Poor performance when running games through Vulkan?

[LacklusterBeagle246]

Hi, I'm a brand-new Linux user (as of yesterday!) taking the first steps into Linux through Mint. I'm currently running Cinnamon 21.3.

Installation went well enough, though I am unsure of the exact specifics as it was mostly handled by a local technician. Post-install setup was handled by me. I believe the only changes they made post-install were installing Steam through steam_latest.deb, but I ended up uninstalling it in a bit of confusion and re-installing through the official Software Manager. That also has me concerned for other reasons, though hopefully it isn't relevant to this particular issue.

I have a dual boot setup with Windows running on my old storage device; Mint has an entire SSD to itself, and the Windows partition seemingly does not recognize the drive. The issue arises when trying to run Baldur's Gate 3 through Steam. When running the game on Vulkan, performance is quite poor, hanging around ~20 FPS during normal gameplay. It's not a stuttering issue, but a consistent performance one. Thankfully, running the game instead on DX11 provides a much better experience, but it has me concerned that there may be a driver-related problem in play. On Windows, Vulkan was by far the preferred option, as it provided a notable performance boost over DX11; due to this, I'm fairly sure that it isn't a hardware issue. It's quite an old computer, but it works well enough. Checking on Windows again post-install confirms that this is still the case.

Things I've tried:
- Running BG3 through Proton Experimental, Proton 8.0-5, and ProtonGE 8-32
- Updating from the proprietary Nvidia 535 drivers to the 545 drivers
- Ensuring the game is using my dedicated GPU and disabling vsync
- Lowering the graphics preset. This does help, but it's a bit shaky on Low while DX11 is fine on Ultra, which seems to imply the GPU is not being fully utilized.

Apologies if this is the improper sub-board for this topic. I thought it might be too technical to place into Beginner Questions.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-97-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 6.0.4
    tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
    base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Alienware product: Alienware Aurora R7 v: 1.0.25
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 3 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Alienware model: 0VDT73 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Alienware v: 1.0.25
    date: 09/06/2021
CPU:
  Info: 6-core model: Intel Core i7-8700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP smt: enabled arch: Coffee Lake
    rev: A cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 1.5 MiB L3: 12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 4469 high: 4598 min/max: 800/4700 cores: 1: 4408 2: 4353 3: 4589 4: 4527
    5: 4367 6: 4514 7: 4412 8: 4416 9: 4598 10: 4533 11: 4459 12: 4457 bogomips: 88796
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] vendor: Dell CometLake-S driver: i915
    v: kernel ports: active: none empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3e92
    class-ID: 0380
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti] vendor: Dell driver: nvidia v: 545.29.06 pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: none off: DP-2 empty: DP-3,DP-4,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1b06 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915,nvidia display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 108 s-size: 602x342mm (23.7x13.5") s-diag: 692mm (27.3")
  Monitor-1: DP-0 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109 size: 598x336mm (23.5x13.2") diag: 686mm (27")
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 545.29.06
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a2f0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP102 HDMI Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10ef class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-97-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Rivet Networks Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 driver: ath10k_pci v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:003e class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2500 Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Dell driver: alx v: kernel
    pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 1969:e0b1 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-8:4 chip-ID: 0cf3:e301
    class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2
    sub-v: 25a hci-v: 4.2
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 port: f060 bus-ID: 00:17.0
    chip-ID: 8086:2822 rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.68 TiB used: 1.86 TiB (50.4%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC M.2 PCIe SSD size: 1.86 TiB
    speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: VF001C2B temp: 29.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1ER164 size: 1.82 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: CC27 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 1.83 TiB used: 200.66 GiB (10.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 16 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-3:2 info: Logitech G203 LIGHTSYNC Gaming Mouse type: Mouse,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 300mA chip-ID: 046d:c092
    class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 1-5:3 info: Lite-On USB Multimedia Keyboard type: Keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 04ca:0027 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: 1-8:4 info: Qualcomm Atheros type: Bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 0cf3:e301 class-ID: e001
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 10 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 3-1:2 info: Texas Instruments TUSB8041 4-Port Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 0451:8142 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 4-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 4-1:2 info: Texas Instruments TUSB8041 4-Port Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 0451:8140 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 28 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 23%
Repos:
  Packages: 2492 apt: 2482 flatpak: 10
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com virginia main upstream import backport
    2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam-beta.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam-stable.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64,i386 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/steam.gpg] https: //repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
    2: deb-src [arch=amd64,i386 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/steam.gpg] https: //repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam
Info:
  Processes: 348 Uptime: 2h 19m wakeups: 0 Memory: 15.33 GiB used: 2.62 GiB (17.1%) Init: systemd
  v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.4.0 alt: 11/12 Client: Unknown python3.10 client
  inxi: 3.3.13

[1000]

I have bad experiences with the Vulkan driver, but I tested it a long time ago.
Maybe it works less well with the Nvidia driver,
I don't know.

