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Gonzoza
Asked: 2012-05-04 07:34:22 +0800 CST

12.04 performing worse than 11.10

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For what reason, do you think, 12.04 performs worse than 11.10? I recently fresh-installed 12.04 and have found that the general screen animations (like swiping between desktops, window fading, etc) are noticeably stickier than 11.10, under the same conditions.

Overall, 12.10 is superior to 11.10, so I'm not complaining. But the generally worse Compiz smoothness is somewhat irritating. It's not unbearable, but it's certainly not smooth at times.

At times. Not always. For example, if I move between desktops, then the first one or two animations are bumpy. After that, it's fine. It's as if the animations need "warming up". Of course, if I don't move between desktops for a while, then it becomes bumpy again.

Could it be because my Nvidia graphics cards (I have two) are running as "adaptive"?

nvidia 11.10 12.04

2 Answers

  1. If you're running the 295.40 version of the Nvidia driver (apt-cache policy nvidia-current should show you) and you're using older Nvidia hardware - this is a known issue.

    295.40 was released to address a security issue in the .33 version but this also had a major impact on performance. Nvidia have released a beta driver since this which does improve things (for me) but if you can, dropping back to version 295.33 will fix things too (albeit leaving you with the security issue).

    If you can survive, hold on with 295.40 until 302.07 hits a PPA (likely ubuntu-x-swat will have it first) then install the PPA and upgrade. If you can't wait, you can look for a 295.33 installer (I couldn't find one) or manually install 302.07 from Nvidia's website.

    Edit: A new stable version (295.49) has been released and should hopefully start to trickle through to Ubuntu now.

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  2. Best Answer

    I don't know if this would help you or not, but try it and let me know if it makes a difference. I have this on my NVIDIA config to always force the power usage on my card to stay at Performance and not fluctuate between various power levels.

    1. Open a Terminal:
    2. sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf`

    3. Under Device Add:

      Option "RegistryDwords" "PowerMizerEnable=0x1; PerfLevelSrc=0x2222; PowerMizerDefault=0x1; PowerMizerDefaultAC=0x1"

    Good luck.

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