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#1 2008-07-08 19:52:54

mrcold
Member
Registered: 2008-01-24
Posts: 150

video using too much CPU

I am not sure at all what is causing this problem.  It is possible that i don't really have a problem.. just an old computer, but it doesn't seem right so i'll ask anyway.

When i watch videos with a somewhat high resolution (not necessarily hd though..) my computer sputters around alot and uses pretty much all of my CPU.  This also happens when i play games.. even simpler ones (at least to my eyes) like Super Maryo or Pingus.  I am using a 256mb NVIDIA graphics card.. and i THINK that these things should work a little smoother than they are.  I don't really remember it always being this slow, but its been like this for a while so i don't know if it was any certain update that caused it. 

I used to play Tremulous and Nexuiz on my old installation of Arch and they ran pretty smoothly, but i haven't reinstalled them since i reinstalled arch probably 4 or 5 months ago.  I haven't really searched for an answer because i don't know where to even start, so if you want to at least point me in some direction i can probably try to figure it out on my own.

I can get any extra info that you might want.  and here is my xorg.conf :

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder3)  Thu Feb 14 18:20:37 PST 2008

# File generated by xorgconfig.
#
# Copyright 2004 The X.Org Foundation
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# The X.Org Foundation BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
# 
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of The X.Org Foundation shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from
# The X.Org Foundation.
#
# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf(5) man page for details about the format of 
# this file.
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Other input device sections 
# this is optional and is required only if you
# are using extended input devices.  This is for example only.  Refer
# to the xorg.conf man page for a description of the options.
# **********************************************************************
#
# Section "InputDevice" 
#    Identifier  "Mouse2"
#    Driver      "mouse"
#    Option      "Protocol"      "MouseMan"
#    Option      "Device"        "/dev/mouse2"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball"
#    Driver     "magellan"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball2"
#    Driver     "spaceorb"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen0"
#    Driver     "microtouch"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "1412"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "15184"
#    Option     "MinY"          "15372"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "1230"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen1"
#    Driver     "elo2300"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "231"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "3868"
#    Option     "MinY"          "3858"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "272"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonThreshold"       "17"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of monitor sections may be present
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of graphics device sections may be present
# Standard VGA Device:
# Device configured by xorgconfig:
# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.
# Section "DRI"
#    Mode 0666
# EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the
# right of screen 1.
# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".
    Identifier     "Simple Layout"
    Screen         "Screen 1" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.
#    RgbPath    "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
# 
# 
#    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/freefont/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
# The module search path.  The default path is shown here.
#    ModulePath "/usr/lib/modules"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath        "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
EndSection

Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.
# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
# This loads the font modules
#    Load        "type1"
# This loads the GLX module
#    Load       "glx"
# This loads the DRI module
#    Load       "dri"
    Load           "dbe"      # Double buffer extension
    SubSection     "extmod"
        Option         "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection
    Load           "freetype"
#    Load        "xtt"
    Load           "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

#    Option    "Xleds"      "1 2 3"
#    Option "LeftAlt"     "Meta"
#    Option "RightAlt"    "ModeShift"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc105"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#    Option "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "de"
# or:
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "de"
#    Option "XkbVariant"  "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#    Option "XkbOptions"  "ctrl:swapcaps"
# These are the default XKB settings for Xorg
#    Option "XkbRules"    "xorg"
#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc105"
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "us"
#    Option "XkbVariant"  ""
#    Option "XkbOptions"  ""
#    Option "XkbDisable"
    Identifier     "Keyboard1"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
    Option         "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver
#    Option "Resolution"    "256"
# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In
# almost every case these lines should be omitted.
#    Option "BaudRate"    "9600"
#    Option "SampleRate"    "150"
# Mouse wheel mapping.  Default is to map vertical wheel to buttons 4 & 5,
# horizontal wheel to buttons 6 & 7.   Change if your mouse has more than
# 3 buttons and you need to map the wheel to different button ids to avoid
# conflicts.
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)
    Identifier     "Mouse1"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "Auto"    # Auto detect
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
# Mouse-speed setting for PS/2 mouse.
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button mice
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons"
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"
# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice
#    Option "ChordMiddle"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
#    HorizSync    30-64         # multisync
#    HorizSync    31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies
#    HorizSync    15-25, 30-50  # multiple ranges of sync frequencies
# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
    Identifier     "sadf"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 83.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Device"

# The chipset line is optional in most cases.  It can be used to override
# the driver's chipset detection, and should not normally be specified.
#    Chipset    "generic"
# The Driver line must be present.  When using run-time loadable driver
# modules, this line instructs the server to load the specified driver
# module.  Even when not using loadable driver modules, this line
# indicates which driver should interpret the information in this section.
# The BusID line is used to specify which of possibly multiple devices
# this section is intended for.  When this line isn't present, a device
# section can only match up with the primary video device.  For PCI
# devices a line like the following could be used.  This line should not
# normally be included unless there is more than one video device
# intalled.
#    BusID      "PCI:0:10:0"
#    VideoRam    256
#    Clocks    25.2 28.3
    Identifier     "Standard VGA"
    Driver         "vga"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    BoardName      "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Device"

    # unsupported card
    #VideoRam    262144
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
    Identifier     "adf"
    Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen 1"
    Device         "adf"
    Monitor        "sadf"
    DefaultDepth    24 
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       8
        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       16
        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1440x900" "1280x1024x60" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

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

thanks alot

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#2 2008-07-09 08:03:18

figue
Member
Registered: 2007-12-16
Posts: 59

Re: video using too much CPU

Hi, you can check the log xorg (/var/log/Xorg.0.log) if there is something strange

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#3 2008-07-09 09:00:57

klixon
Member
From: Nederland
Registered: 2007-01-17
Posts: 525

Re: video using too much CPU

Simple thing to try would be to disable composite and see how you fare then
Check the logs first, though


Stand back, intruder, or i'll blast you out of space! I am Klixon and I don't want any dealings with you human lifeforms. I'm a cyborg!

Offline

#4 2008-07-09 15:43:57

mrcold
Member
Registered: 2008-01-24
Posts: 150

Re: video using too much CPU

thanks for the hints

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