Overheating when gaming

Hello everyone, I moved from Windows 10 to Linux and I've decided to use Garuda Linux after countless of distrohopping. However, there's an issue that keeps bugging me out which is the thermals. I always get high temperatures when playing. For example, when I play Need for Speed Most Wanted 2005 using Lutris, I get almost 90C when using NVIDIA MX130 and the GPU usage is so high. In Windows, the game doesn't even make the laptop hot. I also get a much lower fps in Linux. I've already tried undervolting (-80mV and -40mV for the CPU and GPU, respectively) and disabled performance-tweaks.

Is there any way to minimize the heating and improve FPS? I really love Garuda :DD

garuda-inxi output:

System:
Kernel: 6.0.8-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=8be5a5b2-923e-4e51-8658-cc49328f161c rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
resume=UUID=5321fe67-a6f1-43d0-addc-64d4a749ece7 loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.3 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 info: latte-dock
wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire A514-52KG v: V1.04
serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: N/A
Mobo: KBL model: Sneezy_KL v: V1.04 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.04
date: 08/28/2020
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 33.0 Wh (100.0%) condition: 33.0/47.9 Wh (69.0%)
volts: 12.2 min: 11.4 model: Murata KT003040 AP18C4K type: Li-ion
serial: <filter> status: full cycles: 223
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i3-7020U socket: BGA1356 (U3E1) note: check bits: 64
type: MT MCP arch: Amber/Kaby Lake note: check gen: core 7 level: v3
note: check built: 2017 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8E (142)
stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF0
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 544 high: 584 min/max: 400/2300 base/boost: 2300/8300
scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave volts: 0.7 V
ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 550 2: 584 3: 500 4: 544 bogomips: 18399
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
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: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling,
PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 620 vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports:
active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5921
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GM108M [GeForce MX130] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: nvidia v: 520.56.06 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 520.xx+
status: current (as of 2022-10) arch: Maxwell code: GMxxx
process: TSMC 28nm built: 2014-19 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4
link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:174d
class-ID: 0302
Device-3: Chicony HD User Facing type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-2:3
chip-ID: 04f2:b64f class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.5
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau
alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x14d6 built: 2016 res: 1366x768
hz: 60 dpi: 112 gamma: 1.2 size: 309x173mm (12.17x6.81") diag: 354mm (13.9")
ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.3 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 620 (KBL
GT2F) direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_soc_avs
bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71 class-ID: 0403
Sound API: ALSA v: k6.0.8-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.60 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
class-ID: 0200
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Lite-On driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:003e class-ID: 0280 temp: 50.0 C
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: CloudflareWARP state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full
mac: N/A
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Lite-On type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-7:4
chip-ID: 04ca:3016 class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down
bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 820.34 GiB (70.5%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: SNVS250G
size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: EDFK9NO2 temp: 33.9 C scheme: GPT
SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 113d 0h cycles: 1,651
read-units: 24,774,114 [12.6 TB] written-units: 19,918,142 [10.1 TB]
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Toshiba model: MQ04ABF100
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.3
speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter> rev: 1J temp: 34 C
scheme: GPT
SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 253d 21h cycles: 3660
Old-Age: g-sense error rate: 1265
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 49.59 GiB size: 49.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 12.73 GiB (25.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
maj-min: 259:7
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 1024 MiB size: 1022 MiB (99.80%)
used: 312 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
maj-min: 259:5
ID-3: /home raw-size: 68.36 GiB size: 68.36 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.09 GiB (22.1%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda4
maj-min: 8:4
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 49.59 GiB size: 49.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 12.73 GiB (25.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
maj-min: 259:7
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 49.59 GiB size: 49.59 GiB (100.00%)
used: 12.73 GiB (25.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
maj-min: 259:7
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.51 GiB used: 94.4 MiB (1.2%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0 C pch: 49.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 245 Uptime: 4h 6m wakeups: 3 Memory: 7.51 GiB
used: 4.12 GiB (54.9%) Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1471
libs: 399 tools: octopi,paru Shell: garuda-inxi (sudo) default: Bash
v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.23
Garuda (2.6.9-1):
System install date:     2022-11-13
Last full system update: 2022-11-18
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       Yes
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:            nmb.service systemd-networkd-wait-online.service

KDE's RAM usage might be causing your issues.

Does the game use the Nvidia GPU instead of internal one? You can check with "nvtop". Also compare video setting of the game on Garuda and Windows.

2 Likes

It's only using around less than 1gb of RAM tho. Dunno if that causes it

Yes, it's using the nvidia GPU. The graphics settings are the same both windows and linux.

What are you using to play the game? Lutris, plain wine, Heroic, Steam etc.

Check and make sure your fans are properly spooling up. May need to setup a custom fan curve using fancontrol, etc.

I only use Lutris

I think the fan on this laptop cannot be configured :confused:

Tell Lutris to install DXVK to your game prefix, maybe Lutris is using WineD3D which fries your PC.

3 Likes

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