # Modern CPU flags for x86-64-v3 (AVX, AVX2, BMI1, BMI2, F16C, FMA, LZCNT, MOVBE, XSAVE)
+      CFLAGS: "-march=x86-64-v3 -O3"
+      CXXFLAGS: "-march=x86-64-v3 -O3"
 
     steps:
       - name: Install node if needed
@@ -79,3 +78,12 @@ jobs:
           echo "Built artifacts:"
           ls -lah package/rattler-build/linux/*.AppImage* 2>/dev/null || echo "No AppImage files found"
           ls -lah package/rattler-build/linux/*-SHA256.txt 2>/dev/null || echo "No SHA256 files found"
+
+      - name: Upload AppImage artifact
+        uses: https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: kindred-create-appimage
+          path: |
+            package/rattler-build/linux/*.AppImage
+            package/rattler-build/linux/*-SHA256.txt
+          if-no-files-found: error