Arch Linux

LukynZ

Member

From: Ostrava, Czech Republic

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 122

Periodical lags in games or movies

Hello, I have noticed this strange problem some weeks ago...hard to say when it starts exactly

Everytime when I play game or watch movie...cca every 5 minutes I have a little 1-2s lag, where hdd has some activity and cpu is up. It lags entire system. I have no idea whats going on here. So I am searching if someone has same issue or has some idea.... My system cfg is below

lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RX780/RX790 Chipset Host Bridge
00:02.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (external gfx0 port A)
00:0a.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RD790 PCI to PCI bridge (PCI express gpp port F)
00:11.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:12.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:12.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 3a)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 IDE Controller
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:14.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI2 Controller
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 LE [Radeon HD 3450]
01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)

cpuinfo

processor       : 0                   
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD       
cpu family      : 15                 
model           : 107                 
model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+
stepping        : 2                                             
cpu MHz         : 1000.000                                     
cache size      : 512 KB                                       
physical id     : 0                                             
siblings        : 2                                             
core id         : 0                                             
cpu cores       : 2                                             
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow extd_apicid pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch
bogomips        : 2010.20
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 15
model           : 107
model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 1000.000
cache size      : 512 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm 3dnowext 3dnow extd_apicid pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch
bogomips        : 2010.20
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management: ts fid vid ttp tm stc 100mhzsteps

I am using KDE 4.4 with HAL autoconfig (no xorg) and kwin composition, OSS Ati drivers and ALSA drivers

Last edited by LukynZ (2010-02-25 19:08:12)

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

I suggest trying the BFS and BFQ - pf is a convenient kernel patchset, which includes both.

test1000

Member

Registered: 2005-04-03

Posts: 834

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

iotop might help you check what's hogging the disk.

---

KISS = "It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience." - Albert Einstein

LukynZ

Member

From: Ostrava, Czech Republic

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 122

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

Thanks for tips

well, kernel patches...kernel is something I don't want to touch....there is no problem with this..as ex-gentoo user I have no problems with this, but this is why I run out from gentoo to arch

iotop doesn't show anything interesting

however I have noticed one thing - as I have cpu scaling set to ondemand...everytime when cpu loads my power fun turns on and it can be heared very well...when this lags happen, I hear that fun throttle goes down for a moment...

Last edited by LukynZ (2010-02-26 17:21:10)

panuh

Member

From: X :ɯoɹℲ

Registered: 2009-11-24

Posts: 144

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

Did you install anything that's supposed to save power?

I had a similar problem with laptop-mode-tools as it was caching a part of the file, then spinning down the disk. But it didn't refill the cache before the cached part was finished.

You could try to play a movie from USB and see if it happens, too. I think it really sounds like there was some caching going on.

EDIT: Oops didn't see games are effected, too. Now I feel my comment is useless somehow. Anyway, maybe it can help.

Last edited by panuh (2010-02-26 18:35:35)

LukynZ

Member

From: Ostrava, Czech Republic

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 122

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

oh my...I probably know where is problem now....it looks that problem is with KDE's background changing...I have about 100 images cycling as background and every change there is entire system lag....I have never thought that background changing can do this...

LukynZ

Member

From: Ostrava, Czech Republic

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 122

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

Can anybody who use KDE4 and background changing confirm this problem or it is related only to my machine...?

LukynZ

Member

From: Ostrava, Czech Republic

Registered: 2008-11-13

Posts: 122

Re: Periodical lags in games or movies

ok, different question...can any user of KDE4 try it?