# Poor GL performance with nVidia FX5200

## VinzC

Hi.

I have a dual PIII 900/AGP2 motherboard. Testing glxgears shows frame rates are about 700-760 (FPS). I also have another machine, an Athlon 1.4 GHz with AGP4 and it shows more than three times as many FPS.

- Both machines run XOrg and use GLX module

- Both have nvidia 6629 drivers

- The dual PIII kernel is gentoo-dev-sources 2.6.9-r9, the Athlon has gentoo-sources 2.4.27 (something)

- Both machines have the same graphics card: GeForce FX 5200

- Neither loads agpgart kernel module

When you close a KDE session, the screen is dithered with a pattern. When I close my KDE session, I can see the "curtain" effect, from top to bottom. It takes approximately 1-2 seconds. Under windows such effects were much faster.

I know glxgears is not a reliable performance tester but I'm puzzled with so much difference. Do you think it may be due to AGP type? Do you think that much is normal?

----------

## hds

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> 
> 
> I have a dual PIII 900/AGP2 motherboard. Testing glxgears shows frame rates are about 700-760 (FPS). I also have another machine, an Athlon 1.4 GHz with AGP4 and it shows more than three times as many FPS.
> 
> 

 

how did you get that done? i have an athlon 1200 tb, agp4, and the max i get out is 1700fps   :Shocked: 

btw.. this is an FX5200LE - dunno what this "LE" stands for..

Options:

```

  Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"

  Option "AGPMode" "4"

  Option "AGPFastWrite" "true"

  Option "EnableDepthMoves" "true"

  Option "RenderAccel" "true"

```

----------

## Imek

I'm not really familiar with nvidia cards on slower PC's, but you should definitely be getting better performance than that with an FX5200. What do you get when you do a "cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status"?

----------

## hds

```

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> how did you get that done? i have an athlon 1200 tb, agp4, and the max i get out is 1700fps  
> 
> btw.. this is an FX5200LE - dunno what this "LE" stands for..
> 
> 

 

Well... don't know really. Maybe because I compiled my system with -O3 in make.conf. This figure seemed quite satisfying, I mean the FPS. Actually it is about 2200-2300 on the Athlon 1700+.

 *hds wrote:*   

> Options:
> 
> ```
> 
>   Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"
> ...

 

You've enabled fast writes. I didn't. But I didn't on either ones... Do the other options boost performance?

----------

## Imek

hds: Actually, that was directed at VinzC. Your score isn't so bad, I had an MX440, which is a comparable card, on a much faster PC (2.6GHz P4) and I barely managed to get 2000-2200.

----------

## VinzC

 *Imek wrote:*   

> I'm not really familiar with nvidia cards on slower PC's, but you should definitely be getting better performance than that with an FX5200. What do you get when you do a "cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status"?

 

```
Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        2x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled
```

----------

## Imek

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> 
> 
> ```
> Status:          Enabled
> 
> ...

 

You should be able to get a boost in performance by putting on Fast Writes and SBA, though I doubt it will be that dramatic. Edit /etc/modules.d/nvidia and add this line:

```
options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1
```

----------

## hds

well, i didnt think the processor speed would matter if we check using glxgears? however, i think AGP4 vs AGP2 really does make a difference.

unfortunately there might be no way for me using AGP8   :Evil or Very Mad: 

----------

## VinzC

 *Imek wrote:*   

> You should be able to get a boost in performance by putting on Fast Writes and SBA, though I doubt it will be that dramatic. Edit /etc/modules.d/nvidia and add this line:
> 
> ```
> options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1
> ```
> ...

 

Well, no  :Crying or Very sad:  . It won't let me enable fast writes. I've uncommented the line you told me but the module refuses to enable fast writes:

```
Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        2x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

Doesn't SBA depend on fast writes, BTW?

----------

## hds

not sure about SBA yet, but you have to enable fastwrites in your BIOS as well! otherwise it didnt work here either  :Wink: 

also dont foregt to run "modules-update" and restart X.

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> not sure about SBA yet, but you have to enable fastwrites in your BIOS as well! otherwise it didnt work here either 
> 
> also dont foregt to run "modules-update" and restart X.

