Game performance degrades after 1-2 hour

English Games
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1

Hi,

My computer has Intel i7-8700, 16GiB and nvidia RTX 2070. It’s been assembled in and active since late 2018, so it’s got significant mileage.

I’ve recently decided to fully take the plunge and switch from windows (or losedows if you’re so inclined) gaming to Linux (Winux) gaming after my 10-year-old antique “toaster” with Linux Mint stopped working. Rest In Peace, my dear introduction to Linux. You served me well for many years and will be missed.

I installed TW with the 20250304 snapshot, then installed nvidia driver 570.124.04. Steam and Valheim came after that. I’ve verified that the nvidia driver is installed by having OpenBroadcasterStudio set to encode with NVENC, which was not possible before installing the driver, and the Vulkan section of the Info Center changed from throwing up error messages to having an entire textbook worth of information.

Trying to launch Valheim’s Windows client under ProtonGE9-25 via Steam didn’t work, and I found out that a specific SELinux function must be enabled for that - which I fixed and now Valheim and also Deep Rock Galactic (under Proton Experimental) are running fine…

… For about an hour.

After some time, performance gets real bad. The game freezes several times per second, each time for about 2-3 milliseconds. That is, as long as the camera and my character are moving. If I don’t move them, the game becomes fully stable again… as if something went wrong with the loading and unloading of textures.

I’ve investigated further and found that I should have installed GameMode and MangoHud, and so I did. I also added to the game properties in Steam the launch arguement: gamemoderun mangohud %command%…

And now DRG lasts a whopping TWO! hours before the performance problems start all over again (Valheim not yet tested as of writing this post) - and tho this time it’s slightly less bad, it still does my head in.

When the problems start, the frametime graph in MangoHud is spiking constantly, and the framerate which previously was consistently above 100 (up to 145) is now fluctuating anywhere between 145 FPS to as low as the mid 40s. And on top of that, MangoHud says that GPU usage is at 0% while CPU usage fluctuates between 10% (not including) to 20% (including and possibly a little above that).

Note that I found a forum thread that mentions power profiles, and I checked to make sure that my system remains in the “Performance” profile while playing games, even after the problems start. Also, I’ve kept all software packages up-to-date.

I’m now at the point where I don’t know what to do. If anyone can help me figure this out, it will be much appreciated.

Good day.

2

@criss9000 Hi and welcome to the Forum :smile:
Can you provide some system details by posting the output from inxi -Gxxz

3

Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA TU106 [GeForce RTX 2070] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nvidia
v: 570.124.04 arch: Turing pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports:
active: none off: DP-3,HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1,DP-2,Unknown-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0
chip-ID: 10de:1f02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.15 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting,vesa
alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 101
Monitor-1: DP-3 mapped: DP-4 note: disabled pos: left model: Asus VG248
res: N/A dpi: 92 diag: 609mm (24")
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-0 note: disabled pos: primary,right
model: Samsung S22F350 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 diag: 547mm (21.5")
API: EGL v: 1.5 platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia gbm: drv: nvidia
surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 vendor: nvidia v: 570.124.04 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070/PCIe/SSE2
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.304 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
driver: N/A device-ID: 10de:1f02
Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings wl: wayland-info
x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

4

@criss9000 My bad I meant inxi -GSaz any thoughts on switching to Wayland?

5

System:
Kernel: 6.13.5-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.13.5-1-default
root=UUID=107cfd27-9da6-4083-bf2a-6eeca8259005 splash=silent
resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/46075cdc-aca8-4d44-a7e3-c3684172f221
mitigations=auto quiet security=selinux selinux=1 enforcing=1
rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.3.2 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.11.0
wm: kwin_x11 tools: avail: xscreensaver vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: openSUSE
Tumbleweed 20250307
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA TU106 [GeForce RTX 2070] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nvidia
v: 570.124.04 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550/565.xx+
status: current (as of 2025-01; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Turing code: TUxxx
process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-2022 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
lanes: 16 ports: active: none off: DP-3,HDMI-A-1
empty: DP-1,DP-2,Unknown-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f02
class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.15 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting,vesa
alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 101 s-size: 966x272mm (38.03x10.71")
s-diag: 1004mm (39.51")
Monitor-1: DP-3 mapped: DP-4 note: disabled pos: left model: Asus VG248
serial: built: 2014 res: N/A dpi: 92 gamma: 1.2
size: 531x299mm (20.91x11.77") diag: 609mm (24") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-0 note: disabled pos: primary,right
model: Samsung S22F350 serial: built: 2016 res: mode: 1920x1080
hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 477x268mm (18.78x10.55")
diag: 547mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia gbm:
drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 vendor: nvidia v: 570.124.04 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070/PCIe/SSE2
memory: 7.81 GiB
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.304 layers: 6 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 driver: N/A device-ID: 10de:1f02
surfaces: xcb,xlib
Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings wl: wayland-info
x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

As for Wayland: I tried CachyOS on my Mint PC a while back and it completely froze when I tried to resize the app menu. Switching to an X11 session fixed the problem. And that is the long and short of my opinion about Wayland.

