Low NVIDIA GPU usage in game

Support Gaming
,
1

Hello, everyone!

At some point in the last weeks, I am experiencing a bad performance on my PC. When gaming (Euro Truck 2, CS2, Cities Skyline), my GPU usage is getting low. The value depends on the game, but never above 80% usage, even with gamemode on.
The crazy thing is that on the menus it gets 100%.
When the Wayland update came to NVIDIA, everything went good, it starts after the lastest stable updates (2025-05-14 and 2025-05-19).

Hope someone can give a direction here to fix that.

Info about the system:

inxi --admin --verbosity=6 --filter --width --raid --bluetooth --logical --extra 3 --flags --filter-label
System:
  Kernel: 6.6.90-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
    root=UUID=d6ecda09-ff35-416a-9f44-94f281802154 rw nvidia_drm.modeset=1
    quiet udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: GNOME v: 48.1 tk: GTK v: 3.24.49 wm: gnome-shell
    tools: gsd-screensaver-proxy dm: GDM v: 48.0 Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B450M-GAMING/BR v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 2202 date: 07/14/2020
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.55 GiB used: 5.07 GiB (32.6%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB slots: 4 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 32 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM_A1 type: no module installed
  Device-2: DIMM_A2 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered (unregistered)
    size: 8 GiB speed: 2666 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Kingston
    part-no: KHX2666C16/8G serial: <filter>
  Device-3: DIMM_B1 type: no module installed
  Device-4: DIMM_B2 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered (unregistered)
    size: 8 GiB speed: 2666 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1 min: 1 max: 1
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Kingston
    part-no: KHX2666C16/8G serial: <filter>
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ gen: 1+
    level: v3 note: check built: 2018-21 process: GF 12nm family: 0x17 (23)
    model-id: 8 stepping: 2 microcode: 0x800820D
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 576 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x64 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 2x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1547 min/max: 1550/3200 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1547 2: 1547 3: 1547
    4: 1547 5: 1547 6: 1547 7: 1547 8: 1547 9: 1547 10: 1547 11: 1547 12: 1547
    bogomips: 76674
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
    bmi2 bpext clflush clflushopt clzero cmov cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb
    cpuid cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid f16c
    flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibpb lahf_lm lbrv
    lm mca mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx
    nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter
    pclmulqdq pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pni
    popcnt pse pse36 rapl rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sep sev sev_es sha_ni
    skinit smap smca smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 succor svm
    svm_lock syscall tce topoext tsc tsc_scale v_vmsave_vmload vgif vmcb_clean
    vme vmmcall wdt xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; STIBP:
    disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050 Ti] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
    v: 570.144 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-570.xx+ status: current
    (as of 2025-04; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm
    built: 2016-2021 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none
    off: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c82
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: nvidia gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch
    display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: LG (GoldStar) ULTRAWIDE serial: <filter>
    built: 2016 res: 2560x1080 dpi: 81 gamma: 1.2 size: 798x334mm (31.42x13.15")
    diag: 869mm (34.2") modes: max: 2560x1080 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 1 drv: nouveau device: 2 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 570.144
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
    memory: 3.91 GiB display-ID: :0.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.313 layers: 8 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce GTX 1050 Ti driver: nvidia v: 570.144 device-ID: 10de:1c82
    surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-doctor
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi x11: xprop,xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 08:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0a:00.3 chip-ID: 1022:1457 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Generalplus Usb Audio Device
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-4:4 chip-ID: 1b3f:2008 class-ID: 0300
    serial: <filter>
  API: ALSA v: k6.6.90-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: pipewire-media-session status: active 3: pipewire-alsa
    type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 07:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.58 TiB used: 899.26 GiB (55.5%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-08WN4A0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A02 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 20WD
    scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Seagate model: WDC WDS240G2G0B-00EPW0
    size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0400 scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 456.96 GiB size: 448.72 GiB (98.20%)
    used: 222.11 GiB (49.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 label: N/A
    uuid: d6ecda09-ff35-416a-9f44-94f281802154
  ID-2: /mnt/0730390f-64f7-4722-8644-0b147af0a682 raw-size: 931.51 GiB
    size: 915.82 GiB (98.31%) used: 675.69 GiB (73.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
    maj-min: 8:1 label: <filter> uuid: 0730390f-64f7-4722-8644-0b147af0a682
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.8 GiB used: 1.46 GiB (16.5%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 label: <filter>
    uuid: b1b7c693-1d50-44de-b647-e3f032335bfa
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 223.57 GiB fs: ext4 label: <filter>
    uuid: 0a8dbb6f-1615-4fe7-869d-f847134b304d
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1:2 info: Logitech G213 Prodigy Gaming Keyboard
    type: keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 046d:c336 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 3-2:3 info: Holtek Gaming Mouse [Redragon M711]
    type: mouse,keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 04d9:fc30 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: 3-4:4 info: Generalplus Usb Audio Device type: audio,HID
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 1b3f:2008 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.2 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 405 Power: uptime: 3h 24m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.21 GiB services: gsd-power,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Packages: 2161 pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 2104 libs: 568
    tools: gnome-software,pamac,yay pm: flatpak pkgs: 51 pm: snap pkgs: 6
    Compilers: clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 15.1.1 alt: 13/14 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9
    running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.38

Thanks!

2

Wait for the next Nvidia driver update. Nvidia is currently going through some Wayland specific issues. To be sure you can try searching in their forum, and if you can’t find anything similar, report there. Downgrading the driver might help, but I never suggest downgrading on a rolling release system.

3

check with htop in the Console if other Thread blocked or high CPU usage.

4

Well, only way here is downgrading. I will give it a try.

CPU usage it’s ok. In Euro Truck 2, for example, on the menu it shows 100% usage, high FPS, When I start actually playing, the GPU usage down to 30~40%. And even with gamemode, the profile in NVIDIA X Server changes automatically.
It feels that the system (NVIDIA driver?) just slows down the GPU. I wish I could set the performance to max and ignoring the performance profile from NVIDIA driver…

5

Besides CS1 and CS2 is bad optimised and more CPU focus instead GPU oriented. But why not using X11, its still for nvidia GPU’s most of the time the better way to play games on Linux.

6

Since the release of Wayland for NVIDIA on some Stable Update this year, the usability of the system is way better, and gaming was quite good. Probability better than on X11. But you are right too, Wayland it is not perfect for NVIDIA, yet.

7

Hello everyone.
Since last update, I tried changing the kernel from 6.6 LTS to 6.12 LTS, and… It worked. I dont’t know why, because in theory the drivers it’s kind of the same.
In my research I saw that NIVIDA 570 it’s kind of problematic, so in 575 it probability will be more fine.
And, I am using now the lastest version of ProtonGE, so it kind of helped.
I notice that if I am gaming and change to some specific windows (like flatpak Spotify), it kind of lose some FPS for a while, but back to normal in a few minutes.
So, I will keep this thread open until 575 driver, if the staff team agrees.
Thanks again.