Terrible Linux 3d performance using 4500 chipset

[magisu]

Look at this!

3 frames in 6.1 seconds = 0.495 FPS
2 frames in 6.0 seconds = 0.333 FPS
2 frames in 6.0 seconds = 0.333 FPS

isn't it dreadful? Can you suggest me what I can do to diagnose this problem?

[dk]

That's some pretty bad performance. Can you provide more info? Kernel? Distro? lsmod output? dmesg output? lspci output?

Here's mine:

6501 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1300.168 FPS
6534 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1306.775 FPS
6763 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1352.573 FPS

[magisu]

That's some pretty bad performance. Can you provide more info? Kernel? Distro? lsmod output? dmesg output? lspci output?

Here's mine:

6501 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1300.168 FPS
6534 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1306.775 FPS
6763 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1352.573 FPS

Yes. I am using a Debian Lenny+Sid/Experimental(just for a few KDE4 applications like Okular). My kernel is 2.6.28.1, built from debian unofficial kernel repository kernel-build site.

==Xserver-Xorg information==
$ X -version

X.Org X Server 1.4.2
Release Date: 11 June 2008
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux Debian (xorg-server 2:1.4.2-10)
Current Operating System: Linux MagiSystem 2.6.28-1-amd64 #1 SMP Sat Jan 24 03:05:07 UTC 2009 x86_64
Build Date: 09 January 2009 02:16:05AM

==lsmod information==
magi@MagiSystem:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
aes_x86_64 12288 1
aes_generic 32424 1 aes_x86_64
ipv6 288752 14
i915 61704 1
drm 105184 2 i915
kvm_intel 44768 0
kvm 147568 1 kvm_intel
dm_snapshot 20552 0
dm_mirror 18048 0
dm_region_hash 16640 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 14084 2 dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
dm_mod 60144 3 dm_snapshot,dm_mirror,dm_log
firewire_sbp2 19344 0
loop 19340 0
snd_hda_intel 496340 4
snd_pcm_oss 41760 0
snd_mixer_oss 18688 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 83592 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 7300 0
snd_seq_oss 33024 0
arc4 6144 2
snd_seq_midi 10944 0
pcmcia 39320 0
snd_rawmidi 27040 1 snd_seq_midi
ecb 7168 2
snd_seq_midi_event 11776 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54304 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 26256 3 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 11540 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
ath5k 100096 0
mac80211 156592 1 ath5k
i2c_i801 14108 0
snd 64200 15 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
yenta_socket 28812 1
rsrc_nonstatic 14080 1 yenta_socket
cfg80211 36384 2 ath5k,mac80211
i2c_core 29216 1 i2c_i801
uvcvideo 56840 0
compat_ioctl32 12288 1 uvcvideo
videodev 38528 2 uvcvideo,compat_ioctl32
thinkpad_acpi 66356 0
soundcore 12192 1 snd
pcmcia_core 40868 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
iTCO_wdt 16592 0
v4l1_compat 16644 2 uvcvideo,videodev
psmouse 45596 0
rfkill 16208 1 thinkpad_acpi
snd_page_alloc 13712 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
pcspkr 6912 0
serio_raw 9860 0
video 24468 0
output 7552 1 video
battery 16776 0
ac 9224 0
wmi 11968 0
button 11552 0
led_class 8840 2 ath5k,thinkpad_acpi
intel_agp 32496 1
evdev 14880 7
joydev 15104 0
nvram 12684 1 thinkpad_acpi
jfs 158928 7
nls_base 12932 1 jfs
sd_mod 36392 9
crc_t10dif 6272 1 sd_mod
ide_pci_generic 8708 0
ide_core 116860 1 ide_pci_generic
ata_piix 27524 8
ata_generic 10116 0
libata 175200 2 ata_piix,ata_generic
scsi_mod 168024 3 firewire_sbp2,sd_mod,libata
firewire_ohci 27268 0
firewire_core 42720 2 firewire_sbp2,firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 6400 1 firewire_core
ehci_hcd 37516 0
uhci_hcd 26400 0
e1000e 114096 0
thermal 22944 0
processor 49336 3 thermal
fan 9480 0
thermal_sys 17344 4 video,thermal,processor,fan

==lspci==
$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:03.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset MEI Controller (rev 07)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M-E LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E 2 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)
15:00.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 04)


For dmesg, I did not see any other relevant thing except for this
[ 4.709597] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: Intel Mobile Intel? GM45 Express Chipset
[ 4.711196] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: detected 32764K stolen memory
[ 4.714801] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: AGP aperture is 256M @ 0xd0000000


Thank you for your help!

