Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 01:05:07

Hi, I have a 2021 Dell XPS13 with an 11th Gen Intel i7-1185G7 (Intel Iris Xe Graphics) and I'm getting really bad performance when running X11. My whole computer lags when opening new terminal windows, both chromium and firefox can't scroll smoothly even on text-only websites, and my fans spin up to max when I am trying to watch an HD video. Both Chromium and Firefox have hardware acceleration turned on, and I see the GPU being used when running them in intel_gpu_top. I have the latest intel_media_driver and xf86-video-intel installed, which both say they support Intel Xe. I don't think these are unreasonable things to ask of very recent (and relatively high end) hardware, so is this a driver/configuration problem? Does anyone know how to fix this?

Slithery · 2021-05-22 01:46:35

Try removing xf86-video-intel.

seth · 2021-05-22 06:12:57

If that alone doesn't help, see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_ … ver_(i965)

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 18:33:15

Thanks! Removing xf86-video-intel fixes the issue. Chrome runs really well most of the time now, but occasionally the UI freezes for ~15 seconds at a time and firefox is unusable (it is basically a slideshow). I tried installing vulkan-intel and switching Chrome to use vulkan as the graphical backend, but that made it much worse. Is this another configuration issue?

jsoy9pQbYVNu5nfU · 2021-05-22 18:46:56

kmani314 wrote:

Thanks! Removing xf86-video-intel fixes the issue. Chrome runs really well most of the time now, but occasionally the UI freezes for ~15 seconds at a time and firefox is unusable (it is basically a slideshow). I tried installing vulkan-intel and switching Chrome to use vulkan as the graphical backend, but that made it much worse. Is this another configuration issue?

Are you running with a composited desktop using a reasonable compositor? Like GNOME, Plasma. Don't use outdated compositor software like compton. If not try, and check dmesg as well as Xorg.0.log for interesting entries (errors, warnings, ...). It should be using the modesetting driver and glamor without errors in Xorg.0.log. If in doubt pastebin the full files and post them.

In Firefox, try force-enabling WebRender (see the Arch wiki article for details). Check if any existing issues persist with Firefox Nightly (AUR).

Last edited by jsoy9pQbYVNu5nfU (2021-05-22 18:47:31)

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 19:12:45

I use i3 without a compositor. I used to use picom, but I stopped because I didn't really need it. There aren't any error messages in dmesg or Xorg.0.log, but there is output from the modesetting driver so it is definitely in use. I had WebRender turned on, and when I disabled it firefox started working fine (although with high cpu usage) so it seems that WebRender is causing some problems. Should I be using a compositor?

seth · 2021-05-22 19:18:36

Did you try the i965 GL driver (see my prev post)?

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 19:51:48

I just tried the i965 driver, and while there aren't any lag spikes, the performance is much worse overall. Simple animations are choppy and the CPU usage is very high when using Chrome. I think this has something to do with my external monitor. My laptop has a HiDPI 3840x2400 display and the monitor I'm using is a 34" 3440x1400 ultrawide (normal DPI). When I disconnect the monitor and use only the laptop screen, there are no lag spikes and I'm able to use firefox with WebRender turned on. Everything is very responsive and smooth. When I plug in the monitor, there are occasionally lag spikes and firefox with webrender is unusable. Here is my xrandr command for reference:

#!/bin/bash

xrandr  --fb 10720x5280 \
    --output eDP-1 --mode 3840x2400 --pos 6880x0\
    --output DP-1 --mode 3440x1440 --scale 2x2 --pos 0x0

i3-msg restart

seth · 2021-05-22 19:57:24

Or the 10720x5280 resolution - do you get similar problems when not scaling the external output and stacking them vertically (3840x3840)?

Edit, if yes: what about only the external output and is it maybe VRR capable?

Last edited by seth (2021-05-22 19:58:03)

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 20:11:50

If I don't scale the output I won't be able to use both displays at the same time because of the different DPIs. Either content will be way too small on my laptop screen or way too large on the monitor. I've tried disabling the laptop screen output but I'd still have to manually switch applications back to HiDPI mode if I wanted to use the laptop screen by itself. Scaling fixes this but I guess the GPU isn't capable of rendering a framebuffer that large.

seth · 2021-05-22 20:16:45

The test is meant to figure whether this is resolution dependent (ie. whether you're asking the chip to colorize too many pixels) - the impact on usability is irrelevant itr.

kmani314 · 2021-05-22 20:22:46

I just tried it, everything works perfectly if I use the screen at its native resolution without scaling. This means that it's almost definitely a resolution problem?

seth · 2021-05-22 20:35:01

Likely. 10720x5280 is quite a lot.

You could drive the internal display at a lower resolution (1920x1200) or try to arrange them into 8192x8192 (the next smaller frame to test would be 4096x4096, but that defies scaling as well)

Arch Linux

#1 2021-05-22 01:05:07

Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#2 2021-05-22 01:46:35

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#3 2021-05-22 06:12:57

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#4 2021-05-22 18:33:15

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#5 2021-05-22 18:46:56

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#6 2021-05-22 19:12:45

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#7 2021-05-22 19:18:36

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#8 2021-05-22 19:51:48

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#9 2021-05-22 19:57:24

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#10 2021-05-22 20:11:50

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#11 2021-05-22 20:16:45

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#12 2021-05-22 20:22:46

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

#13 2021-05-22 20:35:01

Re: Intel Xe graphics poor performance on X11

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