Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? - Page 4

gio___ · 01-03-10, 12:17 PM

I think we were discussing same problem here:
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=141116

I can't see any bug-fix or suggestion in several months...so... (surprisingly) seems not to be regarded as a major bugs... but really, what's the matter if an high end video card works like an entry level...

that's how things works in that kind of "viral marketing"... you can sell a piece of HW declaring on Nvidia official website that everything is ok with Linux even if it's really not and then don't give a damn about costumers... that's it.

voidmage · 01-03-10, 08:08 PM

I got my card to work by using the 190 drivers even though it doesn't officially support it.

gio___ · 01-04-10, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidmage

I got my card to work by using the 190 drivers even though it doesn't officially support it.

That sound strange... so many people have the same problem with powermizer...

You are sure that your card can swich to 3D frequencies?
Something like 550 MHz for Clock and 950 Mhz for memory for GTX260M for example...

voidmage · 01-04-10, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gio___

That sound strange... so many people have the same problem with powermizer...

You are sure that your card can swich to 3D frequencies?
Something like 550 MHz for Clock and 950 Mhz for memory for GTX260M for example...

I've got it running in 550,800, even playing games in wine at the same speed as my old 8600. Got that number from this line, is it the right one?

Code:

  Attribute 'GPUCurrentClockFreqs' (phoenix:0.0): 550,800.

ttsiodras · 01-07-10, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voidmage

I've got it running in 550,800, even playing games in wine at the same speed as my old 8600. Got that number from this line, is it the right one?

Code:

  Attribute 'GPUCurrentClockFreqs' (phoenix:0.0): 550,800.

Run "glxgears", and while it is running, from a different terminal, type:

Code:

nvidia-settings -q all | grep GPUCurrentClockFreqs

In my GT240/GDDR5 - which under windows runs at 1.7GHz (verified with GPU-Z) - I get...

Code:

Attribute 'GPUCurrentClockFreqs' (home:0.0): 405,324.

...which of course causes abysmal performance under Linux for this class of card (4500fps).

See also http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion...p?t153703.html
where the same problem affects CUDA speeds (under Linux, 1/5th the speed of under Windows)...

What card model are you using? What speed do you get from glxgears?

voidmage · 01-07-10, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ttsiodras

Run "glxgears", and while it is running, from a different terminal, type:

Code:

nvidia-settings -q all | grep GPUCurrentClockFreqs

In my GT240/GDDR5 - which under windows runs at 1.7GHz (verified with GPU-Z) - I get...

Code:

Attribute 'GPUCurrentClockFreqs' (home:0.0): 405,324.

...which of course causes abysmal performance under Linux for this class of card (4500fps).

See also http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion...p?t153703.html
where the same problem affects CUDA speeds (under Linux, 1/5th the speed of under Windows)...

What card model are you using? What speed do you get from glxgears?

I'm also getting ~4500 fps in glxgears, but still getting the same 550,800 GPUCurrentClockFreqs. The card is the XFX DDR3 card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150451

Code:

$ glxgears
Running synchronized to the vertical refresh.  The framerate should be
approximately the same as the monitor refresh rate.
22844 frames in 5.0 seconds

Code:

  Attribute 'GPUCurrentClockFreqs' (phoenix:0.0): 550,800.

EDIT: I don't know a good way to test CUDA as I bought the card for gaming.

jpoet · 01-07-10, 01:00 PM

If I understand what people are saying here, the GT240 is usable under linux as long as you don't mind the fan running full speed combined with a performance hit?

I am trying to pick out the best VDPAU card. I want it to be quiet, so I either need to go passive GT220, or go with a GT240 with a very slow fan.

Has nVidia made any comments on when the performance & fan issues are expected to be fixed?

Thanks,

John

ttsiodras · 01-07-10, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpoet

If I understand what people are saying here, the GT240 is usable under linux as long as you don't mind the fan running full speed combined with a performance hit?
I am trying to pick out the best VDPAU card. I want it to be quiet, so I either need to go passive GT220, or go with a GT240 with a very slow fan.

Has nVidia made any comments on when the performance & fan issues are expected to be fixed?

The reports seem to vary, John.

1. There are some - me included - who see their GT240/GDDR5 being much slower under Linux than it is under Windows : powermizer only uses the 2nd performance level, where about 1/5th of the memory bandwidth of the card is available, even when OpenGL or CUDA stuff are running (324MHz instead of 1.7GHz). See screenshot proof here.

2. There are others that report a WAIT error, that basically halts the machine (reportedly after heavy usage of 3D games and/or video) - at which point only HW reset helps.

