Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

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elleeffe

Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

Post by elleeffe »

Hi all,

I've just recently set up a home PC with Mint 19 MATE on a Mini ITX motherboard with integrated graphics and GT 1030 video card, to be used as a workstation and media center. I've had some experience with Ubuntu in the past, but I'm still quite a newbie.

At first I ran into some big problems after installing the nvidia-390 drivers: the screen would not turn on ("no signal"). I managed to solve this by adding the following line to GRUB:

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GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nouveau.blacklist=1 quiet splash"

Without this line, at reboot the nouveau drivers would be installed every time. I'm not sure this is an ideal solution.

Now everything seems to work fine, besides some tearing when moving the windows around from time to time.
However, I run into major issues when trying 4k videos playback/stream. The video output is very choppy, while there are no audio issues: this happens both on youtube videos and downloaded videos. I tried Firefox, Chromium and media players such as VLC, mpv and SMPlayer: non of these gives great results (VLC is by far the worst media player, with images remaining still fo 10-20s at the time).

I must add that there are some rare youtube videos that give a much better result, though not yet 100% choppiness-free.

Here are some outputs that may help:

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~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: ****-H55N-USB3 Kernel: 4.15.0-34-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: MATE 1.20.1 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1) Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: H55N-USB3 v: x.x serial: N/A BIOS: Award v: F5 date: 08/20/2010
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 550 (-MT-MCP-) arch: Nehalem rev.5 cache: 4096 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 12798
           clock speeds: max: 3192 MHz 1: 1478 MHz 2: 1412 MHz 3: 1401 MHz 4: 1418 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GP108 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: nvidia (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           Resolution: 3840x2160@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GT 1030/PCIe/SSE2 version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.48 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA GP108 High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-34-generic
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: ee00 bus-ID: 04:00.0
           IF: enp4s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (4.6% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: CT500MX500SSD1 size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 458G used: 22G (5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:45C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 175 Uptime: 2:02 Memory: 2022.2/7904.2MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56
           
The nvidia graphics drivers are loaded and the Nvidia X-server settings configurator works fine, as far as I can tell.

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~$ dpkg -l |grep -i nvidia
ii  libnvidia-cfg1-390:amd64                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA binary OpenGL/GLX configuration library
ii  libnvidia-common-390                       390.48-0ubuntu3                     all          Shared files used by the NVIDIA libraries
ii  libnvidia-compute-390:amd64                390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-compute-390:i386                 390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVIDIA libcompute package
ii  libnvidia-decode-390:amd64                 390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-decode-390:i386                  390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVIDIA Video Decoding runtime libraries
ii  libnvidia-encode-390:amd64                 390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-encode-390:i386                  390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVENC Video Encoding runtime library
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-390:amd64                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-fbc1-390:i386                    390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVIDIA OpenGL-based Framebuffer Capture runtime library
ii  libnvidia-gl-390:amd64                     390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  libnvidia-gl-390:i386                      390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVIDIA OpenGL/GLX/EGL/GLES GLVND libraries and Vulkan ICD
ii  libnvidia-ifr1-390:amd64                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library
ii  libnvidia-ifr1-390:i386                    390.48-0ubuntu3                     i386         NVIDIA OpenGL-based Inband Frame Readback runtime library
ii  nvidia-compute-utils-390                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA compute utilities
ii  nvidia-dkms-390                            390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA DKMS package
ii  nvidia-driver-390                          390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA driver metapackage
ii  nvidia-kernel-common-390                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        Shared files used with the kernel module
ii  nvidia-kernel-source-390                   390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA kernel source package
ii  nvidia-prime                               0.8.8                               all          Tools to enable NVIDIA's Prime
ii  nvidia-prime-applet                        1.0.7                               all          An applet for NVIDIA Prime
ii  nvidia-settings                            390.42-0ubuntu1                     amd64        Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
ii  nvidia-utils-390                           390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA driver support binaries
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-390              390.48-0ubuntu3                     amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver

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~$ dkms status
nvidia, 390.48, 4.15.0-20-generic, x86_64: installed
nvidia, 390.48, 4.15.0-34-generic, x86_64: installed
As soon as I play a 4k video (to a much lesser extent this happens also with HD videos), both cores temperature shoots up to around 60°C and CPU usage goes well above 80% (up to 98%). Here is an example of the temperatures increase while playing a downloaded video:

Image

The two peaks are two different tries, with different players.

I searched in the forum, but I could not find a fully comparable situation being described.
Thanks for the help already!
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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catweazel
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Re: Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

Post by catweazel »

elleeffe wrote: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:17 am However, I run into major issues when trying 4k videos playback/stream. The video output is very choppy, while there are no audio issues: this happens both on youtube videos and downloaded videos. I tried Firefox, Chromium and media players such as VLC, mpv and SMPlayer: non of these gives great results (VLC is by far the worst media player, with images remaining still fo 10-20s at the time).

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Machine:   Device: desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: H55N-USB3 v: x.x serial: N/A BIOS: Award v: F5 date: 08/20/2010
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3 550 (-MT-MCP-) arch: Nehalem rev.5 cache: 4096 KB
I really don't wish to appear rude, but honestly, what else did you expect out of that nowadays-woefully-inadequate-for-anything-other-than-basic-browsing-and-email machine? That tiny thing is simply not capable of what you're asking of it, so it's no wonder that the CPU spikes the heat up high then goes into cardiac fibrillation.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
elleeffe

Re: Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

Post by elleeffe »

I really don't wish to appear rude, but honestly, what else did you expect out of that nowadays-woefully-inadequate-for-anything-other-than-basic-browsing-and-email machine? That tiny thing is simply not capable of what you're asking of it, so it's no wonder that the CPU spikes the heat up high then goes into cardiac fibrillation.
Well, I got it for free from our IT dept. so I wasn't really expecting anything too fancy from it :D
However, the same machine (without external video card) was able to drive a 70" monitor under Windows 7, so I assumed it would have been capable enough...and consequently imagined something went wrong during Mint's installation. I never had a UHD monitor before, so I'm not fully fully familiar with its hardware requirements.

If you confirm that software-wise there are no issues, I'll be on the market for a more capable MB!
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catweazel
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Re: Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

Post by catweazel »

elleeffe wrote: Fri Sep 21, 2018 7:31 am Well, I got it for free from our IT dept. so I wasn't really expecting anything too fancy from it :D
You saved them tipping fees :)
elleeffe wrote: If you confirm that software-wise there are no issues, I'll be on the market for a more capable MB!
Mint will do what you want, no questions asked, but the limitation is the hardware. You verified that yourself when you said some 'rare youtube videos' played ok but with a bit of choppiness. I'd also verify that the GT1030 video card will support full screen 4k playback.

Cheers.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
elleeffe

Re: Choppy 4k videos and abnormal CPU usage - Nvidia GT 1030

Post by elleeffe »

catweazel wrote: Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:22 am
Mint will do what you want, no questions asked, but the limitation is the hardware. You verified that yourself when you said some 'rare youtube videos' played ok but with a bit of choppiness. I'd also verify that the GT1030 video card will support full screen 4k playback.

Cheers.
Will do, thanks! The video card is indeed an entry level one, but from what I read in other forums it should be good enough, except when it comes to gaming.
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