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tafsen

Member

Registered: 2006-05-03

Posts: 141

x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

When I'm running glxgears with fluxbox WM on my Dell M1330(2.5Ghz Core Due, 4GB ram), and I can't get more than 2.4k fps.

I've installed the nvidia drivers and I ran "nvidia-xconfigure".

Here's my xorg.conf file:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder58)  Thu Jul 17 18:39:00 PDT 2008

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath         "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "record"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "xtrap"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "freetype"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "no"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName      "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Card0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "nVidia Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 8400M GS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Card0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

Hello,

I am running Arch64 with Fluxbox on a computer that I built.

It has:

NVidia GeForce 8600GTS video card

2 dual core AMD Athlon 64 FX 3.0GHz CPUs

8GB ram.

Anyhow, I don't know much about video cards or how they should perform but I tried running 'glxgears' and got:

20636 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4115.735 FPS
24560 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4894.549 FPS
24881 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4964.314 FPS
24717 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4933.829 FPS
24079 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4815.762 FPS
23847 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4760.489 FPS
24314 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4861.521 FPS
24948 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4981.309 FPS
24784 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4934.951 FPS
25261 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5050.037 FPS

I also tried running it while running 'xcompmgr':

9209 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1841.672 FPS
9374 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1874.775 FPS
8553 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1701.186 FPS
10022 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2004.260 FPS
9995 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1998.896 FPS
10184 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2036.705 FPS
9854 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1970.798 FPS
9911 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1982.178 FPS
9802 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1960.259 FPS
9928 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1985.523 FPS

Here is my /etc/X11/xorg.conf, also generated with nvidia-xconfig, but edited as well:

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder58)  Thu Jul 17 18:39:42 PDT 2008

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder58)  Thu Jul 17 18:39:00 PDT 2008

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath         "/usr/lib/X11/rgb"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "extmod"
#    Load           "type1"
    Load           "freetype"
    Load           "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "TV-0"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Videocard0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 8600 GTS"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Videocard1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 8600 GTS"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Videocard0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "RenderAccel" "True"
    Option         "NoRenderExtension" "False"
    Option         "AllowGLXWithComposite" "True"
    Option         "XvmcUsesTextures" "True"
    Option         "LoadKernelModule" "True"
    Option         "DamageEvents" "True"
    Option         "LogoPath" "/home/theavataroftime/Pictures"
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Videocard1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "TV: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Option         "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
    Option         "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Enable"
    Option         "RENDER" "Enable"
EndSection

It should be noted that I have a TV setup as a dual monitor on there. I hope perhaps that helps. You might look into the 'RenderAccel' option under 'Screen'. I'm not entirely sure that mine is configured properly either though, I have never been very happy with the performance it gives when trying to use KDE's desktop effects. Hence the reason I use Fluxbox. Well, that, and the fact the Fluxbox is just better.

There is some decent info about some other settings on the Gentoo wiki as well. I don't have the address handy at the moment, but if you need it ask. It was on a page about using xcompmgr if I remember right.

Anyhow, good luck and let me know how it goes.

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

Also perhaps you should look into the NVidia beta drivers: http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=15152

I'm getting ready to give them a try as well, from what I have read they should work a bit better. There are some 8400 cards on there so you can check to see about your's. Good luck.

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

GeForce 8600GTS... 5050.037 FPS

I've been doing a ton of experimentation lately, e.g.:

$ grep MTRR /usr/src/linux/.config
CONFIG_MTRR=y
CONFIG_MTRR_SANITIZER=y
CONFIG_MTRR_SANITIZER_ENABLE_DEFAULT=1
CONFIG_MTRR_SANITIZER_SPARE_REG_NR_DEFAULT=1

$ grep -i nvidia /etc/modprobe.conf
alias char-major-195 nvidia
alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195
options nvidia NVreg_DeviceFileMode=0660 NVreg_DeviceFileUID=0 NVreg_DeviceFileGID=100 NVreg_ModifyDeviceFiles=1 NVreg_EnableMSI=1 NVreg_UsePageAttributeTable=0 NVreg_UseVBios=0 NVreg_RMEdgeIntrCheck=0

