Sunshine not able to encode fast until GeForce Experienced/Gamestream was enabled

[brunosmarques]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Is your issue described in the documentation?

• I have read the documentation

Is your issue present in the nightly release?

• This issue is present in the nightly release

Describe the Bug

Performance in Moonlight using Sunshine in a fresh Windows 11 install was very poor, despite no obvious bottleneck. After enabled Nvidia oficial Gamestream, performance in Sunshine was 3x better, despite no changes being made to either client or Sunshine encoding settings. Looks like the simple fact of enabling and disabling Gamestream "unlocked" performance for Sunshine.

Expected Behavior

Sunshine stream jumps from 40fps to 120fps after enabled/disabled Nvidia official Gamestream.

Additional Context

I've formatted and reinstalled Windows 11 with a clean install, but was getting very disappointing results with Sunshine. I've use exactly the same Nvidia drivers, the same ethernet connection in both client and host, same client and sunshine parameters, and made sure my game was running comfortably at 120 fps, but sunshine was only getting around 40fps.

I've tried many things, changing performance mode in windows, process priority, windowed games optimization on/off, even changing the client bandwidth and resolution parameters, nothing helped. In the Moonlight statistics I verified the video stream received had around 40 fps, but Riva Tunner was telling me the game was running at rock solid 120 fps. I've tried to run it in service and foreground mode, same result.

Then I've tried Steam Remote play, and it did managed to get 120 fps easily. It was an encoding problem with Sunshine, then. So I've decided to install Nvidia Geforce Experience and enable Gamestream, and then I got 120fps with no changes.

Finally, to confirm the problem was in sunshine, I've re-enabled Sunshine and disabled Geforce Experience, but to my surprise, Sunshine was getting 120fps too. I've tried everything before, with multiple reboots in both client and host, but the performance was only "unlocked" when I've used Gamestream one single time. Do you have any idea why? Could Nvidia be locking the performance of this feature until Official Gamestream unlocks it?

Host Operating System

Windows

Operating System Version

11 Pro

Architecture

64 bit

Sunshine commit or version

19.1

Package

Windows - installer

GPU Type

Nvidia

GPU Model

RTX 2070 Super

GPU Driver/Mesa Version

531.41

Capture Method (Linux Only)

No response

Config

nv_tune = hq
nv_coder = cabac
hevc_mode = 2
encoder = nvenc
origin_pin_allowed = lan
fec_percentage = 5

Apps

No response

Relevant log output

[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Compiling shaders...
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Compiled shaders
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Trying encoder [nvenc]
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: ddprobe.exe [1] [] returned: 0x00000000
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Set GPU preference: 1
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:34]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:35]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:36]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:37]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 709]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Error: Could not open codec [h264_nvenc]: Function not implemented
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 709]
[2023:04:10:18:10:38]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Color range: [JPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Warning: nvenc: hevc: replacing nalu prefix data
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: // Testing for available encoders, this may generate errors. You can safely ignore those errors. //
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: // Ignore any errors mentioned above, they are not relevant. //
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: 
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Found encoder nvenc: [h264_nvenc, hevc_nvenc]
[2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Configuration UI available at [https://localhost:47990]
[2023:04:10:18:10:40]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:40]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:40]: Info: Registered Sunshine mDNS service
[2023:04:10:18:10:42]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:43]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:46]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:49]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:52]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:55]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:10:58]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:11:01]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:11:04]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: /CN=NVIDIA GameStream Client -- verified
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: Executing [Desktop]
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: CLIENT CONNECTED
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: 
Device Description : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
Device Vendor ID   : 0x000010DE
Device Device ID   : 0x00001E84
Device Video Mem   : 8003 MiB
Device Sys Mem     : 0 MiB
Share Sys Mem      : 16345 MiB
Feature Level      : 0x0000B100
Capture size       : 2560x1440
Offset             : 0x0
Virtual Desktop    : 2560x1440
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: Desktop resolution [2560x1440]
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: Desktop format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: 
Colorspace         : DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Bits Per Color     : 8
Red Primary        : [0.685547,0.308594]
Green Primary      : [0.264648,0.667969]
Blue Primary       : [0.150391,0.0576172]
White Point        : [0.313477,0.329102]
Min Luminance      : 0.2496 nits
Max Luminance      : 351.276 nits
Max Full Luminance : 351.276 nits
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: Capture format [DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM]
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: SDR color coding [Rec. 601]
[2023:04:10:18:11:07]: Info: Color range: [MPEG]
[2023:04:10:18:27:17]: Warning: ControllerNumber [0] not allocated
[2023:04:10:18:33:05]: Info: Web UI: [127.0.0.1] -- not authorized

[ReenigneArcher]

I don't have enough information to know why performance was so bad. I'd guess it wasn't using nvenc, and suggest patching your drivers.

https://docs.lizardbyte.dev/projects/sunshine/en/latest/troubleshooting/general.html#nvidia-issues

[brunosmarques]

The logs clearly stated it was using nvenc
config: encoder = nvenc

logs: [2023:04:10:18:10:39]: Info: Found encoder nvenc: [h264_nvenc, hevc_nvenc])

The encoder patch is a good suggestion, but as I enabled the gamestream already, this does not show anymore and I am not formatting and reinstalling the OS again just to test it. But this might not be possible in the future, when NVIDIA decides to kill it completely. Thank you.

[ReenigneArcher]

The logs clearly stated it was using nvenc

There is no way for anyone reading the issue to know if those logs are from before or after you enabled gamestream. With the information provided and the wording in the issue description, it is easy to assume these logs are from after you enabled it.

Anyway, Nvidia GameStream does not need to be enabled to achieve good performance in Sunshine. There is nothing within Sunshine that relies on anything that occurs in Nvidia GameStream.

[brunosmarques]

Alright, thanks for the comments. I know Gamestream does not need to be enabled to achieve good performance, there's no reasoning in it. But given the evidences I'm inclined to think Nvidia could be restricting encoding performance until Gamestream is enabled at least once. I know it makes no sense, but it would not be the first time they restrict something on their driver, which Sunshine relies on, for commercial reasons. All I can do is to report it as a possible bug. If you think it's not worth it, that's fine, I've just wanted to help because I really like the Sunshine/Moonlight project.