this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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How can I tell if my GPU is being utilized properly? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 week ago by zamithal@programming.dev to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.world
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I purchased a system76 Thelio Mira Elite With a AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. I kinda regret not going with Nvidia at this point but it is what it is. I primarily use it as a developer workstation, but want to play games on it as well so I can be rid of my windows box.

I didn't expect it to be able to play the latest and greatest games but I did expect it to be able to play older titles reasonably well. Games launch from steam and seem to work, but I'm getting between 0 and 10 fps on the title screen of Kerbal Space Program. Other games are similarly functional but poorly performing.

Where do I start? How can I ensure my GPU is being leveraged? Is this as good as it gets?

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (16 children)

Games launch from steam and seem to work, but I’m getting between 0 and 10 fps on the title screen of Kerbal Space Program.

Something is definitely off on your system. I've a 7900 XTX (the slightly-higher-end version of that card), and while I don't have the box in front of me, it definitely runs at at least reasonable (60fps+) rates at 2560x1440 on KSP. Might do well above that, dunno. It's definitely not herky-jerky to the level you're seeing, though.

Are you using Wayland or Xorg?

If you run radeontop (in Debian trixie, package radeontop) it should tell you various load characteristics. There isn't a GPU-agnostic utility to do this, unless things have changed since last I've looked -- Nvidia and AMD both have their own utilities.

I kinda regret not going with Nvidia at this point

Unless you're aiming for AI stuff, where there are some significant benefits, like a large userbase and support for transformers, I'd probably recommend AMD for Linux use.

EDIT:

If you run glxinfo on either Xorg (or Wayland, since the emulation layer will handle it), package mesa-utils on Debian trixie, it'll tell you what OpenGL is trying to use. If you're using hardware-accelerated stuff, you'll get something like this:

Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
Device: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, gfx1103_r1, LLVM 19.1.4, DRM 3.59, 6.12.11-amd64) (0x1900)

OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, gfx1103_r1, LLVM 19.1.4, DRM 3.59, 6.12.11-amd64)

That's been the quick-thumb-in-the-wind test to know whether hardware 3d acceleration is running since just about forever. KSP probably doesn't actually use OpenGL -- I'd guess that it's probably using DirectX going through some emulation layer in Proton to Vulkan -- but if you've got something wonky like no usable 3D driver support for your GPU, that'll show it up.

EDIT2: There's also vulkaninfo in (package vulkan-tools in Debian trixie). It'll give you something like:

GPU id : 0 (AMD Radeon Graphics (RADV GFX1103_R1)):

EDIT3: If you're using Xorg and that doesn't show hardware acceleration in use, then the next thing that I'd probably look at is /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see what Xorg is saying regarding your GPU. I don't know much about diagnosing Wayland issues, as I've not been using it for all that long. The kernel log may also have interesting messages information (as root, journalctl -kb or dmesg) if the problem is at the kernel level.

[–] zamithal@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (13 children)

glxinfo | grep Vendor Vendor: Mesa (0xffffffff)

glxinfo | grep Device Device: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits) (0xffffffff)

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL rend" OpenGL renderer string: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits)

Let me know if that's not right. glxinfo dumps a lot of text but those are the only hits for your comment.

When I launch radeontop it prints this before launching, and then the output suggests it isn't working:

Unknown Radeon card. <= R500 won't work, new cards might.

All stats sit at 0.00% except for Memory Clock @ 9%.

EDIT:

xorg, not wayland

[–] zamithal@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago (7 children)

vulkan-tools | grep "GPU id":

		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
		GPU id = 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31))
		GPU id = 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S))
		GPU id = 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits))
GPU id : 0 (Radeon RX 7900 GRE (RADV NAVI31)):
GPU id : 1 (Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S)):
GPU id : 2 (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits)):

cat /var/log/Xorg.*.log | grep amd

[  5067.696] (II) LoadModule: "amdgpu"
[  5067.696] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/amdgpu_drv.so
[  5067.696] (II) Module amdgpu: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
	All GPUs supported by the amdgpu kernel driver

cat /var/log/Xorg.*.log | grep gpu

[  5067.696] (II) Applying OutputClass "AMDgpu" to /dev/dri/card1
[  5067.696] 	loading driver: amdgpu
[  5067.696] (==) Matched amdgpu as autoconfigured driver 0
[  5067.696] (II) LoadModule: "amdgpu"
[  5067.696] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/amdgpu_drv.so
[  5067.696] (II) Module amdgpu: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
	All GPUs supported by the amdgpu kernel driver
[–] donio@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

[ 5067.696] (II) Applying OutputClass "AMDgpu" to /dev/dri/card1

Make sure that you actually have permission to that /dev/dri/card1 device. This may be arranged by udev or "video" group membership.

Regarding AMD vs Nvidia, unless you need CUDA you probably made the right choice. This sounds like a config issue and you'd probably be dealing with the same thing with Nvidia too.

[–] zamithal@programming.dev 4 points 1 week ago

Yeah I'm pleasantly surprised by the unanimous responses that AMD seems to be the way to go in this space. At this point I know it's not using my GPU at all, so you are right that nvidia wouldn't be any different

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