Tip: Linux nvidia users - speed up your fps (by more than 50%)

[yossarianuk]

 if you do 2 simple changes (for Nvidia users at least) you will get a 50% frame rate boost in **all 3d games**

Anyone running Unity, KDE, etc with Nvidia that hasn't tried this do so now and you **will** get a huge boost in FPS in all fullscreen openGL games.


For me I get a 50% increase in FPS in all games / openGL apps in Ubuntu with Nvidia by doing the following:-

1. Enable the binary Nvidia driver

2. enable 'unredirect fullscreen windows' in CCSM
-  Navigate to ccsm -> Composite - Enable unredirect fullscreen windows
- If using KDE (far far far better desktop) then the option is it desktop effects -> advanced -> disable desktop effects on fullscreen apps.

3.  disable 'sync to vblank' (openGL settings) with nvidia-settings
(this is really important or all games appear laggy)

Thats improve all openGL performance -  I am talking about multiple different computers with different nvidia cards..

Ubuntu/kubuntu 12.10 is **faster** and snappier after doing this than any other release

[CheMiCal]

so this only works on linux computers? or is there a way to do it on a windows comp?

[yossarianuk]

I imagine turning off 'sync to vblank' would have similar results in Windows...

Sorry not sure. I believe that Windows may suspend its equivalent of 'desktop effects' by default (really not sure as I stopped using it a long time ago).

With Linux the default setting is stupid for gaming, and those 2 simple options drastically speed up things  (i think its due to some chipsets, i.e crappy Intel having issues that they are not the default options....)

[CheMiCal]

alright thanks.

[jitspoe]

Is this different from "vsync" or gl_swapinterval?

[yossarianuk]

Not 100% sure...

All I know is that since Nvidia driver 302.17 it seems like there is a huge lag in 3D games that didn't exist previously...

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=143495

And until I disable it there is not much difference regardless of Vsync setting in game..