Arch Linux

RadioMick

Member

Registered: Yesterday

Posts: 2

Support and convenience using xf86-video-nouveau

First of all, Hi to everyone I'm new in the forum and I'm excited to be here.
I wanted to know your opinion about the state of xf86-video-nouveau vs modesetting driver and if xf86 driver is still mantined.
I ran into this question because recently i was using Prime offload with nouveau on Geforce 730M (on a Thinkpad) and i was wondering what xorg driver was better to use.
The wiki says that xf86-video-nouveau is no more needed but in the Prime offload page section Power management says

Kernel PCI power management turns off the GPU when not used with PRIME offloading or reverse PRIME. This feature is supported by modesetting, xf86-video-amdgpu, xf86-video-intel, xf86-video-nouveau drivers.

Thank you!

twelveeighty

Member

From: Alberta, Canada

Registered: 2011-09-04

Posts: 1,144

Re: Support and convenience using xf86-video-nouveau

... if xf86 driver is still mantined.

Yes, it is still maintained. Last release was Nov 7, 2024.

i was wondering what xorg driver was better to use.

Most sources that state to use modesetting instead of nouveau have reported stability or performance problems with nouveau that were not present with modesetting. If you dig around you may find folks that claim otherwise. With Arch, best answer is always to try out the different options yourself and see which works best for you and your setup.

RadioMick

Member

Registered: Yesterday

Posts: 2

Re: Support and convenience using xf86-video-nouveau

I just did a glmark2 benchmark with each driver: the results are almost identical, so i think i will use the modesetting drivers, as suggested in the wiki, which should be more in developement!

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,307

Re: Support and convenience using xf86-video-nouveau

The xf86- drivers main benefits are when doing 2D acceleration that isn't done via GL, so running a GL benchmark will basically completely bypass the DDX drivers. Your best general test here is probably picking an uncomposited WM like openbox or so and check how it behaves when dragging windows around.

Not an Arch discussion, moving to NC