 

Well I have to reboot if I want to enable fast writes in BIOS... Presume the rest is implied.

----------

## hds

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> 
> 
> Well I have to reboot if I want to enable fast writes in BIOS...

 

who would have thought  :Wink: 

SCNR

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> not sure about SBA yet, but you have to enable fastwrites in your BIOS as well! otherwise it didnt work here either 
> 
> also dont foregt to run "modules-update" and restart X.

 

Wait, there's something strange here: my BIOS says AGP 4: Enabled. Yet cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status still tells me it's AGP2!!!

How come???

----------

## VinzC

Gasp! No idea?

----------

## Imek

Well that is strange, as it should be the maximum AGP rate by default. Are you sure you have all the correct modules for your motherboard compiled into your kernel? That's all I can think of.

----------

## Macumba

4592 frames in 5.0 seconds = 918.400 FPS in ~1280x1024 with amarok in kde3,

44933 frames in 5.0 seconds = 8986.600 FPS in normal opening-size,

97711 frames in 5.0 seconds = 19542.199 FPS in minimized modus,

It could be, that there is a jumper on your motherboard, or you have another setting in your bios, or you have to re-emerge the drivers(?.

you can emerge nvidia-settings, it's a tool from nvidia to see s.th. about your card.

----------

## VinzC

 *Imek wrote:*   

> Well that is strange, as it should be the maximum AGP rate by default. Are you sure you have all the correct modules for your motherboard compiled into your kernel? That's all I can think of.

 

I don't know in fact. I didn't know AGP could also be somehow "enabled" in the kernel. I thought selecting AGP support in the kernel - full stop - would support the fastest speed.

Where should I lookup then? I have a VIA chipset;  Is it depending on it?

----------

## Imek

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> I don't know in fact. I didn't know AGP could also be somehow "enabled" in the kernel. I thought selecting AGP support in the kernel - full stop - would support the fastest speed.
> 
> Where should I lookup then? I have a VIA chipset;  Is it depending on it?

 

That's what I thought, too; it was just a wild guess, really.. In Device Drivers / Character Devices I have agpart support as well as VIA chipset support ticked in menuconfig.

----------

## VinzC

 *Imek wrote:*   

> In Device Drivers / Character Devices I have agpart support as well as VIA chipset support ticked in menuconfig.

 

But nvidia drivers are incompatible with agpgart. At least this is what I read in their README file. nvidia won't function normally if agpgart module is loaded or is compiled in the kernel... I've enabled it as a module and have not loaded it. It doesn't change anything.

EDIT: How can I guess from text-based console whether AGP2 or AGP4 is enabled in the kernel (e.g. booting from a LiveCD, for instance, when there's no X installed)?

----------

## VinzC

 *Macumba wrote:*   

> It could be, that there is a jumper on your motherboard, or you have another setting in your bios, or you have to re-emerge the drivers(?.
> 
> you can emerge nvidia-settings, it's a tool from nvidia to see s.th. about your card.

 

There's no other jumper on the board. It is a jumperless configuration. All I have is Enable AGP4 in the BIOS".

I've installed nvidia-settings but it doesn't tell about AGP rate nor does it allow to change it.

I've already reinstalled nvidia drivers more than once. No way...

----------

## hds

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> 
> 
> But nvidia drivers are incompatible with agpgart. At least this is what I read in their README file.

 

no, the most recent ones (6629) can use both. if agpgart is enabled in the kernel, it will use this one, otherwise it will the build-in one of their own drivers. additionally you can set it like you wish in xorg.conf also.

anyway, this has nothing to do with your problem.

maybe you have

```

Option "AGPMode" "2"

```

somewhere in your xorg.conf?

btw.. i just found this in the readme:

```

(/etc/modules.conf):

      alias char-major-195

      options NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=2  # force AGP Rate to 2x

      options NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=1  # force AGP Rate to 1x

```

maybe you have it forced to 2x there?

also, what gives

cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card

??

over here, its currently like this. glxgears is running at 1600x1200, small window (well, just called glxgears and left window unchanged) and 24/32 fbpp:

```

bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x1f000314

bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363/8365 [KT133/KM133]

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000314

bash-2.05b$ glxgears

6790 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1358.000 FPS

8444 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1688.800 FPS

8450 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1690.000 FPS

8451 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1690.200 FPS

8453 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1690.600 FPS

```

btw.. i am getting the same results if i overclock my cpu from 1200 to 1266 (using a multiplier of 9.5 instead of 9.0):

```

7473 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1494.600 FPS

8438 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1687.600 FPS

8438 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1687.600 FPS

```

so i dont think the CPU frequency has anything to do with glxgears testrates.

