Some Linux hardware advice please

thebiggiantmouse · 08-21-2021, 08:50 AM

My current system

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Host: EX58-UD3R Gigabyte Technology
Kernel: 5.10.56-1-lts
CPU: Intel i7 920 (8) @ 2.661GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9500
Memory: 2940MiB / 7951MiB
I was gifted a 1060 by my friend who is upgrading to a 1660, I didn't install the 1060 because I was worried about cpu bottleneck. Is it worth it to upgrade the processor to an i7 990x or should i just invest in a new system. I plan on using this to to do some light video editing. I thank you for any advice anyone can provide

Timothy Miller · 08-21-2021, 09:08 AM

While the 920 is hardly the newest processor, it's not going to bottleneck a 1060.

At this point, if you could find a 990x cheap, it might be worth the upgrade, but it's not going to make a HUGE difference as while it does give you 2 more cores, the problem will be IPC when compared to newer processors. That said, there's ABSOLUTELY nothing unusable about a 920 + 1060.

thebiggiantmouse · 08-21-2021, 09:24 AM

Thank you. I am going to install it and come back to this post if that is Ok. Any suggestion on Open-source vs Proprietary drivers

Timothy Miller · 08-21-2021, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebiggiantmouse

Thank you. I am going to install it and come back to this post if that is Ok. Any suggestion on Open-source vs Proprietary drivers

Does the Nouveau drivers work with the 1060 yet? I would think you don't have a choice in the matter and you run proprietary or don't have proper functionality. But I don't follow Nouveau very much since I won't touch Nvidia with a 100000000000000 mile pole due to the whole proprietary drivers thing.

thebiggiantmouse · 08-21-2021, 10:21 AM

Well here are my results after installing and running both,not for very long mind you. I installed the proprietary drivers first and yes things looked amazing, Way better than they did with the 9500 and no drivers but my system moved incredibly slow. That was just playing a few youtube videos and very light surfing. i may reinstall them if I upgrade my processor. I just don't know how far I can upgrade the processor on this board yet. I am running the nouveau drivers now. Things look good but not quite as good but the system is running far smoother. I agree with you on Nvidia but as I mentioned earlier the 1060 was gifted to me and presented such a huge upgrade I had to accept it.

obobskivich · 08-21-2021, 07:02 PM

Agreed with Timothy Miller - the X58 platform won't be such a huge problem with even modern graphics (FWIW, I've compared my similar-spec i7-975 to my much newer i7-5775, and the performance gap is something like 10-20% - even with the 5775 having a slight clockspeed advantage (the 975 was running too hot trying to bring clocks to parity)), as long as the system overall has enough memory (some of those machines only originally had like 3GB of RAM, and remember they're triple-channel for best performance) and you may also benefit from adding USB 3.0 and/or SATA 3.0 support if the board doesn't have it (some do, some do not).

As far as the driver, the nvidia proprietary is the best choice for performance - noveau is unable to bring newer nvidia cards out of their boot idle state, so expect something like a 90% performance hit compared to the proprietary driver (https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...eau-2019&num=1 I know this is a bit older, but it includes a 10-series card in the comparison for example).

mrmazda · 08-21-2021, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebiggiantmouse

I am running the nouveau drivers now.

Are you sure? What does inxi -Ga (from a GUI session) report?

lovemeslk · 08-22-2021, 04:11 AM

Only thing that will bottle neck is if your running DDR3 ram. That will cause a huge bottle neck.
it is slow and the cpu will have to cache and wait for ram. This causes the bottle neck.
as for why or how you got a gtx 9500 is strange to me when that should be gt 9500
anyway I have that bottle neck issue with ddr3 ram and a gtx 960 on one of my machines.

Just no way the DDR5 or DDR6 from the card to the cpu during gaming and keep up.
it is a serious bus cache issue.
So your right time to upgrade.
Any one tells you That your ddr3 ram board can run a gtx 1660 with out a serious bottle neck needs to learn how bus works.
Upgrade you your system. You have a gtx 1660 and a carburetor for a gtx 580 max.

lovemeslk · 08-22-2021, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Does the Nouveau drivers work with the 1060 yet?

They work fine

zeebra · 08-22-2021, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebiggiantmouse

Any suggestion on Open-source vs Proprietary drivers

If it is at all possible to use the open source driver, it should be a high priority and preferable.

thebiggiantmouse · 08-22-2021, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Are you sure? What does inxi -Ga (from a GUI session) report?

