Adam, I put the append = "nouveau.modeset=0" string back in lilo.conf and reran lilo, then added the Extensions section to my old xorg.conf (which uses nv driver) and it worked. X is now consuming from 1% to 7% of CPU instead of 30% to 40%.

So thank you very much for your help. Can you tell me why this worked? Am I missing any new useful features?



eXpander, I believe I can figure out how to blacklist a module, but I've never done it. I did download the proprietary nvidea driver, but I don't know how to install it. As downloaded from the Nvidia website, it's called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-280.13.run, and I didn't see any instructions on how to install it. Also, how would I do your suggestion in runlevel 3?

Greetz
I know this is controversial for some people but here's my twapence. OK so nVidia has chosen to keep their driver proprietary and devotees of OSS are offended by that. Beyond the fact that the nVidia driver is superb and has been supporting Linux for well over 10 years now, iirc the original founders of Linux (with the likely exception of Stallman) had pointed out that the GPL was designed to accommodate businesses that stood to lose considerable revenue if not the entire company by making their complete source available. When compared to say, Creative, I think nVidia has been a good friend and neighbor. Even with ATi presently offering a bigger bang for the buck, I buy and use nVidia exclusively and have ever since they supported Linux because that makes sense to me to support those that support me.

Now that the politics is out of the way and you know from whence my opinion originates, performance-wise, this is the best solution. Get your kernel sources in order and install the proprietary nVidia driver. It's simply superior. Nouveau has come a long way but is vastly inferior to date if you desire any sort of acceleration and full implementation of the power in modern video cards. The documentation is excellent and the associated "nvidia-settings" application is all but a Godsend.

Incidentally it is also common to have exceptionally high CPU usage for the first little while while KDE's nepomuk/akonadai (sp?) et al gather the database. At first I thought this suite was useless, bloated waste, but if you use your PC for more than simply doing email and YouTube it is very worth the initial hit. They integrate your desktop and communication applications in an extremely useful way beyond he scope of a forum response and worthy of some in depth research.

Best Wishes

Hello enorbet. Really nice to see someone who has been on the forum for a really long time and with a really low post count weigh in on my issue.

I use this system primarily for internet browsing, posting on forums, email, and for running a few servers for the benefit of other systems on my home LAN. I've never been a gamer or had a taste for fancy graphics or special effects. I do watch youtube now and then. I doubt I would be able to take advantage of any of the advanced features of the nvidea driver, or even notice a difference for what I do. Politically I don't have a problem with it, and I'd use it if nothing else worked.

I don't have nepomuk / akonadi / strigi running. I disabled those when they first appeared on the scene, KDE 4.1 for me, I think. The high CPU was definitely in X.

Ok, Im trying to introduce concrete steps on how to install nvidia proprietary drivers:

(0) Open a terminal and type with:
su -

(1a) Blacklist nouveau:

edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf with your preferably editor, for example:
emacs /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

and then add in the file:

blacklist nouveau


If using emacs, save the file and exit by typing on your keyboard:
Ctrl-x Ctrl-s
Ctrl-x Ctrl-c


(1b)

edit /etc/inittab and change runlevel to 3:
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:3:initdefault:

reboot machine
then login with root

(2) Install Nvidia:

simply type in terminal (go into the location where you downloaded the nvidia driver):

chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86-280.13.run
./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-280.13.run (or just type NVIDIA-Linux-x86-280.13.run)

(3)
Change back runlevel to 4, by once again edit /etc/inittab:
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:

reboot

I hope thats all. If someone finds anything wrong in my steps, please shout out

*EDIT: I tried to install Nvidia driver myself, and it I found out that you can generate xorg.conf directly from Nvidia installation. I also added steps where you need to reboot into runlevel 3.

Thanks for the procedure, eXpander. I'll give it a try just to see how the Nvidia driver works with my system later on.