[Tfug] Guys, what's a good way to test video performance?

[John Gruenenfelder]

On Sun, Apr 05, 2009 at 02:40:00AM -0700, Jim March wrote:
>My lappy has an Intel 965 (aka "x3100") video chipset, I'm running
>Ubuntu Jaunty and I'm trying to tune video performance using the new
>"UXA" acceleration method.  Apparently it's stable for some people,
>not others.  Heh.
>
>Well I've run into something funky.  I've switched, the system seems
>OK, it "feels" fast as hell in Compiz rotations and the like.  But
>according to GLXGears, it's pulling about 450ish versus about 680
>under EXA.
>
>===
>
>That seems to suggest GLXgears is giving an even more inaccurate view
>of video performance than usual...like it may be total BS.
>
>And I've seen numerous reference to GLXGears not being a valid test anyways.
>
>So what IS a good test suite to compare UXA and EXA settings in xorg.conf?

Yeah, I don't think I would trust glxgears.  It's an extremely simple GL test
and most any modern configuration will be able to run it very fast.  Also,
being so simple, it doesn't even test a tenth of the capabilities of your GPU.
glxgears is about as useful for benchmarking as the speed tests hdparm can do.
bonnie++ is a much better drive/filesystem benchmark and there are far better
tools for GPU testing.

Some things to try:

* A quick one: if you're running Compiz or some other compositing window
manager, it's already pushing your GPU much harder than glxgears.  See if you
can make it display its FPS value.  Not really a valid/repeatable benchmarking
tool, but it can give you a quick answer about how the system "feels".

* Install one of the available FOSS FPS games.  Most of these should have a
demo mode than can be accessed via the game's console.  It's an automated and
repeatable test and should test a lot of what OpenGL and your video driver can
do.


-- 
--John Gruenenfelder    Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
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