Poor full-screen performance (UHD 770 / ADL-S GT1)

[ze0987]

Hi, performance in full-screen mode isn't great here, at least on Intel iGPU (I haven't tested anything else so far). I've read here and there that gaming performance on Niri is excellent, so I'm a bit puzzled. I also haven’t found any open bug report/discussion related to this. Am I doing something wrong?

niri version: 26.04.r16.g1f07cff-1

config.kdl:

  output "DP-1" {
    mode "1920x1080@60.000"
    scale 1
    transform "normal"
}

layout {
    gaps 10
    center-focused-column "never"
    preset-column-widths {
        proportion 0.33333
        proportion 0.5
        proportion 0.66667
    }
    default-column-width { proportion 0.5; }
    focus-ring {
        width 4
        active-color "#7fc8ff"
        inactive-color "#505050"
        inactive-gradient from="#505050" to="#808080" angle=45 relative-to="workspace-view"
    }
    border {
        width 1
        active-color "#ffc87f"
        inactive-color "#505050"
        urgent-color "#9b0000"
    }

    shadow {
        off
    }
}

animations {
    off
}

Benchmark results:

Xonotic

System	0.1% Min FPS	1% Min FPS	97% Percentile FPS	Average FPS	GPU Load	CPU Load	Average Frame Time
sway	99.0793	165.927	818.003	392.1	97.8	20.5	2.6
niri	63.1969	91.7227	661.851	188.8	74.2	28.9	5.3

glmark2 and vkmark

	glmark2	vkmark
sway	5375	10528
niri	2178	1631

Detailed results:

niri:

$ glmark2-wayland -b :duration=2.0 --fullscreen
=======================================================
    glmark2 2023.01
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:      Intel
    GL_RENDERER:    Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    GL_VERSION:     4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.0.6-arch1.1
    Surface Config: buf=32 r=8 g=8 b=8 a=8 depth=24 stencil=0 samples=0
    Surface Size:   1920x1080 fullscreen
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 3153 FrameTime: 0.317 ms
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 4352 FrameTime: 0.230 ms
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 3627 FrameTime: 0.276 ms
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 3585 FrameTime: 0.279 ms
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 3580 FrameTime: 0.279 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 3269 FrameTime: 0.306 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 3254 FrameTime: 0.307 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 2772 FrameTime: 0.361 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 2512 FrameTime: 0.398 ms
[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 2070 FrameTime: 0.483 ms
[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 3900 FrameTime: 0.256 ms
[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 3717 FrameTime: 0.269 ms
[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 1900 FrameTime: 0.526 ms
[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 730 FrameTime: 1.371 ms
[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 2125 FrameTime: 0.471 ms
[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 871 FrameTime: 1.149 ms
[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 1229 FrameTime: 0.814 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 674 FrameTime: 1.484 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 491 FrameTime: 2.038 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 517 FrameTime: 1.935 ms
[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 1399 FrameTime: 0.715 ms
[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 1786 FrameTime: 0.560 ms
[terrain] <default>: FPS: 211 FrameTime: 4.753 ms
[shadow] <default>: FPS: 2183 FrameTime: 0.458 ms
[refract] <default>: FPS: 546 FrameTime: 1.834 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 2145 FrameTime: 0.466 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 2158 FrameTime: 0.463 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 2297 FrameTime: 0.435 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 2156 FrameTime: 0.464 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 2203 FrameTime: 0.454 ms
[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 2193 FrameTime: 0.456 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 2160 FrameTime: 0.463 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 2173 FrameTime: 0.460 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 2178 
=======================================================



$ vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 2008 FrameTime: 0.498 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 1809 FrameTime: 0.553 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 1451 FrameTime: 0.689 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 1376 FrameTime: 0.727 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 1364 FrameTime: 0.733 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 1269 FrameTime: 0.788 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 1111 FrameTime: 0.900 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 1096 FrameTime: 0.912 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 874 FrameTime: 1.144 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 579 FrameTime: 1.727 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 1023 FrameTime: 0.978 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 1822 FrameTime: 0.549 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 5430 FrameTime: 0.184 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 1631
=======================================================

sway:

$ glmark2-wayland -b :duration=2.0 --fullscreen
=======================================================
    glmark2 2023.01
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:      Intel
    GL_RENDERER:    Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    GL_VERSION:     4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.0.6-arch1.1
    Surface Config: buf=32 r=8 g=8 b=8 a=8 depth=24 stencil=0 samples=0
    Surface Size:   1920x1080 fullscreen
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 12324 FrameTime: 0.081 ms
[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 12469 FrameTime: 0.080 ms
[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 9349 FrameTime: 0.107 ms
[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 9243 FrameTime: 0.108 ms
[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 9251 FrameTime: 0.108 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 8374 FrameTime: 0.119 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 8298 FrameTime: 0.121 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 7013 FrameTime: 0.143 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 6232 FrameTime: 0.160 ms
[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 3863 FrameTime: 0.259 ms
[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 11256 FrameTime: 0.089 ms
[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 9944 FrameTime: 0.101 ms
[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 2091 FrameTime: 0.478 ms
[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 751 FrameTime: 1.332 ms
[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 7481 FrameTime: 0.134 ms
[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 919 FrameTime: 1.089 ms
[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 1804 FrameTime: 0.555 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 666 FrameTime: 1.502 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 2886 FrameTime: 0.347 ms
[buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: FPS: 683 FrameTime: 1.465 ms
[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 4520 FrameTime: 0.221 ms
[jellyfish] <default>: FPS: 2063 FrameTime: 0.485 ms
[terrain] <default>: FPS: 219 FrameTime: 4.582 ms
[shadow] <default>: FPS: 3362 FrameTime: 0.297 ms
[refract] <default>: FPS: 568 FrameTime: 1.763 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 5207 FrameTime: 0.192 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 5228 FrameTime: 0.191 ms
[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 5217 FrameTime: 0.192 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 5231 FrameTime: 0.191 ms
[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 5220 FrameTime: 0.192 ms
[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 5236 FrameTime: 0.191 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 5215 FrameTime: 0.192 ms
[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 5242 FrameTime: 0.191 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 5375 
=======================================================



$ vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 13427 FrameTime: 0.074 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 13457 FrameTime: 0.074 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 10002 FrameTime: 0.100 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 9579 FrameTime: 0.104 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 8966 FrameTime: 0.112 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 8745 FrameTime: 0.114 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 6966 FrameTime: 0.144 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 6425 FrameTime: 0.156 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 2202 FrameTime: 0.454 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 766 FrameTime: 1.305 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 2522 FrameTime: 0.397 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 14376 FrameTime: 0.070 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 39432 FrameTime: 0.025 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 10528
=======================================================

[bczhc]

Interesting.
I've also done the tests on my Intel iGPU:

Compositor	glmark2-wayland	vkmark
Hyprland	1413	4341
Sway	2372	6219
niri	1342	6142
cosmic-comp	1844	5789
kwin_wayland	1084	4882

My tests didn't show that much significantly big score difference.

❯ niri --version
niri 26.04 (v26.04-61-gbb344734-modified)
❯ pacman -Q mesa
mesa 1:26.0.6-1

[bczhc]

Don't know if sway does some optimizations/hacks for such very fast screen clears. However in the vkmark case sway and niri don't differ a lot on my side.

[ze0987]

Thank you. It looks like you have scale 1.5 set in niri. If it's not too much trouble, could you also check it in Full HD without scaling?

[ze0987]

Things are getting even weirder.

niri 26.04 (release)
2560x1600

scale 1 : 1321

vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 1464 FrameTime: 0.683 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 1305 FrameTime: 0.766 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 914 FrameTime: 1.094 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 860 FrameTime: 1.163 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 950 FrameTime: 1.053 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 932 FrameTime: 1.073 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 1238 FrameTime: 0.808 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 907 FrameTime: 1.103 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 609 FrameTime: 1.642 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 321 FrameTime: 3.115 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 618 FrameTime: 1.618 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 1514 FrameTime: 0.661 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 5541 FrameTime: 0.180 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 1321
=======================================================

scale 1.5 : 8874

vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 9458 FrameTime: 0.106 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 9439 FrameTime: 0.106 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 5446 FrameTime: 0.184 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 5292 FrameTime: 0.189 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 5587 FrameTime: 0.179 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 5564 FrameTime: 0.180 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 4224 FrameTime: 0.237 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 3815 FrameTime: 0.262 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 1117 FrameTime: 0.895 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 381 FrameTime: 2.625 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 1295 FrameTime: 0.772 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 9811 FrameTime: 0.102 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 53939 FrameTime: 0.019 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 8874
=======================================================