[dk]

Our systems and OS are pretty much identical. For starters, here's a copy of my xorg.conf that you might want to try.

Here you go:

Code: Select all

Section "Module"
        Load "GLcore"
        Load "glx"
        Load "dri"
        Load "drm"
        Load "dbe"
        Load "freetype"
        Load "extmod"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier  "Generic Keyboard"
        Driver      "kbd"
        Option      "XkbRules" "xorg"
        Option      "XkbModel" "pc104"
        Option      "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Configured Mouse"
        Driver          "mouse"
        Option          "Protocol"      "auto"
        Option          "Device"        "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier  "LCD"
        Option      "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "ati-radeon"
        Driver          "radeon"
        # Acceleration - by default radeon does AGP 1x so bump it up
        Option          "AGPMode" "8"
        Option          "EnablePageFlip""On"
        Option          "RenderAccel" "On"
        Option          "ColorTiling"   "On"
        # enable (partial) PowerPlay features
        Option          "DynamicClocks" "On"
        # use bios hot keys on thinkpad (aka fn+f7)
        Option          "BIOSHotkeys" "On"
        Option          "DynamicClocks" "On"
        Option          "AccelMethod" "exa"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
        # Compiz specific
        Option          "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "ati-ati"
        Driver          "ati"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "ati-fglrx"
        Driver          "fglrx"
        BusID           "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "intel"
        Driver          "intel"
        BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
        # Compiz specific
        #Option         "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
        #Option         "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
        #Option         "TripleBuffer" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default"
        Device          "intel"
        Monitor         "LCD"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes      "1440x900"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
        Group   "video"
        Mode    0666
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
        Option  "Composite"     "Enable"
EndSection

[magisu]

Yes, I have some improvements, but I think it is still not good...

• 297 frames in 5.0 seconds = 59.317 FPS
  301 frames in 5.0 seconds = 60.064 FPS
  301 frames in 5.0 seconds = 59.991 FPS

[dk]

Can you send the output of `glxinfo | head -5'.

[uux]

It's synchronized with the vertical refresh rate. This is typical of the more recent Xorg Intel drivers. Try setting vblank_mode to 0 in your environment before running glxgears. While it won't improve your performance, glxgears should show a more impressive number as it is currently being limited intentionally. Also, glxgears isn't much of a benchmark.

Code: Select all

$ env vblank_mode=0 glxgears

It might be helpful to know what version of the xf86-video-intel driver you are using. You might also want to take a look at the varius options in the driver's manual (AperTexSize, PageFlip, TripleBuffer, etc) that are related to 3D performance.

[magisu]

glxinfo | head -5

name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2

I think that is all right, Direct rendering is on.

BTW: can you please tell me how to save X startup data? I saw an [EE] there, but just a flash: too long output from X.

[magisu]

It's synchronized with the vertical refresh rate. This is typical of the more recent Xorg Intel drivers. Try setting vblank_mode to 0 in your environment before running glxgears. While it won't improve your performance, glxgears should show a more impressive number as it is currently being limited intentionally. Also, glxgears isn't much of a benchmark.

Code: Select all

$ env vblank_mode=0 glxgears

It might be helpful to know what version of the xf86-video-intel driver you are using. You might also want to take a look at the varius options in the driver's manual (AperTexSize, PageFlip, TripleBuffer, etc) that are related to 3D performance.

Yes, that make sense.

5153 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1030.576 FPS
5200 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1039.895 FPS
5227 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1045.315 FPS
5218 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1043.451 FPS

But I still bear slowness when use compiz or KDE4 Kwin, which I do not think should happen to my new T400.

[dk]

Check out /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see what threw an error. btw. My glxgears results really don't change that much with vblank_mode=[01]. Here is my ~/.drirc for your interest.

<driconf>
<device screen="0" driver="i965">
<application name="Default">
<option name="force_s3tc_enable" value="false" />
<option name="fthrottle_mode" value="2" />
<option name="vblank_mode" value="1" />
<option name="allow_large_textures" value="2" />
</application>
</device>
</driconf>

glxinfo | head -5

name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2

I think that is all right, Direct rendering is on.

BTW: can you please tell me how to save X startup data? I saw an [EE] there, but just a flash: too long output from X.

[magisu]

Thanks all! I have done that. My problem is, I am using i965 driver and libdri in debian experimental, but using xserver-xorg in debian lenny. Thus, lenny Xorg can't start on experimental libdri due to the incompatible. Now I am using compiz+KDE3.5, and it is really smoothly!

[Jimbro727]

I don't know much about what's in the debian repos, but you could look into building the whole X stack from the git repos.