In wayland session FPS in games is unstable and often drops.

Nome · 2024-08-26 15:32:24

Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA TU116 [GeForce GTX 1650] driver: nvidia v: 560.35.03
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting
gpu: nvidia resolution: 1920x1080
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: nvidia,swrast
platforms: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 560.35.03
renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 drivers: nvidia surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland

seth · 2024-08-26 16:50:31

Please don't paraphrase, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57855

What is "games", what is "unstable" and drops from what to what value?
The problem doesn't manifest in a KDE/X11 session?

Assuming "games" is steam, ie. xwayland - do you get the same behavior w/ some native games, eg. https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … uerbraten/
In doubt export SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland, though https://www.phoronix.com/news/SDL2-Reve … nd-Default happened for a reason (the performance in native wayland mode might be disastrous)

Nome · 2024-08-26 17:44:01

I was referring to the Steam games I ran using Proton Experimental, specifically Nuclear Throne, Risk of Rain Returns, and Risk of Rain 1. Despite the Steam FPS counter showing a stable 55-60 FPS, the gameplay felt laggy, almost as if it was in slow motion at times. This discrepancy between the FPS counter and the actual feel of the game was quite noticeable.
For native games, Team Fortress 2 generally performed well, but there was an issue when I opened the menu—the game became very laggy. Once I closed the menu, the performance returned to normal. Additionally, I tried playing Minecraft through the MultiMC Launcher. While it sometimes reached 500 FPS, there were noticeable drops to around 100 FPS, and also occasional freezes, they lasted only for a moment, but still. These weren't game-breaking but were definitely present.
Initially, I suspected that Wayland was the root of these performance problems. However, after switching to an X11 session, I noticed that the same games exhibited similar issues. This was unexpected since I thought the performance would improve under X11, but it turns out the problems persist across both environments.
I also tested Sauerbraten, which worked fine from what I could see, in both X11 and Wayland.
I tried using SDL_VIDEODRIVER=wayland but this didn't help. In fact, the Steam games began to look even more laggy.
I tried turning vsync on and off in games, I tried turning full screen mode on and off. I tried turning off and on screen tearing in kde's screen settings. And none of this worked.

seth · 2024-08-26 18:53:43

Have you tested the behavior in KDE/X11 w/ the kwin compositor suspended (SHIFT+Alt+F12 toggles it)?
You could also test the impact of triple buffering, /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-nvidia.conf

Section "Device"
        Identifier "NVIDIA Card"
        Driver     "nvidia"
    Option         "TripleBuffer" "on"
EndSection

Also please post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General (we'll ignore wayland as long as the problem exists unrelated to the display server because steam runs on xwayland anyway)

Arch Linux

#1 2024-08-26 15:32:24

In wayland session FPS in games is unstable and often drops.

#2 2024-08-26 16:50:31

Re: In wayland session FPS in games is unstable and often drops.

#3 2024-08-26 17:44:01

Re: In wayland session FPS in games is unstable and often drops.

#4 2024-08-26 18:53:43

Re: In wayland session FPS in games is unstable and often drops.

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