3. There is one report of someone with a GT240/DDR3 which appears to use the correct memory speed, but is slow nonetheless.

4. And there are others that don't care much about speed and just want to play some video - they seem to be alright with the current state of affairs. You seem to belong to the 3rd category, since you only care about VDPAU - which works fine (at least for me).

No, NVIDIA has not responded to this thread - we can only hope that they will fix this in some future driver release (though some, like gio___ seem to be waiting for months already and are getting ... anxious). I join them in worrying...

jpoet · 01-07-10, 02:50 PM

Thank you, ttsiodras, for the summary.

I currently have a working system, so I guess I will wait to buy a new card until this is properly resolved.

John

wvdgaast · 01-09-10, 06:09 AM

I don't have any fan problems BTW, the noise level of my PC is at an acceptable level. The frame-rate I get in X-Plane (which is the whole reason I bought this card) is 20-30 fps which will do for now. Getting it a bit higher (difficult scenes may get rates <20) in the long term would definitely be nice though. :-/

cehoyos · 01-09-10, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpoet

I am trying to pick out the best VDPAU card. I want it to be quiet, so I either need to go passive GT220, or go with a GT240 with a very slow fan.

The G210 is fast enough for VDPAU (where faster cards make nearly no difference).

Carl Eugen

ttsiodras · 01-18-10, 03:59 AM

Update: I contacted NVIDIA and reported the powermizer bug.
It is bug number 636716 in the internal NVIDIA bug tracking system,
so we can refer to it as such from now on.

Executive summary:

GT240/GDDR5 (and probably other chips as well) are much slower under
Linux than under Windows, because powermizer only uses slow performance
levels, (e.g. 324MHz instead of the available 1.7GHz, where about 1/5th
of the memory bandwidth of the card is available).

Proof: screenshot

As shown in the screenshot, the bug happens even while OpenGL or CUDA stuff
are running.

Relevant threads:

(reproducible bug with open source GPL CUDA code as well as
CUDA SDK samples)
http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion...p?t153703.html

(same bug reported for 260GTX and 280GTX cards)
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=141116

Hoping that the next version of the Linux driver will fix this, so I can
proceed with my CUDA work...

01-03-10, 12:17 PM	#37
gio___ Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 44	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? I think we were discussing same problem here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=141116 I can't see any bug-fix or suggestion in several months...so... (surprisingly) seems not to be regarded as a major bugs... but really, what's the matter if an high end video card works like an entry level... that's how things works in that kind of "viral marketing"... you can sell a piece of HW declaring on Nvidia official website that everything is ok with Linux even if it's really not and then don't give a damn about costumers... that's it.

01-03-10, 08:08 PM	#38
voidmage Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 6	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? I got my card to work by using the 190 drivers even though it doesn't officially support it.

01-07-10, 01:00 PM	#43
jpoet Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 15	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? If I understand what people are saying here, the GT240 is usable under linux as long as you don't mind the fan running full speed combined with a performance hit? I am trying to pick out the best VDPAU card. I want it to be quiet, so I either need to go passive GT220, or go with a GT240 with a very slow fan. Has nVidia made any comments on when the performance & fan issues are expected to be fixed? Thanks, John

01-07-10, 02:50 PM	#45
jpoet Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 15	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? Thank you, ttsiodras, for the summary. I currently have a working system, so I guess I will wait to buy a new card until this is properly resolved. John

01-09-10, 06:09 AM	#46
wvdgaast Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 6	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? I don't have any fan problems BTW, the noise level of my PC is at an acceptable level. The frame-rate I get in X-Plane (which is the whole reason I bought this card) is 20-30 fps which will do for now. Getting it a bit higher (difficult scenes may get rates <20) in the long term would definitely be nice though. :-/

01-18-10, 03:59 AM	#48
ttsiodras Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 11	Re: Where are the GeForce GT 240 Linux drivers? Update: I contacted NVIDIA and reported the powermizer bug. It is bug number 636716 in the internal NVIDIA bug tracking system, so we can refer to it as such from now on. Executive summary: GT240/GDDR5 (and probably other chips as well) are much slower under Linux than under Windows, because powermizer only uses slow performance levels, (e.g. 324MHz instead of the available 1.7GHz, where about 1/5th of the memory bandwidth of the card is available). Proof: screenshot As shown in the screenshot, the bug happens even while OpenGL or CUDA stuff are running. Relevant threads: (reproducible bug with open source GPL CUDA code as well as CUDA SDK samples) http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion...p?t153703.html (same bug reported for 260GTX and 280GTX cards) http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=141116 Hoping that the next version of the Linux driver will fix this, so I can proceed with my CUDA work...