$ cat /proc/mtrr
reg00: base=0x00000000 (   0MB), size=2048MB: write-back, count=1
reg01: base=0x80000000 (2048MB), size=1024MB: write-back, count=1
reg02: base=0xc0000000 (3072MB), size= 256MB: write-back, count=1
reg03: base=0x100000000 (4096MB), size=2048MB: write-back, count=1
reg04: base=0x180000000 (6144MB), size= 512MB: write-back, count=1
reg05: base=0x1a0000000 (6656MB), size= 256MB: write-back, count=1
reg06: base=0xd0000000 (3328MB), size= 256MB: write-combining, count=1

Where 0xd0000000 (3328MB), size= 256MB: write-combining is my nvidia geforce 8800gts 512 - finally managed to get write-combining, only to find that it doesn't help anyway.

The problem is squarely with nvidia's linux drivers - they suck performance-wise right now. Truly. All we can do is wait for another driver, and pray that it helps.

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

The problem is squarely with nvidia's linux drivers - they suck performance-wise right now. Truly. All we can do is wait for another driver, and pray that it helps.

Yes that would definitely seem to be the case. I went ahead and tried the nvidia-beta drivers and I saw no improvement. I'm not going to bother to post more glxgears output but rest assured that it was identical.

Is NVidia or ATI better supported in Linux then? I was under the impression when I built this machine that NVidia was supported far better than ATI. I plan to get another graphics card or two fairly soon (can't have too many monitors hooked up you know) and I'm certainly going to make sure they work properly before buying them.

I have never ran Windows on this computer and so obviously not on the graphics card either, but if the NVidia drivers were working properly what SHOULD an 8600GTS do? In terms of FPS like in glxgears I mean?

Anyhow: to the originaly poster, sorry we couldn't help more, but there isn't really anything to be done at the moment it seems.

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

ATI drivers suck *even* more. We just hear more moans about Nvidia because more people use them.

I'm missing, very roughly, about a third to a half more performance than I *used* to get from Nvidia's 3D driver on the same hardware, ooh about 8 months ago. Although, with Nvidia's 177.70 driver, the 2D desktop is slightly more responsive.

Of course, I can't just go back to the old Nvidia driver because it doesn't work with the later Linux kernels and xorg, because the kernel devs have their immature "we'll change things whenever we like, and get stroppy about non-GPL code" tantrums. Man, think I'll go back to Windows.

Last edited by brebs (2008-09-12 14:35:40)

tafsen

Member

Registered: 2006-05-03

Posts: 141

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

So, what you are saying is that there are nothing we can do atm? There are no alternative drivers to use?

byte

Member

From: Düsseldorf (DE)

Registered: 2006-05-01

Posts: 2,046

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

What's the issue here again? I fail to see one.
glxgears is not a benchmark. This is a benchmark.

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1000

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

byte - stop being an idiot. Nobody cares about glxgears, it's just an easy way to show that performance is obviously lacking in the apps which we do care about.

byte

Member

From: Düsseldorf (DE)

Registered: 2006-05-01

Posts: 2,046

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

Okay, I'll start being constructive then.

Buy ATI. Better hardware and brighter future in terms of driver development. The 3 (ati, radeonhd, catalyst) camps might take a bit too long for some people's taste, but hey, they got specs.

---

1000

The Avatar of Time

Member

Registered: 2008-01-11

Posts: 226

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

Okay, I'll start being constructive then.

Buy ATI. Better hardware and brighter future in terms of driver development. The 3 (ati, radeonhd, catalyst) camps might take a bit too long for some people's taste, but hey, they got specs.

So ATI is/will be better than NVIDIA overall then? I haven't looked into it much yet but I am getting ready to buy another card soon.

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

I've reverted to kernel 2.6.24, to get the best smoothness

tafsen

Member

Registered: 2006-05-03

Posts: 141

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

Have you guys tried the newest beta driver? It's suppose to be way better.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthr … 61&page=12

(as you can see it's allready a long thread about poor performance with my card).

tafsen

Member

Registered: 2006-05-03

Posts: 141

Re: x.conf setup with NVidia GF8400m

It seems better after some testing

The weird thing is that I get more fps on glxgears in KDE4 than in fluxbox.