System suddenly lagging, especially when gaming

Issues & Assistance Unsupported hardware | Dual boot
1

Hey everyone, I usually don't post since I often find my answers when reading through forums, but unfortunately this one has me stumped a little as I'm not quite sure how to find my answer.

Up until a couple of days ago my system was running perfectly fine, but after updating my system it has taken a massive hit to performance. For example, System Shock Remake used to be at a good 140fps but now plummets to as low as 20fps when I boot it, Apex Legends runs below 60 and even GZDoom has started getting some stutters too.

I've ran through the usual troubleshooting issues like changing kernel, setting BIOS to default and other things like that but they unfortunately didn't solve the problem. I pondered it might be a bad Mesa driver causing problems but I also remember a video by The Linux Experiment and how he mentioned that AMD GPUs can sometimes roll back into a low power mode for no discernible reason, which seems likely since my GPU was still running at 99% utilisation even with the terrible performance, no temperature issues to report neither as my system's components sits comfortably between 50 to 70 celsius.

The issue is I'm not quite sure how to go about fixing this or what to tweak in order to solve the problem, as there was no documentation about the problem linked in said video, so I find myself getting confused when researching. I'm sure this is an easy enough fix and I'm probably just looking in the wrong places or missing something obvious but any pointers on the problem would be greatly appreciated.

System:
  Kernel: 6.4.9-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=c87e17cf-c2aa-4cb7-9b3f-535b1b50e245 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet quiet rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3
    ibt=off
  Desktop: GNOME v: 44.3 tk: GTK v: 3.24.38 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM v: 44.1
    Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Tactus product: Custom v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING WIFI II v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 4101
    date: 09/10/2021
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 4
    level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25)
    model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA201204
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 12 tpc: 2 threads: 24 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 768 KiB desc: d-12x32 KiB; i-12x32 KiB L2: 6 MiB desc: 12x512 KiB
    L3: 64 MiB desc: 2x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2623 high: 3900 min/max: 2200/5218 boost: disabled
    scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 2200 2: 3899
    3: 2200 4: 2200 5: 2200 6: 2200 7: 2200 8: 2200 9: 2200 10: 2200 11: 2200
    12: 2200 13: 3892 14: 2200 15: 2200 16: 3892 17: 3893 18: 2200 19: 3900
    20: 2200 21: 2200 22: 2200 23: 2200 24: 3893 bogomips: 186851
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 21 [Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 XT] vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: RDNA-2 code: Navi-2x process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
    built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-2
    empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 0c:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:73bf
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Valve 3D Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 3.2
    speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 bus-ID: 6-2.1:3 chip-ID: 28de:2400
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.8 with: Xwayland v: 23.1.2
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: gpu: amdgpu display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-2 model: Gigabyte AORUS FI32Q serial: <filter> built: 2021
    res: 2560x1440 dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 698x392mm (27.48x15.43")
    diag: 801mm (31.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.1.5 renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (navi21
    LLVM 15.0.7 DRM 3.52 6.4.9-zen1-1-zen) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0c:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0e:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Creative Pebble V3 driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
    type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-2:2
    chip-ID: 041e:3272 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: RODE Microphones NT-USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
    type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 5-1:2
    chip-ID: 19f7:0003 class-ID: 0300
  Device-5: Valve VR Radio driver: cdc_acm,hid-generic,usbhid type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 5-2.3.2:7
    chip-ID: 28de:2102 class-ID: 0a00 serial: <filter>
  Device-6: Valve VR Radio & HMD Mic
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 5-2.3.3:8 chip-ID: 28de:2102 class-ID: 0102
    serial: <filter>
  API: ALSA v: k6.4.9-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.77 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: MEDIATEK MT7921K Wi-Fi 6E 80MHz driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0608
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igb v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 06:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-4: ASUSTek ROG KERIS WIRELESS driver: hid-generic,usbhid type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-3.4:5
    chip-ID: 0b05:1960 class-ID: 0301
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-6:6 chip-ID: 0e8d:0608
    class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 8.19 TiB used: 4.99 TiB (60.9%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Seagate model: FireCuda 530
    ZP1000GM30013 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
    speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: SU6SM001
    temp: 45.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 QVO 2TB
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0001
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Seagate model: ST4000NE001-2MA101
    size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: EN01
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 53.53 GiB (5.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 53.53 GiB (5.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 53.53 GiB (5.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 931.22 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 53.53 GiB (5.7%) 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: 62.7 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: 39.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 54.0 C
    mem: 54.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Processes: 564 Uptime: 9m wakeups: 0 Memory: total: 64 GiB note: est.
  available: 62.7 GiB used: 5.11 GiB (8.1%) Init: systemd v: 254
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 13.2.1 Packages: 1364
  pm: pacman pkgs: 1356 libs: 419 tools: pamac,paru pm: flatpak pkgs: 8
  Shell: fish v: 3.6.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal
  inxi: 3.3.28
Garuda (2.6.16-1):
  System install date:     2023-06-21
  Last full system update: 2023-08-10
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Failed units:
2

Just a small update, after doing some further tests in my own time, I remembered Linux sometimes doesn't play well with VRR (variable refresh rate), I then realised I had it turned on so I decided to disable it via my monitor's OSD. That seemed to have done the trick, and even seems to behave fine when I turn VRR back on. However if I reboot my system with VRR enabled the problem appears again, making me disable it.

The problem doesn't seem to occur again when I reboot my machine with VRR turned off, so it seems like an update to the Mesa drivers or recent kernels has borked VRR in some way, causing these kinds of hiccups.

For now I will go without VRR, it's a nice thing to have when it works but if it's the root cause of the problem then going without should hopefully help, but I will continue to update if I run into any more issues relating to this problem.

3

I would update the BIOS as you are running a old version, and there has been many various fixes. (sometimes an older BIOS doesn’t play nice with newer kernels and the like too)
https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/rog%20strix%20x570-e%20gaming%20wifi%20ii/helpdesk_bios/

Not sure if it will help your VRR issue, but worth a try.
Weird video issues with an older BIOS aren’t unheard of that’s for sure. I’ve seen a monitor do something akin to “screen tearing” even when just on the desktop and no game running (just because it was running an old BIOS version and eventually an update didn’t like it).

3 Likes
4

I could certainly give that a try and see if that helps me out even more. To tell you the truth I have always been very hesitant to update my BIOS after hearing some horror stories of BIOS updates going terribly wrong and bricking motherboards, but I'm probably just overthinking and it's well overdue for one haha.

5

Have you ran an update again, the last ZEN kernel gave me some weird issues, which corrected with an update today...

6

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