I pretty sure I am since I deleted the proprietary Drivers. The open source drivers are still running just. I am still shocked the 920 isn't giving me a bottleneck affect

thebiggiantmouse · 08-22-2021, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovemeslk

Only thing that will bottle neck is if your running DDR3 ram. That will cause a huge bottle neck.
it is slow and the cpu will have to cache and wait for ram. This causes the bottle neck.
as for why or how you got a gtx 9500 is strange to me when that should be gt 9500
anyway I have that bottle neck issue with ddr3 ram and a gtx 960 on one of my machines.

Just no way the DDR5 or DDR6 from the card to the cpu during gaming and keep up.
it is a serious bus cache issue.
So your right time to upgrade.
Any one tells you That your ddr3 ram board can run a gtx 1660 with out a serious bottle neck needs to learn how bus works.
Upgrade you your system. You have a gtx 1660 and a carburetor for a gtx 580 max.

Thanks for the advice. I am running DDR3 because i think that might be what my board supports. I am going to investigate further. If I can I will upgrade my ram before my cpu

mrmazda · 08-22-2021, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebiggiantmouse

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Are you sure? What does inxi -Ga (from a GUI session) report?

I pretty sure I am since I deleted the proprietary Drivers.

Nouveau is not your sole option:

Code:

# inxi -Gay
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GF108 [GeForce GT 630] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nouveau
  v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0f00 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
  loaded: modesetting display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x2520 s-dpi: 120 s-size: 541x533mm (21.3x21.0")
  s-diag: 759mm (29.9")
  Monitor-1: DVI-I-1 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109
  size: 598x336mm (23.5x13.2") diag: 686mm (27")
  Monitor-2: HDMI-1 res: 2560x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 97 size: 673x284mm (26.5x11.2")
  diag: 730mm (28.8")
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 12.0.1 128 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 21.1.6
  compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes

The Modesetting DIX driver is the actual default. It's newer technology than the reverse-engineered, poor reputation, Nouveau DDX driver.

obobskivich · 08-22-2021, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovemeslk

Only thing that will bottle neck is if your running DDR3 ram. That will cause a huge bottle neck.
it is slow and the cpu will have to cache and wait for ram. This causes the bottle neck.
as for why or how you got a gtx 9500 is strange to me when that should be gt 9500
anyway I have that bottle neck issue with ddr3 ram and a gtx 960 on one of my machines.

Just no way the DDR5 or DDR6 from the card to the cpu during gaming and keep up.
it is a serious bus cache issue.
So your right time to upgrade.
Any one tells you That your ddr3 ram board can run a gtx 1660 with out a serious bottle neck needs to learn how bus works.
Upgrade you your system. You have a gtx 1660 and a carburetor for a gtx 580 max.

This makes absolutely no sense - I'm not sure if this is a translation error or what, but this makes absolutely no sense.

The memory type that the CPU/system uses has no bearing on the dedicated VRAM on the graphics card, and there is no 'serious bottleneck' to be had here. I'm not sure where to begin dismantling this, or if this is actually posted in earnest or as an attempt at 'trolling.'

@mrmazda: does the DIX driver provide 3D acceleration? (I'm genuinely curious)

@thebiggiantmouse - You cannot 'upgrade your RAM' - DDR3 is correct for your platform, and there is no issue with using it. You do not need to wantonly upgrade for the sake of upgrading. Does the computer run whatever tasks you need it to, appropriately? If so, it is 'fast enough' - if not, what does it not run and how are you determining that? Work the problem from there.

mrmazda · 08-22-2021, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich

@mrmazda: does the DIX driver provide 3D acceleration? (I'm genuinely curious)

Code:

# rpm -qi xf86-video-modesetting
Name        : xf86-video-modesetting
Version     : 0.9.0
Release     : 2.1.4
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Tue Apr 19 22:48:38 2016
Group       : System/X11/Servers/XF86_4
Size        : 52693
License     : MIT
Signature   : RSA/SHA256, Mon Oct  6 16:50:19 2014, Key ID b88b2fd43dbdc284
Source RPM  : xf86-video-modesetting-0.9.0-2.1.4.src.rpm
Build Date  : Mon Oct  6 16:50:07 2014
Build Host  : build34
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Packager    : http://bugs.opensuse.org
Vendor      : openSUSE
URL         : http://xorg.freedesktop.org/
Summary     : Generic modesetting driver
Description :
This is a generic modesetting driver.

The idea is to piggy-back the X driver on top of the DRM and Gallium3D
drivers (DRM for modesetting and Gallium3D for Exa acceleration)
Distribution: openSUSE 13.2

This was for server 1.16.x. For server 1.17.x, xf86-video-modesetting was retired, and modesetting_drv.so was moved into the server package, thus becoming the (upstream) default for AMD/ATI, Intel and NVidia GPUs, and other GPUs for which a supporting KMS module exists.