No significant changes in the results on sway

scale 1 : 8180, scale 1.5 : 8094

mode 2560x1600@59.972Hz
scale 1.5

vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 9379 FrameTime: 0.107 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 9425 FrameTime: 0.106 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 5423 FrameTime: 0.184 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 5273 FrameTime: 0.190 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 5571 FrameTime: 0.180 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 5552 FrameTime: 0.180 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 4213 FrameTime: 0.237 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 3795 FrameTime: 0.264 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 1118 FrameTime: 0.894 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 382 FrameTime: 2.618 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 1287 FrameTime: 0.777 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 9798 FrameTime: 0.102 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 44007 FrameTime: 0.023 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 8094
=======================================================



mode 2560x1600@59.972Hz
scale 1

vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x4680
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (ADL-S GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    04a609ae6ba47b2f5b937d550fc0ce79
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 9619 FrameTime: 0.104 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 9670 FrameTime: 0.103 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 5571 FrameTime: 0.180 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 5410 FrameTime: 0.185 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 5703 FrameTime: 0.175 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 5681 FrameTime: 0.176 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 4311 FrameTime: 0.232 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 3894 FrameTime: 0.257 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 1149 FrameTime: 0.870 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 392 FrameTime: 2.551 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 1328 FrameTime: 0.753 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 10063 FrameTime: 0.099 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 43553 FrameTime: 0.023 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 8180
=======================================================

[bczhc]

If it's not too much trouble, could you also check it in Full HD without scaling?

Do you mean testing it on a 1920x1080 monitor? My monitor is 2560x1600 and niri msg outputs only reports 2560x1600@240.000 and 2560x1600@60.000 modes.

Things are getting even weirder.

Well I got the same. Score is reduced significantly with scale=1.0.

~ ❯ vkmark --fullscreen -b :duration=2.0                                                                          5s 14:30:08
=======================================================
    vkmark 2025.01
=======================================================
    Vendor ID:      0x8086
    Device ID:      0x9A60
    Device Name:    Intel(R) UHD Graphics (TGL GT1)
    Driver Version: 109051910
    Device UUID:    f8d7fd153d2ed560a90103692f8ba886
=======================================================
[vertex] device-local=true: FPS: 2042 FrameTime: 0.490 ms
[vertex] device-local=false: FPS: 1745 FrameTime: 0.573 ms
[texture] anisotropy=0: FPS: 1059 FrameTime: 0.944 ms
[texture] anisotropy=16: FPS: 1125 FrameTime: 0.889 ms
[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 1226 FrameTime: 0.816 ms
[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 1252 FrameTime: 0.799 ms
[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 1042 FrameTime: 0.960 ms
[shading] shading=cel: FPS: 1105 FrameTime: 0.905 ms
[effect2d] kernel=edge: FPS: 701 FrameTime: 1.427 ms
[effect2d] kernel=blur: FPS: 323 FrameTime: 3.096 ms
[desktop] <default>: FPS: 709 FrameTime: 1.410 ms
[cube] <default>: FPS: 1872 FrameTime: 0.534 ms
[clear] <default>: FPS: 8390 FrameTime: 0.119 ms
=======================================================
                                   vkmark Score: 1737
=======================================================

Looks like its inner canvas size changed when the scaling is not one. It can be verified using the desktop scene: -b desktop because this scene is light and shows a clear boundary. In fullscreen test mode it's expected to always fill the entire screen but with scale=1.5, it doesn't.
You can also try removing --fullscreen and use something like -s 2560x1600 - the program even won't show a window with the correct specified physical window size (e.g. if you specify -s <monitor-W>x<monitor-H> then the spawned window should fill the entire screen) when under non-1.0 scaling. I think its window size handling is somewhat buggy.

glmark2 not changed too much lot: 1341 (scale 1.5) vs 1113 (scale 1.0).

[ze0987]

Thanks!