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Loïc PIERNAS
Asked: 2020-04-26 01:52:04 +0800 CST

stutter every 500 ms using nvidia-driver

  • 772

I wanted to use ubuntu with the nvidia driver on my new computer but as soon as I start to use the proprietary nvidia driver everything on the screen freeze very briefly every 500 ms. I noticed when I switch to tty that the command line is flickering.

My config :

  • CPU : Ryzen 7 2700x
  • GPU : GTX 1070
  • RAM : 16 Gb (Overclocked to 3200 MHz)
  • STORAGE :
    • / on a M.2
    • /home on a Old Hard drive

output of " lspci -k | grep -EA3 '3D|Display|VGA' " :

0a:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP104 [GeForce GTX 1070] (rev a1)
Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd GP104 [GeForce GTX 1070]
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau, nvidia_drm, nvidia

I tried (with 0 effect) :

  • switching distro : pop os (with preinstalled nvidia driver), manjaro, debian, linux mint
  • installing driver using different method : (with the .run, using graphical-driver ppa, driver manager)
  • installing different driver ( 340 - 390 - 435 - 440 )

  • disabling/enabling :

    • Sync to VBlank

    • Allow Flipping

    • Force Full Composition Pipeline

    • nvidia "Timer" : Thermal monitor, powerMinimizer monitor, Memory Used

  • Changing monitor frequency both in nvidia-setting and ubundu display settings

I tried Windows 10 with the latest nvidia driver and it works well. Thank you in advance for your help.

xorg drivers nvidia graphics gigabyte

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Maybe try another cable or another display if you see repeated messages in your /var/log/Xorg.0.log (see below).

    If that doesn't help, also check this different but related issue I found in my own searches: Ubuntu 18.04 video stutters every second regularly with nvidia GPU

    I was having the same problem with Kubuntu on an RTX2080 on a Skylake i7 and it seemed to be due to a flaky HDMI connection to one of my displays. The /var/log/Xorg.0.log file showed lots of connection messages for that display. I fixed it by unplugging and reconnecting the HDMI cable to that display.

    I'm not really sure what the root cause is since this is something new. Random uninformed guess: maybe the drivers are more picky about HDMI presence detection or EDID I2C signal quality or something.

    Example Xorg.0.log messages:

    [   220.145] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): connected
[   220.145] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): Internal TMDS
[   220.145] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): 600.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[   220.145] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[   220.718] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): connected
[   220.718] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): Internal TMDS
[   220.718] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): 600.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[   220.718] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[   220.776] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): connected
[   220.776] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): Internal TMDS
[   220.776] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): 600.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[   220.776] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[   221.381] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): connected
[   221.381] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): Internal TMDS
[   221.381] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): [Display brand name] (DFP-2): 600.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[   221.381] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0):
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  2. I had the same problem - turns out it's caused by the "System-monitor" gnome shell extension: https://dragoshmocrii.com/ubuntu-20-04-stuttering-animations-video/

    Disabling it fixed it straight away.

    • 1

  3. The other answers showed me that my display port cable (for the 2nd screen) was producing the same errors (connection/disconnection).

    However given that i have KDE and not Gnome i was checking on other sensor-related services.

    For me i could reproduce the problem by starting the sensor GUI tool Psensor.

    once i stopped it i had no "microfreezes" anymore.

    During further analysis i could limit the effect on the NVCtrl sensor provider.

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