Linux [Debian] + Intel Iris XE: Performance Issues

[Sirex]

Hi!

Need help to sort out some stuff regarding drivers under linux. There are so many articles in Internet and they really confusing.

# Hardware

Recently I bought Intel NUC NUC13ANHI5 13th Gen Core i5-1340P and LG UltraGear 32" monitor, 2540x1480 with 144Hz refresh rate.

I run only one game ITGmania (Stepmania) via SDDM. Only thing you need to know that it is relatively lightweight game, people run it even on Raspberry PI.

# Environment

I installed Debian GNU Linux Testing, linux kernel 6.10.3. Run the game and:

1. Got only ~110 FPS, OpenGL (People with weak video cards have 600+ FPS in average)

2. I can't select maximum refresh rate on my monitor - only 120 Hz is available

I checked that running module is i915 (below story)

# Windows

I installed Windows dual boot, so same hardware, same conditions and got:

1. ~450 FPS, OpenGL. This Quite enough, I see no lags, etc.. Much much better

2. Monitor is working at 144Hz

# Experiments

After digging a little I figured out that new kernel module "xe" is on the way, but in Debian configuration this module is excluded by default. So, I rebuilt kernel 6.10.3 with gpu/drm/xe support. Then I tried to boot as is and with `i915.force_probe=!a7a0 xe.force_probe=a7a0` (a7a0 is device id got by lspci -nn).

As a result I received even worse performance: it degraded down to ~60-80 FPS with xe kernel module.

# Firmware

I reverted back to the stock Debian linux-image-6.10.3-amd64.

I also tried https://github.com/intel-gpu/intel-gpu-firmware but can't understand why it should pick up updates folder. Also I tried to put firmware files directly - I see no change, in dmesg it stayed the same:

```

[    3.606853] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] VT-d active for gfx access
[    3.607083] i915 0000:00:02.0: vgaarb: deactivate vga console
[    3.607156] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Using Transparent Hugepages
[    3.607675] i915 0000:00:02.0: vgaarb: VGA decodes changed: olddecodes=io+mem,decodes=io+mem:owns=io+mem
[    3.610886] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/adlp_dmc.bin (v2.20)
[    3.697896] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: GuC firmware i915/adlp_guc_70.bin version 70.20.0
[    3.697905] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: HuC firmware i915/tgl_huc.bin version 7.9.3
[    3.712754] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: HuC: authenticated for all workloads
[    3.714172] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: GUC: submission enabled
[    3.714176] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: GUC: SLPC enabled
[    3.714782] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] GT0: GUC: RC enabled
[    3.716295] mei_pxp 0000:00:16.0-fbf6fcf1-96cf-4e2e-a6a6-1bab8cbe36b1: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_pxp_tee_component_ops [i915])
[    3.716745] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Protected Xe Path (PXP) protected content support initialized
[    3.716755] mei_hdcp 0000:00:16.0-b638ab7e-94e2-4ea2-a552-d1c54b627f04: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_hdcp_ops [i915])
[    3.724956] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20230929 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0
[    3.776393] fbcon: i915drmfb (fb0) is primary device
[    3.853128] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1f.3: bound 0000:00:02.0 (ops i915_audio_component_bind_ops [i915])
[    3.859023] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] fb0: i915drmfb frame buffer device

```

For example 70.20.0 actual, but in folder I'm seeing newer stuff.

# What to do now?

Anyway, it is not clear for me what to do? Iris XE support still beta? I need to wait a couple releases?

I checked latest kernel - no changes related to Iris XE (at least no mention in changelog).

Eventually it should start working as is with i915 driver? or I need to monitor for future releases of kernel and try to rebuild xe driver again and again?

Or am I missing something?

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Sirex,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

Hello, Technical and Warranty Support for Intel’s NUC 7 through NUC 13 Systems has transitioned to ASUS as of January 16, 2024 please contact https://www.asus.com/support. All software, firmware, BIOS support, and security advisories will be supported through ASUS as well.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician