[SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

raxod502 · 2025-12-30 03:08:05

I recently installed Arch Linux on a System 76 Oryx Pro 6, and followed the configuration suggestions at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System76_Oryx_Pro (install system76-dkms-git, system76-acpi-dkms, system76-io-dkms, system76-driver, system76-power, system76-firmware; enable system76, system76-firmware-daemon, system76-power; run system76-driver-cli). I installed GNOME as the desktop environment but otherwise have customized essentially nothing.

Back when used to I run Pop!_OS 22.04 on the Oryx Pro 6, the performance on an external monitor was unacceptable in hybrid graphics mode (i.e.: noticeable lag when moving cursor), and switching to NVIDIA graphics mode was required to obtain normal performance. As such, from the options listed at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System … o#Graphics, I chose the NVIDIA option. The Oryx Pro 6 has a TU106M card, so based on the table at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA, I installed nvidia-open 590.48.01-3. Also, I ensured that "system76-power graphics" returns "nvidia".

However, I see very noticeable lag during routine usage whenever an external monitor is connected: for example, with https://frameratetest.org/fps-test and nothing else open, it reports 60FPS, but if I also have a terminal window open, then it drops consistently to 30FPS; if I have only the browser window open, then even jiggling the mouse around between different parts of the webpage is sufficient to cause the framerate to vary wildly between 60FPS and 20FPS. In these tests I have the internal display disabled and the external monitor set to 3140x2160 60Hz @ 200%; the monitor in question is a pretty normal (I think?) Samsung U28E590D that I've used with many laptops running many operating systems over the years. The connection is HDMI.

Now, I had a hunch this had to do with Wayland. To test that hypothesis I followed the steps in https://old.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comm … _gnome_49/ to build an X11-compatible version of GNOME, and set WaylandEnable=false in /etc/gdm/custom.conf. After rebooting, performance is 100% normal. Notably, it is not a purely Wayland problem, since my Framework 13 laptop running Ubuntu 24.04 on Wayland with an AMD GPU also has no issues rendering to this monitor with the same GNOME configuration. It appears to be an issue that is at the intersection of NVIDIA and Wayland.

Anyway, I know that using X11 is not going to be a long term solution here, because GNOME will permanently remove it in the next release. So how do I get the desktop environment usable under Wayland? I've searched through the forums and wiki, but haven't been able to find anything that applies to my hardware configuration.

Last edited by raxod502 (2026-01-01 19:10:23)

seth · 2025-12-30 20:42:30

the performance on an external monitor was unacceptable in hybrid graphics mode (i.e.: noticeable lag when moving cursor)

In these tests I have the internal display disabled

That's probably due to the reverse prime condition, how does the system behave w/ both output active?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PRIME#Reverse_PRIME

an issue that is at the intersection of NVIDIA and Wayland

Have you tested any compositors besides gnome? (hyprland, sway, etc)?
You're also (still) not getting this when

switching to NVIDIA graphics mode was required to obtain normal performance.

When you check the xorg log: does X11 actually run on the IGP or move to the GPU since there's where the only output is?

pretty normal (I think?) Samsung U28E590D

Main concern would probably whether it's https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Variable_refresh_rate capable.

raxod502 · 2025-12-31 00:14:49

how does the system behave w/ both output active?

Wow, I had no idea that could be an issue. I tested (back on Wayland) and found that when I re-enabled the built-in display, set to "join" rather than "mirror", there was no difference from the previous behavior, even after rebooting. Actually, after rebooting with the built-in display enabled, the behavior seemed even worse; framerate would not go above 40FPS or so, even when leaving the mouse cursor alone.

Have you tested any compositors besides gnome? (hyprland, sway, etc)?

Well, Pop!_OS 24.04 on the same hardware does experience the same issue, they switched from X to Wayland going from 22.04 to 24.04, and they also use their own compositor (https://github.com/pop-os/cosmic-comp) for 24.04, so that compositor is also affected. I have reached out to System 76 because Pop!_OS 24.04 on this hardware is supposed to be officially supported, so if they can provide a workaround for that configuration, I can maybe port it to Arch.

To test, I setup another Arch partition and installed just sway and the System76/NVIDIA drivers. I saw the same behavior where the framerate drops from 60FPS to around 30FPS when moving the mouse between different windows. This occurred even with the default configuration, although I also tried "HDMI-A-1 scale 2" and "eDP-1 disable" to match my normal workflow, and observed the same there.

When you check the xorg log: does X11 actually run on the IGP or move to the GPU since there's where the only output is?

I'm not sure, how can I tell? Here is my ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.1.log for a session where I am running GNOME on Xorg in Arch, with an external monitor connected and the internal display disabled: https://files.intuitiveexplanations.com … HkEQ6E.txt

Main concern would probably whether it's https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Variable_refresh_rate capable.

I checked the user manual. It seems that the monitor supports AMD FreeSync, but only over DisplayPort. I guess I can try using a DisplayPort connection and see if that reduces screen tearing? (According to Samsung technical support, the model is not certified G-SYNC compatible, but the wiki says it might still work, if I am lucky.)

But if I understand correctly, this should be somewhat of an unrelated concern to the low framerate during normal usage.

raxod502 · 2025-12-31 00:52:31

Interesting update: I got some useful info from System 76, after a few rounds of back and forth. It turns out that while a fresh install of Pop!_OS 24.04 has terrible framerate issues, if you install the gnome-session package (which pulls in the rest of GNOME as a dependency), then the Cosmic greeter automatically picks up the ability to launch a GNOME on Xorg session, and if you do that, you end up with a desktop environment that behaves with perfect performance on an external monitor. No jittering or screen tearing at all on https://frameratetest.org/fps-test, not even the amount that I still observe on my current Xorg configuration on Arch. So, that is clearly possible to achieve somehow, it is just a matter of figuring out what is different about the Pop!_OS configuration compared to Arch, when they are both running GNOME on Xorg.

This doesn't, of course, do anything to address the issue that things go catastrophically wrong with performance when using Wayland, because System 76 just said "Wayland with NVIDIA hardware can experience performance issues" and suggested I change back to X11. And it's not ideal to be forced onto a no-longer-supported windowing stack indefinitely.

seth · 2025-12-31 19:31:37

picks up the ability to launch a GNOME on Xorg session

I know that using X11 is not going to be a long term solution here

The gnome package is (by default and explicit upstream request) built w/o X11 support and as you mentioned, it will be dropped.
There's nothing really interesting about this.

when I re-enabled the built-in display, set to "join" rather than "mirror", there was no difference from the previous behavior

Ie. not a prime-sync problem
(This also should render the VRR condition irrelevant)

Xorg in Arch, with an external monitor connected and the internal display disabled

Is running on the intel chip, using nvidia as sink.

On sway:

the same behavior where the framerate drops from 60FPS to around 30FPS when moving the mouse between different windows

Same w/ https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sway#No_visible_cursor ? (ignore the symptom)

raxod502 · 2025-12-31 21:29:41

Same w/ https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sway#No_visible_cursor ? (ignore the symptom)

I tried

WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS=1 sway --unsupported-GPU

However the framerate still stays significantly below 30FPS when having both Firefox and a terminal on screen at once.

raxod502 · 2025-12-31 22:47:42

Another update from my testing with Pop!_OS. I got to the bottom of what was different between GNOME-on-X11-on-Arch and GNOME-on-X11-on-Pop!_OS. It turns out the system76-power utility writes the following config file on Pop!_OS:

Section "OutputClass"
    Identifier "NVIDIA"
    MatchDriver "nvidia-drm"
    Driver "nvidia"
    Option "PrimaryGPU" "Yes"
    ModulePath "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/nvidia/xorg"
EndSection

The critical bit being that NVIDIA is set to PrimaryGPU. This is what erases stuttering and screen tearing. I had thought that system76-power had been configured already on my Arch installation, since running "system76-power graphics" reported "nvidia". Turns out, you have to run "sudo system76-power graphics nvidia" anyway, to get the mode to be actually set to nvidia, the status output is a lie.

So, now that I have that config file, I achieve perfect graphics performance on Arch - at least on X11.

Is it possible that all that needs to be done to make things work properly on Wayland is to construct the equivalent Wayland configuration to tell it that NVIDIA should be the primary GPU? I'm not sure what configuration that would be.

seth · 2025-12-31 23:51:35

Sorry, I didn't get that the "stuttering and screen tearing" (also) affected X11 and figured it was the wayland context (only)

This makes the X11 server run on the nvidia GPU
You can achieve similar for gnome/wayland using https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/mutter/- … lti-gpu.md but if you can disable the IGP in the UEFI that would be a preferable solution.

raxod502 · 2026-01-01 19:10:13

Praise be! It works. So, the problem is just that system76-power doesn't do the right thing on Wayland. And System 76 appears to be unaware of how they've configured their own system, because clearly it's not just an issue with Wayland and NVIDIA, but rather they didn't properly carry over the graphics configuration from X11 to NVIDIA based on user preferences.

I'll update the wiki. Marking this thread as solved.

Oh, and I found an upstream issue report on system76-power which appears to be the same problem, so I added the technical information there: https://github.com/pop-os/system76-powe … 3704022685

Last edited by raxod502 (2026-01-01 19:26:07)

seth · 2026-01-01 19:40:55

I'd frankly ask why the system would perform that poorly on the IGP - that's not normal.

raxod502 · 2026-01-01 20:10:19

Dunno. It's always been this way with System 76 though, X11 or Wayland, Pop!_OS or Arch Linux, 20.04 or 22.04 or 24.04. It can render OK on the built-in display, but it just cannot handle HDMI output to an external monitor without lagging.

System 76 documentation says that turning on NVIDIA is required to "enable external monitors" in the first place. Because of that I assumed it was expected behavior.

Last edited by raxod502 (2026-01-01 20:11:56)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-12-30 03:08:05

[SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#2 2025-12-30 20:42:30

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#3 2025-12-31 00:14:49

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#4 2025-12-31 00:52:31

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#5 2025-12-31 19:31:37

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#6 2025-12-31 21:29:41

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#7 2025-12-31 22:47:42

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#8 2025-12-31 23:51:35

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#9 2026-01-01 19:10:13

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#10 2026-01-01 19:40:55

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

#11 2026-01-01 20:10:19

Re: [SOLVED] Severe framerate drop when using Wayland with NVIDIA GPU

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