Poor gaming performance

I have installed Garuda linux 'gaming edition', sorry I don't the file name as I wiped the iso with the fresh install of Garuda linux on my system :frowning: . I hoped better performance from Garuda after a while of using Ubuntu 21.04,
I play CS:GO on Ubuntu giving me an average fps of 122, meanwhile Garuda linux struggling to reach 60 fps.

inxi -Fxxxza command output:

System:    Kernel: 5.13.5-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0 
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen root=UUID=b48d8417-882e-4c3c-9104-8c5974293dde 
rw rootflags=subvol=@ quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 
systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1 loglevel=3 nouveau.modeset=0 
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.4 tk: Qt 5.15.2 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM 
Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FA506IH_FA506IH v: 1.0 
serial: <filter> 
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: FA506IH v: 1.0 serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: FA506IH.316 
date: 03/12/2021 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 38.6 Wh (96.3%) condition: 40.1/48.1 Wh (83.3%) volts: 12.5 min: 11.7 
model: ASUS A32-K55 type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: Unknown 
CPU:       Info: 6-Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 4600H with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 
family: 17 (23) model-id: 60 (96) stepping: 1 microcode: 8600104 cache: L2: 3 MiB 
flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 71864 
Speed: 1722 MHz min/max: 1400/3000 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1722 2: 3347 
3: 1397 4: 1396 5: 1563 6: 1969 7: 2280 8: 1397 9: 1397 10: 1397 11: 1396 12: 1397 
Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
Type: mds status: Not affected 
Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
Type: spectre_v2 
mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling 
Type: srbds status: Not affected 
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA TU117M vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 470.57.02 
alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f99 class-ID: 0300 
Device-2: AMD Renoir vendor: ASUSTeK driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus-ID: 05:00.0 
chip-ID: 1002:1636 class-ID: 0300 
Device-3: IMC Networks USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4:3 
chip-ID: 13d3:56a2 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter> 
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.12 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: loaded: modesetting,nvidia 
display-ID: :0 screens: 1 
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
Monitor-1: eDP-1-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 144 dpi: 142 size: 344x193mm (13.5x7.6") 
diag: 394mm (15.5") 
OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.57.02 
direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 05:00.1 
chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403 
Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor driver: N/A 
alternate: snd_pci_acp3x, snd_rn_pci_acp3x bus-ID: 05:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480 
Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
bus-ID: 05:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403 
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.13.5-zen1-1-zen running: yes 
Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no 
Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes 
Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.32 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 
v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Device-2: Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On 
driver: rtw_8822ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8822ce port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c822 
class-ID: 0280 
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
IF-ID-1: anbox0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Lite-On Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-1:2 
chip-ID: 04ca:4005 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter> 
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: 
hardware: no software: yes address: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.38 TiB used: 40.1 GiB (2.8%) 
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLQ512HALU-00000 size: 476.94 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
rev: FXV7000Q temp: 40.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM048-2E7172 size: 931.51 GiB
block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400
serial: <filter> rev: 0001 scheme: GPT
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 476.68 GiB size: 476.68 GiB (100.00%) used: 40.1 GiB (8.4%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%) used: 562 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 476.68 GiB size: 476.68 GiB (100.00%) used: 40.1 GiB (8.4%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 476.68 GiB size: 476.68 GiB (100.00%) used: 40.1 GiB (8.4%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 476.68 GiB size: 476.68 GiB (100.00%) used: 40.1 GiB (8.4%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.19 GiB used: 400.5 MiB (5.4%) priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.9 C mobo: 55.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 3100
GPU: device: nvidia screen: :0.0 temp: 55 C device: amdgpu temp: 50.0 C
Info:      Processes: 329 Uptime: 7h 22m wakeups: 13 Memory: 7.19 GiB used: 2.92 GiB (40.6%) Init: systemd
v: 249 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 12.0.1 Packages: pacman: 1671 lib: 506
Shell: fish v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.8 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.06

I have 2 gpus in my system, one is in-built graphics from my AMD Ryzen 5 4600H cpu and I have a GTX 1650 graphics card which I use for gaming. I have verified that I'm using the Nvidia graphics card with nvidia x server settings application working and Optimus Manger Qt displaying the Nvidia icon in the system tray (I've used the auto install proprietary drivers from the hardware configuration menu in the system settings).

I have used many commands in order to use the Nvidia gpu, current it's: prime-run %command% -full -high, -high flag giving high priority and -full giving full screen for playing(this is the steam launch commands).

The rest of the system is working brilliant, the system applications work fine and other softwares such as spotify, discord, chrome run great right now. I'm not sure if the game is utilising my AMD gpu or my Nvidia gpu, although Nvidia drivers are working currently. I hope to get assistance soon! :slight_smile:

screenshots of CS:GO:

In menu:

In game:

This is the performance I'm getting currently. If CS:GO is using my AMD gpu that's 20+ fps of improvement from my experience of the game in Ubuntu.

2 Likes

What are you using to launch the games? In Lutris you have to set dGPU for it to be active or it will automatically choose the iGPU.

1 Like

I'm using steam native as the launcher, even the launch commands are mentioned in the post

Apparently the command prime-run does not use the nvidia gpu, it rather uses the AMD gpu, which I don't prefer.

here's what I'm assuming(anyone with better knowledge correct me if I'm wrong):

the prime-run command points at the alternative gpu(assumed to be better) instead of the default gpu being used by the os, in case of my experience on Ubuntu, the os used my AMD gpu and prime-run pointed at my nvidia graphics card instead for better performance, but it's the opposite here in Garuda as I've preinstalled Nvidia drivers during installing it.

Edit:
disabling compositor on startup gave a 30 fps boost on average.

5 Likes

Nice.

So it’s confirmed: Garuda provides 30% more FPS on the same hardware. :grin:

5 Likes

You can use Lutris and select Steam (along many others) as the runner. IMO Lutris is much easier to configure than Steam.

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