Ubuntu with Nvidia drivers capped at 60 FPS on a 144hz screen (single monitor) - not capped with nouveau drivers

Graphics / Linux Linux
1

Ubuntu with Nvidia drivers capped at 60 FPS on a 144hz screen (single monitor)

The Problem

All the systems specs can be found at the bottom.

Ubuntu 20.04 with nvidia-driver-* is capped at 60 FPS on a 144hz screen. I’m aware this happens in a multi-screen setup with one screen being 60hz, but the problem persists even when there’s only the primary 144hz screen in use.

The problem goes away if I switch to the iGPU with xserver-xorg-video-nouveau drivers. Everything is butter smooth, as it should be. Yet when I switch back to dGPU and nvidia-driver-* drivers, the issue returns.

Some symptoms

  1. For a brief period of time, the issue went away. This happened after one of the nvidia-* updates, though I can’t say exactly which one. For a while, everything worked as it should, but after the next update, the issue returned. I believe it was the update from 455.38 to 455.45 that broke it again. Going back to the previous driver version (downgrading from 455.45 to 455.38) did not help. I have also tried purging all the nvidia drivers and reinstalling them and using nvidia-driver-450.

  2. The mouse cursor can be rendered at 144 FPS. By default it’s also capped, but if I change the refresh rate in display settings back and forth, it temporarily becomes 144 FPS. It will reset back to 60 FPS after some time, and I’d have to change the setting back and forth again for it to resume being smooth.

  3. xrandr --output eDP-1-1 --mode 1920x1080 --rate 144 did not help.

System specs

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Gnome 3.36.4 Distro: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa) 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Schenker product: XMG FUSION 15 (XFU15L19) 
CPU:
  Model: Intel Core i7-9750H 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Device-2: NVIDIA TU106M [GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile] vendor: Intel 
  driver: nvidia v: 455.45.01 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q Design/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 455.45.01 direct render: Yes 
Info:
  Memory: 62.66 GiB

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (404.6 KB)

2

Please run nvidia-bug-report.sh as root and attach the resulting nvidia-bug-report.log.gz file to your post.

3

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (404.6 KB)

Thanks for your reply!

4

Looks like PRIME sync is disabled. Please enable it using kernel parameter

nvidia-drm.modeset=1

and reboot.

sudo cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset

should return ‘Y’ if done right.

1 Like
5

Oh my God, this has actually worked. You’re the coolest, I’m very grateful.

If you give me your crypto address I’d gladly buy you a coffee for your help :)

6

Could you please help me to do it on Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon (Ubuntu 20.04), driver 470. I’ve googled, but found varying information on how to do it. Some say I should edit /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-graphics-drivers.conf, but I don’t have the file there, only in /lib/modprobe.d/. There are a few other approaches, and I don’t know which one to choose. I’m afraid to break something.

Also my problem is related to having one monitor with 144hz and other monitors with 60hz. Most programs (if not all) are capped at 60hz on the main monitor. For example, Chrome, glxgears. Would trying the solution in this thread help in my case?