For 1-2 months now I’ve had some issues with video performance with two of my systems. Nothing has been changed in the OS or hardware, except for trying out some Xorg configs to attempt to sort this issue out. (more on that below)
Both have integrated intel graphics, one of them has the following inxi -G output:
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 driver: X: loaded: intel gpu: i915
resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: crocus,swrast
platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 3.3 vendor: mesa v: 23.1.9-manjaro1.1
renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 16.0.6 256 bits)
For the other I don’t have access ATM, so no inxi output, but it’s a 4th gen CPU, so a bit newer that the above system. If additional info is required, I can provide it.
Now I know both systems are a bit long in the tooth, and I wouldn’t expect them to have peak performance, but the least I could expect out of those two is some smooth video for UI/browsing, and smooth playback of 1080p60 video.
Instead what I get is skipped/stuttering frames both in Firefox and VLC, noticeable slow framerate when accessing certain sites and overall poor performance, and frequent Firefox crashes.
I’ve been using XFCE in order to combat this issue (and for stability which is lacking in Cinnamon and other DEs for this system) but lately I see that XFCE is also plagued by this.
So in order to fix this, I’ve tried the following Xorg configurations:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
Option "TearFree" "false"
Option "TripleBuffer" "false"
Option "DRI" "3"
EndSection
Poor video/UI performance (XFCE’s windows and prompts not affected), frequent Firefox crashes.
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"
Option "TearFree" "false"
Option "TripleBuffer" "false"
Option "DRI" "2"
EndSection
Poorer video/UI performance (XFCE’s windows and prompts not affected), frequent Firefox crashes, framerate capped for most things under 30fps.
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"
Option "TearFree" "true"
Option "TripleBuffer" "true"
Option "SwapbuffersWait" "false"
Option "DRI" "false"
Option "NoAccel" "true"
EndSection
Results in no crashes in Firefox, but lots of tearing when compositor is disabled, and still poor video playback/UI performance. VLC now crashes or freezes from time to time. Tried all the available output types, most of them don’t work, and those that do, don’t fix the issue.
So far all that I’ve tried to change based off my knowledge hasn’t done much to fix all issues, video performance is still quite poor, and I have a “choice” of either VLC crashing, or Firefox crashing.
What’s odd is that it appears that the Gen 4 Intel machine has perceivable worse performance than the older one, and to add to the irony, it’s hooked up to a monitor with a lower native resolution.
All 3 Xorg configurations have been tested on both systems.
So under those circumstances, could anyone suggest anything I could do further to improve video performance or perhaps move to another DE?