1. Check link viewtopic.php?p=2432253#p2432253
because I don't see the Steam icon.

2. Games which are not built for Linux,
very often they had higher requirements.
But you can try to improve your performance.
Check for example link viewtopic.php?p=2428524#p2428524
This mentions about nvidia setting and gamemoderun.

Edited
Check also
- https://www.protondb.com/app/1086940
- https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton ... 27s+Gate+3
- https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton ... quirements
However, it is not recommended for a novice user to install external sources.
Get to know the system, threats and tools that will make you safer.
For example Timeshift app.
( Then it will be easier for you to repair faults. Good luck. )

[LacklusterBeagle246]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.

The protondb page actually helped to fuel my doubts at first, since I saw a few Nvidia users mention that they were getting better performance on Vulkan. Not all, though; I guess it's just a case-by-case thing.

I wasn't able to get any significant performance increase out of Vulkan through gamemode, performance mode, turning off compositing, or increasing the maximum map count, unfortunately. The current drivers I'm using should be DXVK-compatible.

But, given that the game runs quite fine on DirectX 11, it should be alright to leave it for now, as I haven't run into any show-stopping problems yet. Thanks again.

[Teadrinker]

Hello.

I believe the only changes they made post-install were installing Steam through steam_latest.deb, but I ended up uninstalling it in a bit of confusion and re-installing through the official Software Manager. That also has me concerned for other reasons, though hopefully it isn't relevant to this particular issue.

It could be the problem. I suggest you reinstall using steam_latest.deb...

Also try disabling Secure Boot (in BIOS) if you have it enabled and test again (because it can prevent discrete GPU being used).

[MiZoG]

I thought another poor novice is unable to run any game on Linux
You are doing very well as a "brand-new" Linux gamer, LacklusterBeagle246.
Proper title: "Poor performance in BG3 with Vulkan renderer".

[LacklusterBeagle246]

Hello.

It could be the problem. I suggest you reinstall using steam_latest.deb...

Also try disabling Secure Boot (in BIOS) if you have it enabled and test again (because it can prevent discrete GPU being used).

If I re-install through the .deb, is there a possibility of information/settings loss or new potential conflicts? Worried I might accidentally break something.

I thought another poor novice is unable to run any game on Linux
You are doing very well as a "brand-new" Linux gamer, LacklusterBeagle246.
Proper title: "Poor performance in BG3 with Vulkan renderer".

Haha, thank you! I'd like to eventually use Linux full-time, so I'm happy to learn what I can.

[Teadrinker]

I think all Steam information will be reset when you reinstall it... (also remove the previous installation first)

(alternatively you could leave Steam untouched and try installing Lutris and play BG3 through there and see if the problem exists there as well)

[1000]

I allowed myself to do some performance tests.
I installed mangohud and I configured $HOME/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf
and I tested with glxgears and vkcube demo.

- glxgears and vkcube look a bit different, so let's assume that the system load will be similar, but not identical.
- Remember that the overlay also generates some load on the computer hardware.
- Synchronization to 60 Hz / FPS ( Vsync ) must be disabled for testing. ( I use Nvidia settings for this )
- I also use Internet browser, which also uses hardware resources.

--------------------------{
For test OpenGL

Code: Select all

mangohud glxgears 

= 4000 - 4150 FPS
--------------------------}

--------------------------{
For test Vulkan (1.3.260 Nvidia )

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MANGOHUD=1  vkcube --present_mode 0

- present_mode I used to disable Vsync
= 3700 - 4200 FPS
--------------------------}

For test Vulkan from overlay from Mesa

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VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS='VK_LAYER_MESA_overlay' vkcube --present_mode 0

= 7100 - 8800 FPS

I don't know how run overlay from Mesa glxgears,
but glxgears alone = 27438 - 27899 FPS

So I can assume that the performance is similar in my case.
Tested on hardware:

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Frz
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-91-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: MATE 1.26.0
    Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: B150M PRO-VDH (MS-7982) v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 3.H0
    date: 07/10/2018
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-6400 bits: 64 type: MCP cache:
    L2: 1024 KiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3101 min/max: 800/3300 cores: 1: 3102 2: 3101 3: 3100
    4: 3102
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 [Geforce RTX 3050] driver: nvidia v: 545.29.06
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nvidia resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050/PCIe/SSE2
    v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 545.29.06

Edited
That's all I could test for now.
- mangohud not working with my Steam games except Dota 2 game.
- GOverlay not working
- I haven't found a benchmark/animation that allows me to run / test any engine like Proton.
mangohud , GOverlay , Vulkan are still under development and may contain errors.
Besides, by default we don't have the latest packages, so something could always change.

[tflovik]

From the system info you have provided i see you have a dual gpu setup.
Are you shure that you are running on the Nvidia gpu? You might be running on the intel gpu.
That could explain the low fps.

[1000]

You can be calm.
1. All the computer hardware mentioned above are real big computers.
As far as I know, "hybrid graphics" technology is only used in laptops.
2. All the hardware mentioned above has the nvidia driver loaded.
The additional graphics card in CPU is not used.