Unfortunately this has been an issue on Linux for years now, with no real fix in sight. It seems to be related to running multiple monitors and happens in Windows as well. In Windows, using NVIDIA Inspector with Multi Display Power Saver will fix the issue, but no such app exists for Linux. As a result, sitting on the desktop idle with 0% GPU utilization, on Windows my 1080Ti draws 12W, whereas on Linux it draws 66W. An experimental flag was added in driver 418.56, but at least for me on 440.82, it doesn’t seem to work and the GPU is still pegged at its max frequency.
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