----------

## evoweiss

Hi all,

According to this thread  the performance of my Nvidia 5200 isn't that hot either, around 1200 FPS or so running glxgears. I am running a P4 with a 2.6ghz processor.

The output of a cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status is:

```

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

Suggesting, from what I can discern, that I need to enable fast writes in my bios. I also do not have the following settings (which some of you have) in my xorg.conf file:

```

Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"

Option "AGPMode" "4"

Option "AGPFastWrite" "true"

Option "EnableDepthMoves" "true"

```

Any ideas on what seems to be missing? I'd like to speed up graphics if possible.

Best,

Alex

----------

## hds

 *evoweiss wrote:*   

> 
> 
> ```
> 
> Fast Writes:     Enabled
> ...

 

que? you already have that enabled!

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
>  I also do not have the following settings (which some of you have) in my xorg.conf file:
> 
> ```
> ...

 

then try adding them, and see if it helps. i had to add them manually as well.

----------

## evoweiss

 *hds wrote:*   

> 
> 
> que? you already have that enabled!
> 
> 

 

Ok, wasn't sure whether there was something else I had to do. I'll try those settings when I return home (around New Year's day).

Thanks...

Alex

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> maybe you have
> 
> ```
> 
> Option "AGPMode" "2"
> ...

 

No, I don't have this.

 *hds wrote:*   

> btw.. i just found this in the readme:
> 
> ```
> 
> (/etc/modules.conf):
> ...

 

Neither. I've just put options NVdriver NVreg_ReqAGPRate=4 in /etc/modules.d/nvidia.

I've still found something strange: on my Athlon machine, kernel 2.4.x, cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status shows AGPGART is loaded instead of nvidia. However I get a much higher frame rate, as I explained. I know I have enabled AGPGART support but I never loaded that module within the /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.4... Probably because new nvidia drivers can "chose" what module they will be loading.

On my dual CPU machine, kernel 2.6.9, I've then tried to load both agpgart (through via-agp) and nvidia modules but X hangs... I've removed nvidia module from startup, disabled fast writes and now only agpgart is auto-loaded. There is no change in performance of course and my card is still AGP2. Damn! I'm going crazy! I'm one step from throwing that bloody motherboard away...

```

bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        2x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

```

```
bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000213:0x1f000102

```

```
bash-2.05b$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C693A/694x [Apollo PRO133x]

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000213:0x00000102

```

Here's dmesg output (filtered), which I find strange too:

```
# dmesg | grep -iE 'agp|nvidia'

Linux agpgart interface v0.100 (c) Dave Jones

agpgart: Detected VIA Apollo Pro 133 chipset

agpgart: Maximum main memory to use for agp memory: 816M

agpgart: AGP aperture is 256M @ 0xc0000000

nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.

NVRM: loading NVIDIA Linux x86 NVIDIA Kernel Module  1.0-6629  Wed Nov  3 13:12:51 PST 2004

agpgart: Found an AGP 2.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.

agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 4x mode

agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 4x mode

agpgart: Found an AGP 2.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.

agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 2x mode

agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 2x mode

```

```
# lspci -vt

-[00]-+-00.0  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C693A/694x [Apollo PRO133x]

      +-01.0-[01]----00.0  nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]

      +-07.0  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super South]

      +-07.1  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE

      +-07.2  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller

      +-07.3  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller

      +-07.4  VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI]

      +-0c.0  Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20265 (FastTrak100 Lite/Ultra100)