6

@criss9000 what about gpu temps, all ok? Is modeset set? cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset

I do have a similar GPU the RTX4000, but I use it as a Prime Render Offload device and run GNOME on Apparmor (at present)…

So also with SELinux running, no output from ausearch -m avc,user_avc,selinux_err,user_selinux_err -ts boot

7

sudo cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset

Y

sudo ausearch -m avc,user_avc,selinux_err,user_selinux_err -ts boot

----
time->Sun Mar  9 01:27:24 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741476444.074:104): avc:  denied  { read } for  pid=1992 comm="power-profiles-" name="passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 01:27:24 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741476444.074:105): avc:  denied  { open } for  pid=1992 comm="power-profiles-" path="/etc/passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 01:27:24 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741476444.074:106): avc:  denied  { getattr } for  pid=1992 comm="power-profiles-" path="/etc/passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 01:27:24 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741476444.075:107): avc:  denied  { watch } for  pid=1992 comm="power-profiles-" path="/sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate" dev="sysfs" ino=20192 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:sysfs_t:s0 tclass=dir permissive=1
8

@criss9000 AFAIK there is a fix in the works for power-profiles, but do those times correspond with a slow down?

Still looks like it’s looking for the iGPU with intel_pstate?

Temperatures all ok, have you running sensors-detect --auto and then checked the output from the sensors command?

9

Please keep in mind that this is all new to me. I didn’t even think to look at the time when the problem started (it could be reasonable to assume the answer to your question is yes, tho I will have to test again to be absolutely sure). I have no idea what “iGPU with intel_pstate” or “sensors-detect --auto” are…

Running the latter produced a bunch of text, saying that out of all the probing it did, it found 2 sensors. How do I see the data from those?

10

@criss9000 run the command sensors to see.

It’s the cpu (my bad), I’m assuming the iGPU which is part of the CPU is disabled in the BIOS?

If you temporarily disable with setenforce 0 do you see the slowdown?

11

I’ll have to reboot to check.

I just did that, will be back in a couple hours after playing some DRG.

1 Like
12

So, BIOS settings… I didn’t find any setting that pertains to iGPU or integrated graphics. I did however find “Internal Graphics” in the BIOS settings, which is set to Auto.

As for game performance, it still degrades just the same even after doing sudo setenforce 0. Performance degradation occurred at 5:29 (UTC+2).

sudo ausearch -m avc,user_avc,selinux_err,user_selinux_err -ts boot returns this log:

----
time->Sun Mar  9 04:44:05 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741488245.600:104): avc:  denied  { read } for  pid=1983 comm="power-profiles-" name="passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 04:44:05 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741488245.600:105): avc:  denied  { open } for  pid=1983 comm="power-profiles-" path="/etc/passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 04:44:05 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741488245.600:106): avc:  denied  { getattr } for  pid=1983 comm="power-profiles-" path="/etc/passwd" dev="nvme0n1p7" ino=196329 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:passwd_file_t:s0 tclass=file permissive=1
----
time->Sun Mar  9 04:44:05 2025
type=AVC msg=audit(1741488245.600:107): avc:  denied  { watch } for  pid=1983 comm="power-profiles-" path="/sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate" dev="sysfs" ino=20192 scontext=system_u:system_r:powerprofiles_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:sysfs_t:s0 tclass=dir permissive=1

So these log entries have nothing to do with the performance.

Temperatures were between the mid-50s and low-60s during the entire game session.

13

If my memory is correct, when I started a mission in Deep Rock Galactic, MangoHud reported around 40% CPU usage. after the performance degraded, CPU usage was in the teens… if I remember correctly.

14

I did another game session in DRG, and after starting a mission, CPU usage was between 22% and 36%.
After performance went bad, the CPU usage went down to 20% or less, going as low as 13 or 14%.
so it’s something related to using the CPU - GameMode or not.

I don’t know why it never uses the GPU tho…

15

I don’t play games, but a quick search online seems to show some other Linux users experiencing similar issues with this game…

A Steam discussion thread that may be of interest…

16

so because I noticed that DRG does not use the GPU at all, I had a hunch that it might be an issue with the driver package that I installed. I went back to a couple of online guides regarding nvidia driver installation for OpenSUSE distros, namely these two:

OpenSUSE Support Database, SDB: NVIDIA drivers - SDB:NVIDIA drivers - openSUSE Wiki

r/openSUSE, How To Set Up OpenSUSE For Gaming - Reddit - Dive into anything

I also checked the YaST Software Management to see exactly which driver package I have installed. As it turns out, the one I installed was nvidia-common-G06 - instead of what I was supposed to install, which is nvidia-compute-G06.

After I installed the latter (seemingly with no conflict between the two), I rebooted and then launched DRG again, and lo and behold - it is using the GPU now. The framerate is also firmly planted at 144 FPS (most of the time)…

… until the performance degradation happens again. only this time, it’s noticeably less bad - FPS is at 75 or above, sometimes as high up as 115, and the stuttering is a bit closer to tolerable (but it still does my head in).

So even with the correct GPU driver package, DRG still suffers performance issues, and logic suggests that this will happen in Valheim as well as any other game.

Next up, I’m going to try to run DRG under Proton Hotfix and GE-Proton9-25 and see if that makes things any better.

Also, I have Steam installed from the openSUSE repo - I might try to reinstall it as Flatpak (as per that Steam forum thread) if the performance problems are not resolved in any other way. (trying the .deb install downloaded from the official Steam website did not work)

I will report back once I have something to report.

1 Like
17

LD_PRELOAD=“” gamemoderun mangohud %command%

18

I’m gonna try that. will report back soon™.

19

yep, that did it. I was able to play for much longer than before and the performance has remained constantly steady with no degradation whatsoever.

I’m marking that as the solution. thank you very much.