PRIME dedicated GPU usage results in FPS drops and a hotter laptop!

Support Graphics & Display
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1

Hey folks, got a rather odd one - wonder if anyone can help. I’ve got a Dell laptop with integrated Iris Plus graphics on the Intel chip, but also a dedicated GeForce MX330 NVIDIA graphics card. I’ve configured this using mhwd to use PRIME, and all seems to be working - I get the expected output from prime-run glxinfo and glxinfo respectively:

[curtispf@curtis-laptop ~]$ prime-run glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce MX330/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 455.45.01
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60 NVIDIA
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 455.45.01
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60 NVIDIA
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: (none)
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 NVIDIA 455.45.01
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

[curtispf@curtis-laptop ~]$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: Intel
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics (ICL GT2)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 20.2.3
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.2.3
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 20.2.3
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

Trouble is, well, actually trying to use the GPU absolutely tanks performance. I don’t mean it tanks the rest of the system performance, I mean that using the integrated graphics outperforms the dedicated card by a country mile! Here’s my glmark2 results from using the integrated graphics:

[curtispf@curtis-laptop ~]$ glmark2          
=======================================================
    glmark2 2014.03
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     Intel
    GL_RENDERER:   Mesa Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics (ICL GT2)
    GL_VERSION:    4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.2.3
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 3721 FrameTime: 0.269 ms
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 5274 FrameTime: 0.190 ms
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 4558 FrameTime: 0.219 ms
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 4587 FrameTime: 0.218 ms
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 3408 FrameTime: 0.293 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 3938 FrameTime: 0.254 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 3823 FrameTime: 0.262 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 3612 FrameTime: 0.277 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 3730 FrameTime: 0.268 ms
[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 2073 FrameTime: 0.482 ms
[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 4742 FrameTime: 0.211 ms
[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 4509 FrameTime: 0.222 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 3076 FrameTime: 0.325 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 1878 FrameTime: 0.532 ms
[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 3621 FrameTime: 0.276 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 1535 FrameTime: 0.651 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 2340 FrameTime: 0.427 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 1146 FrameTime: 0.873 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 902 FrameTime: 1.109 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 1228 FrameTime: 0.814 ms
[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 3037 FrameTime: 0.329 ms
[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 2723 FrameTime: 0.367 ms
[terrain] <default>: FPS: 247 FrameTime: 4.049 ms
[shadow] <default>: FPS: 655 FrameTime: 1.527 ms
[refract] <default>: FPS: 401 FrameTime: 2.494 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 3578 FrameTime: 0.279 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 3476 FrameTime: 0.288 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 3889 FrameTime: 0.257 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 3676 FrameTime: 0.272 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 3694 FrameTime: 0.271 ms
[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 3815 FrameTime: 0.262 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 3659 FrameTime: 0.273 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 3875 FrameTime: 0.258 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 3043 
=======================================================

And here’s the NVIDIA card invoked through prime-run:

[curtispf@curtis-laptop ~]$ prime-run glmark2 
=======================================================
    glmark2 2014.03
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     NVIDIA Corporation
    GL_RENDERER:   GeForce MX330/PCIe/SSE2
    GL_VERSION:    4.6.0 NVIDIA 455.45.01
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 585 FrameTime: 1.709 ms
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 713 FrameTime: 1.403 ms
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 712 FrameTime: 1.404 ms
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 708 FrameTime: 1.412 ms
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 711 FrameTime: 1.406 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 717 FrameTime: 1.395 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 706 FrameTime: 1.416 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 702 FrameTime: 1.425 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 710 FrameTime: 1.408 ms
[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 674 FrameTime: 1.484 ms
[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 720 FrameTime: 1.389 ms
[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 724 FrameTime: 1.381 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 691 FrameTime: 1.447 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 632 FrameTime: 1.582 ms
[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 709 FrameTime: 1.410 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 598 FrameTime: 1.672 ms
libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile
[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 643 FrameTime: 1.555 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 417 FrameTime: 2.398 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 519 FrameTime: 1.927 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 413 FrameTime: 2.421 ms
[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 691 FrameTime: 1.447 ms
[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 671 FrameTime: 1.490 ms
[terrain] <default>: FPS: 301 FrameTime: 3.322 ms
[shadow] <default>: FPS: 689 FrameTime: 1.451 ms
[refract] <default>: FPS: 461 FrameTime: 2.169 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 722 FrameTime: 1.385 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 709 FrameTime: 1.410 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 714 FrameTime: 1.401 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 724 FrameTime: 1.381 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 705 FrameTime: 1.418 ms
[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 718 FrameTime: 1.393 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 718 FrameTime: 1.393 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 716 FrameTime: 1.397 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 652 
=======================================================

Needless to say, those scores should not be that way around! I can hear the fans going like wild when I use the prime-run invoked version, and the GPU gets hot according to psensor, but the performance doesn’t seem to show either of those benefits… I don’t get it :frowning:

The GPU temperature never reaches above 80C from what psensor reports, so I don’t think it’s throttling - and I’m not a graphics expert, so I’m not really sure where to go from here in terms of troubleshooting this. Can anyone offer any advice or suggestions?

Thank you!

2

PRIME limits the fps to your monitor’s refresh rate, if you want to see the full potential, run with:

$ vblank_mode=0 prime-run glmark2

or use an actual game or something else that utilizes the dGPU, you should see the iGPU struggling vs the dGPU.

3

Thanks very much - running a more demanding benchmark worked! I now have a different issue, but I’ll open a separate thread for that.