      +-0e.0  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+

      +-0f.0  Adaptec AHA-7850

      +-10.0  Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1

      +-10.1  Creative Labs SB Live! MIDI/Game Port

      \-12.0  Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+

```

So apparently, something puts both the AGP bus (00:00.0) and video card (01:00.0) to 2X mode. What's this Putting AGP V2 [...] into 2x mode??? How can I avoid that?

Also, I'm getting completely lost with what I read in howto's all over about agp support and nvidia. What's that AGPGART after all? Is it needed or required by nvidia? Can I safely ignore its support in the kernel or should I enable AGPGART support alone? Is it required so that my VIA chipset is recognized by the kernel? What's the point in having my chipset recognized: will it get a performance boost if recognized properly or is it just to avoid system instability? What are differences between kernels 2.6 and 2.4?

----------

## hds

i seriously have no idea about your AGP2x problem not going to 4x   :Shocked: 

about AGPGART.. i always disabled this, as well in 2.4.x kernel and in 2.6.x as well. i always used the buildin by the nvidia drivers.

----------

## VinzC

I finally found. Here's an excerpt from nvidia README:

 *Quote:*   

>   o AGP Rate
> 
>     You may want to decrease the AGP rate setting if you are seeing
> 
>     lockups with the value you are currently using. You can do so by
> ...

 

So I added option nvidia NVreg_EnableVia4x=1 to /etc/modules.d/nvidia. 

Now this is what I have:

```
$ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/host-bridge

Host Bridge:     VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C693A/694x [Apollo PRO133x]

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       4x 2x 1x

Registers:       0x1f000217:0x00000104

```

```
 $ cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        4x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Disabled

```

OTOH glxgears framerate is unchanged...   :Evil or Very Mad: 

----------

## hds

wow, i am impressed! seriously!

at least someone who doesnt give up. really a usefull hint, thx. well, i dont have such a board, though.. i am sure others have.

well, now the next step:

```

Fast Writes:     Disabled 

SBA:             Disabled 

```

try enabling those suckers  :Wink: 

and, btw.. what is your framerate right now? if it is 1000+ i would simply save the configuration i have before playing further  :Wink: 

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> Well, now the next step:
> 
> ```
> 
> Fast Writes:     Disabled 
> ...

 

Even after enabling AGP 4X, there is no change in the framerate: still < 800  :Shocked:  . I'm also afraid that my system becomes unstable with those flags set. BTW I've already set them while being AGP 2X and no increase in frame rate occurred  :Crying or Very sad:  .

----------

## hds

well, maybe glxgears actually really is a bad choice to compare between different systems?

i mean, i use this on my own system of course if i tweak something and see then if it is faster or slower.. but..

OTOH.. the old UT (not UT2004) was running without any lags, and glxgears showed me an fps of ~250. that was using a gforce2 MX, though  :Wink: 

maybe someone might point us in the right direction for a nice benchmark tool infact of this? anyone?

----------

## VinzC

 *hds wrote:*   

> well, maybe glxgears actually really is a bad choice to compare between different systems?

 

Sure but my point is switching from AGP2 to AGP4 should exhibit at least a little increase, shouldn't it? So I'm wondering if either all that fuss around AGP is just a marketting argument or if my PC is lying to me...

----------

## Robin79

I get about 2000 with my pci-e card :/ think that is pretty bad also!!

----------

## hds

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> 
> 
> Sure but my point is switching from AGP2 to AGP4 should exhibit at least a little increase, shouldn't it?

 

i am not sure about this at all. to give you some thoughts:

i have set BIOS and XORG.CONF to AGP2x and didnt see any difference either.

now i went a step further and disabled (in BIOS) fastwrite.

now guess - no change here   :Shocked: 

i changed the AGP Aperature Size from 256 to 128 (my card has 128MB only anyway) - no change.

my conclusion about all of this: the nvidia driver (which is - unfortunately - closed source, determines everything all by itself, and leaves BIOS alone anyway. well, this would be the only logical explanation i could find. someone else might correct me if i am wrong (overclocking kids please stay out, thx   :Laughing:  )

so my guess it, it is all about tweaking xorg.conf (if that would make sense at all anyway?).

----------

## hds

 *Robin79 wrote:*   

> I get about 2000 with my pci-e card :/ think that is pretty bad also!!

 

would you mind sticking to the topic which reads FX5200? thx. this is not a contest here whos card is faster or better. now just that i was glad to find someone to compare with you drop in, ah well..

----------

## Robin79

Sorry so very much just tought the topic was realted to slow nvidia gl support so i tought i put in that my card also was slow but if you say so iam so very sorry! But i can say one thing that is realted then before i used the 5200 Fx and got about 2000 also just by chaning a little in nvidia-settings.. I dont remeber i just tried around a little and got em up to 2700 in glxgears  :Smile: 

----------

## VinzC

Fair enough. I think I'll make one more test with AGPGART this time. We'll see if that changes a little bit or not. This will then close my unfortunate story  :Wink: . Thanks for your kind help too. See you in a moment.

----------

## hds

bear in mind the parameters if you like to have the kernel agpgart to use. i dont have them @hand right now, but they are in the README of 6629 as well. you probably know this already, though..  :Wink: 

btw.. we have dinner at about 20:00 and it is almost 19:30 here - so my reply might take a while. watch this thread though!

thx and merry x-mas (of course) <g>

----------

## hds

i usually dont care about bummers but enough is enough. would you mind re-reading your very own posting:

 *Robin79 wrote:*   

> Sorry so very much just tought the topic was realted to slow nvidia gl support
> 
> 

 

so why do you think there are plenty topics around this, and why this topic is called "Poor GL performance with nVidia FX5200"?

 *Robin79 wrote:*   

> 
> 
> so i tought i put in that my card also was slow
> 
> 

 

who would have thought - thx for pointing it out.

 *Robin79 wrote:*   

> 
> 
> got about 2000 also just by chaning a little in nvidia-settings.. I dont remeber i just tried around a little and got em up to 2700 in glxgears 

 

and whom do you think this would help? you changed "a little" but cant even recall what?

my guess is, you finally figured out one day how to SetUp your card accordingly. c00l and l33t, wow! however, you dont even recall how you did it so it will not help anyone at all. not even you yourself.

get my drift? you come into a topic with a totally different card, point out that it does more fps (which is normal because it is a higher brand) and close your posting that you do not even recall how you got it done.

now this really is hilarious, thank you   :Laughing: 

where is "valdemarsvik", just btw?

i guess the EU should vote against them if they would like to join. seriously! sounds somehow like lithunia/latvia or even more east?

found: http://www.valdemarsvik.se/

----------

## etnoy

Valdermarsvik is a town in sweden.

BTW, I have a new FX5200 card, and I am getting 400 FPS in glxgears. Fast writes are currently disabled and I have agpgart in the kernel, but I will try to fix that out in a minute. 

The processor is a really nice PII 350, but I doubt that will affect performance too much  :Wink: 

----------

## VinzC

 *etnoy wrote:*   

> Valdermarsvik is a town in sweden.
> 
> BTW, I have a new FX5200 card, and I am getting 400 FPS in glxgears. Fast writes are currently disabled and I have agpgart in the kernel, but I will try to fix that out in a minute. 
> 
> The processor is a really nice PII 350, but I doubt that will affect performance too much 

 

Hmmm... this is partly why I started this thread. Either your hardware is very good or mine quite poor... I think the second option is true. I don't know about the first one  :Wink: .

Each of my CPUs (900 MHz) are more than twice as fast as yours (350 MHz), which globally could mean at most 4 times as fast but I get only less than twice the same rate  :Shocked: . And I'm not considering AGP2, which you probably have, and my AGP4... There is something going wrong here (or maybe it's just me).

There are so many mysteries on this planet...

----------

## VinzC

I've tried switching to non-nvidia... Forget about it: it's even worse. Yes nvidia drivers provide better performance. What I don't understand is why nothing changed when I switched to AGP4.

Note: indeed my system *is* unstable, as nvidia readme states... I had been warned. Had to revert to AGP2.

Normally CPU frequency has an influence, for instance if the AGP bus maximum performance is high above what the CPU can give. Having a very slow CPU has a negative impact on overall performance including graphics.

Now with 3D acceleration, most of the job is done by the GPU rather than by the processor. This lowers the impact of the processor.

When switching to AGP4, I would have expected a slight tremour or even a little performance shiver. But here, nothing happened. Same rate as with AGP2.

So either the graphics card is not what I expected or there's something about glxgears. Or...

There is one test left: I'll swap both my GeForce FX 5200. I'll see if the limitation is due to the hardware or software. I think if the rate is unchanged then it is mostly due to hardware limitation (e.g. bus transfer rates). If the rate changes than the culprit is the card. Which of these is lousy?...

I'll try that tomorrow for I'm tired like Hell... (provided daemons sleep  :Wink:  )

Merry Christmas everyone.

----------

## rjs

I am having the same problem, but it seems my performance is worse.

Athlon 2500XP, 512Mb RAM, Geforce FX5200.

I get a score of 641 in glxgears...I'm sure this is very low.

cat /proc/drivers/nvidia/agp/status:

```

[01:50:30] root [robbie] cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

Weird  :Sad: 

----------

## hds

thats really strange, rjs. and you even have AGP 8x!

btw, if that helps, here is the output of glxinfo:

```

name of display: :0.0

display: :0  screen: 0

direct rendering: Yes

server glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation

server glx version string: 1.3

server glx extensions:

    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,

    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGI_swap_control,

    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_NV_float_buffer

client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation

client glx version string: 1.3

client glx extensions:

    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info,

    GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_SGI_video_sync,

    GLX_NV_swap_group, GLX_NV_video_out, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer,

    GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_NV_float_buffer

GLX extensions:

    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,

    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGI_swap_control,

    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_NV_float_buffer, GLX_ARB_get_proc_address

OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation

OpenGL renderer string: GeForce FX 5200LE/AGP/3DNOW!

OpenGL version string: 1.5.2 NVIDIA 66.29

OpenGL extensions:

    GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_fragment_program,

    GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow, GL_ARB_fragment_shader, GL_ARB_imaging,

    GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_occlusion_query,

    GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_point_sprite, GL_ARB_shadow,

    GL_ARB_shader_objects, GL_ARB_shading_language_100,

    GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp, GL_ARB_texture_compression,

    GL_ARB_texture_cube_map, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,

    GL_ARB_texture_env_combine, GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3,

    GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_ARB_texture_rectangle,

    GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object,

    GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_vertex_shader, GL_ARB_window_pos,

    GL_S3_s3tc, GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra,

    GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_func_separate, GL_EXT_blend_minmax,

    GL_EXT_blend_subtract, GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array, GL_EXT_Cg_shader,

    GL_EXT_draw_range_elements, GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays,

    GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_paletted_texture, GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object,

    GL_EXT_point_parameters, GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,

    GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_shadow_funcs,

    GL_EXT_shared_texture_palette, GL_EXT_stencil_two_side,

    GL_EXT_stencil_wrap, GL_EXT_texture3D, GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc,

    GL_EXT_texture_cube_map, GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp,

    GL_EXT_texture_env_combine, GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3,

    GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic, GL_EXT_texture_lod,

    GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_vertex_array,

    GL_HP_occlusion_test, GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip,

    GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_KTX_buffer_region, GL_NV_blend_square,

    GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color, GL_NV_depth_clamp, GL_NV_fence,

    GL_NV_float_buffer, GL_NV_fog_distance, GL_NV_fragment_program,

    GL_NV_fragment_program_option, GL_NV_half_float, GL_NV_light_max_exponent,

    GL_NV_multisample_filter_hint, GL_NV_occlusion_query,

    GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil, GL_NV_pixel_data_range, GL_NV_point_sprite,

    GL_NV_primitive_restart, GL_NV_register_combiners,

    GL_NV_register_combiners2, GL_NV_texgen_reflection,

    GL_NV_texture_compression_vtc, GL_NV_texture_env_combine4,

    GL_NV_texture_expand_normal, GL_NV_texture_rectangle,

    GL_NV_texture_shader, GL_NV_texture_shader2, GL_NV_texture_shader3,

    GL_NV_vertex_array_range, GL_NV_vertex_array_range2, GL_NV_vertex_program,

    GL_NV_vertex_program1_1, GL_NV_vertex_program2,

    GL_NV_vertex_program2_option, GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap,

    GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SGIX_depth_texture, GL_SGIX_shadow,

    GL_SUN_slice_accum

glu version: 1.3

glu extensions:

    GLU_EXT_nurbs_tessellator, GLU_EXT_object_space_tess

   visual  x  bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer  ms  cav

 id dep cl sp sz l  ci b ro  r  g  b  a bf th cl  r  g  b  a ns b eat

----------------------------------------------------------------------

0x21 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x22 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x23 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x24 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x25 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x26 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x27 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x28 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x29 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x2a 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x2b 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x2c 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x2d 24 tc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x2e 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x2f 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x30 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x31 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x32 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x33 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x34 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x35 24 tc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x36 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x37 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x38 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x39 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3a 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3b 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3c 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3d 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3e 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x3f 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  0  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x40 24 dc  0 32  0 r  .  .  8  8  8  8  4  0  0 16 16 16 16  0 0 None

0x41 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x42 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x43 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x44 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 24  8 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x45 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x46 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  2 1 Ncon

0x47 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  0  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

0x48 24 dc  0 32  0 r  y  .  8  8  8  8  4 16  0 16 16 16 16  4 1 Ncon

```

i just realize it actually says "GeForce FX 5200LE" here, so whats this about LE  :Shocked: 

----------

## Robin79

lol... try nvidia-settings not so hard not so much you can change so it can take at most 1 hour to test all the diffrent settings... I also dont understand why you are so damm upset about me coming in... I will not post anything in this topic anymore now... bye 

edit. anyone who wants my old xorg.conf can pm me or start a new topic lol. edit

----------

## opentaka

Hi, I cant get my fastwrite working.

here is my status:

```

linux root # cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status 

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

and it is supported

```

linux root # cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/card 

Fast Writes:     Supported

SBA:             Supported

AGP Rates:       8x 4x 

```

I have Geforce FX 5200 128MB, my /etc/modules.d/nvidia looks like thislinux root # cat /etc/modules.d/nvidia 

# Nvidia drivers support

alias char-major-195 nvidia

alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195

# To tweak the driver the following options can be used, note that

# you should be careful, as it could cause instability!! For more 

# option see /usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-1.0.6629-r4/README.gz 

#

#   To enable Side Band Adressing:  NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

#

#   To enable Fast Writes: NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

#

# To enable both for instance, uncomment following line:

#

options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

[/code]

I have modules-update 'ed and restarted X, restarted. and I have 

```
        Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"

        Option "AGPMode" "4"

        Option "AGPFastWrite" "true"

        Option "EnableDepthMoves" "true"

        Option "RenderAccel" "true" 

```

in xorg.conf in "Device" section.

I guess I need it to enable via bios, but I cant see any option like that.

i have MSI P4 865PE motherboard.

any suggestions?

----------

## captain_android

On my AthlonXP 2500+ machine with FX5200 I get ~1350fps in glxgears.

That is at 1280x1024 with the glxgears window in the foreground and only an xterm on the desktop with it.

If I maximise the glxgears window I get ~115fps.

With the window hidden behind an xterm I can get >4000fps  :Rolling Eyes: 

(All these are with AGP 8x, fast writes and SBA enabled, using nvidia drivers 7174)

Point being, glxgears numbers are useless for comparison unless you state how you get them.

antiwmac - I have the same /etc/modules.d/nvidia as you (although it looks like you are using nvidia driver 6629).

I do not have any of those options you have set in xorg.conf device section.

I assume you have glx and dri loaded in the modules section?

By the way, nvidia use the "LE" extension to the product name to signify a cut down version, so a 5200LE will be slower than a 5200.

----------

## VinzC

Might sound a st00pid question but did you all put these (last two) lines into the Device section?

```
    Driver      "nvidia"

    Option      "NvAgp" "1"

    Option      "RenderAccel" "true"

```

----------

## opentaka

ok, my stupidness.

I reboot the box and worked fine:oops:  :Embarassed:   :Embarassed: 

and without modifing the xorg.conf lol ;D

```

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          AGPGART

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Enabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

arent they look cool now  :Very Happy: 

----------

## devjonfos

I have a GeForce FX 5200 with 128MB running on a P4 2.66 GHz with 1.5 GB of memory.

Here's the stats with the default glxgears windows:

```
root@linux-jon:~#glxgears

4372 frames in 5.0 seconds = 874.400 FPS

5147 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1029.400 FPS

5147 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1029.400 FPS

5148 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1029.600 FPS

5142 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.400 FPS

5141 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.200 FPS

5144 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.800 FPS

5142 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.400 FPS

5142 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.400 FPS

5142 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1028.400 FPS

```

```
root@linux-jon:~#cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status:          Enabled

Driver:          NVIDIA

AGP Rate:        8x

Fast Writes:     Disabled

SBA:             Enabled

```

I don't run any games in Linux, so I can't attest to any graphics problems.

----------

## opentaka

 *devjonfos wrote:*   

> I have a GeForce FX 5200 with 128MB running on a P4 2.66 GHz with 1.5 GB of memory.
> 
> Here's the stats with the default glxgears windows:
> 
> ```
> ...

 

why not?

you have same grahic card as me, and i only have 512MB RAM tho  :Very Happy: 

anyway why do you need that graphic card when you dont use for games etc?

the glxgears just looks the same, but my is much higher when i enable Fast writes.

you didnt wirte what you want to do so I donnno what to tell you but if you want to enable fastwrite edit /etc/modules.d/nvidia like

```

# Nvidia drivers support

alias char-major-195 nvidia

alias /dev/nvidiactl char-major-195

# To tweak the driver the following options can be used, note that

# you should be careful, as it could cause instability!! For more

# option see /usr/share/doc/nvidia-kernel-1.0.6629-r4/README.gz

#

# To enable Side Band Adressing: NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1

#

# To enable Fast Writes: NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1

#

# To enable both for instance, uncomment following line:

#

options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1 

```

and run modules-update and reboot the PC

----------

## devjonfos

Yes, I needed the info to enable fast writes. Thank you for posting it.

The FX 5200 came with the computer.  :Smile: 

----------

## VinzC

Just one tip: you don't have to reboot each time - hey, that's not Windoze. Shutdown X (or /etc/init.d/xdm stop) then modprobe -r nvidia and restart X. That should do the trick and it's faster than rebooting the whole box  :Smile:  .

----------

## opentaka

 *VinzC wrote:*   

> Just one tip: you don't have to reboot each time - hey, that's not Windoze. Shutdown X (or /etc/init.d/xdm stop) then modprobe -r nvidia and restart X. That should do the trick and it's faster than rebooting the whole box  .

 

ya your right,but in this case you need reboot, this is because AGP bios must be restarted??

donno but you need to reboot in this case, I moddules-update 'ed restarted X, restarted every single bit (like /etc/init.d/modules) but only way was to reboot it

----------

## VinzC

 *antiwmac wrote:*   

> ya your right,but in this case you need reboot, this is because AGP bios must be restarted??
> 
> donno but you need to reboot in this case, I moddules-update 'ed restarted X, restarted every single bit (like /etc/init.d/modules) but only way was to reboot it

 

Strange. I did exactly what I said (plus the modules-update thing) and cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status reported Fast Write and SBA were actually changed.

----------

## VinzC

What pisses me off is that I got more noticeable changes switching to NPTL than doing AGP FastWrites and SBA. Both of these last two items gave me an absolute... 0 FPS more than before  :Sad: .

----------

## opentaka

 *VinzC wrote:*   

>  *antiwmac wrote:*   ya your right,but in this case you need reboot, this is because AGP bios must be restarted??
> 
> donno but you need to reboot in this case, I moddules-update 'ed restarted X, restarted every single bit (like /etc/init.d/modules) but only way was to reboot it 
> 
> Strange. I did exactly what I said (plus the modules-update thing) and cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status reported Fast Write and SBA were actually changed.

 

oh ic.. anyway in my spec i actually needed to reboot the whole box anyway  :Very Happy: 

----------

