Csabi's blog

First post of the year with some good news.
Today, I installed a kernel update and an NVidia driver update. I was curious about what performance I will gain with this small update, so I made some simple tests. Here are the results.

Disclaimer: These tests were made on a particular machine with a particular configuration (see below) and are not to be considered as conclusive or official in any way. These results are valid for my computer and my configuration given certain circumstances. And yes, I'm aware glxgears is not a professional test tool, but it's always handy.

Computer:
- HP DX2300
- Processor Intel Core2 Duo 4300 @ 1800GHz
- Graphics Card NVidia FX8600 GT with 512MB RAM
- System RAM 1024MB

OS and DE settings:
- Mandriva Linux 2009
- KDE4.1.3
- KDE 3D effects enabled
- Resolution 1600x1200

When the test were made the following significant applications were running:
- Kopete - state on-line
- KTorrent - seeding Mandriva Linux ISO - no downloads
- Some plasmoids on the screen - no resource hug there

How I tested:
- open one console
- run glxgears in normal window for some time
- record the FPSs
- do an average ignoring the first few recorded values
- run glxgears again maximize window (remember, resolution 1600x1200)
- record the FPSs
- do an average ignoring the first few recorded values
- repeat the process after kernel and NVidia driver update

Drivers and kernels:
- initial test: kernel 2.6.27.5-mnb and NVidia driver 180.06
- second test: kernel 2.6.27.7-mnb and NVidia driver 180.17

And now the results:
180.06 normal window – kernel 2.6.27.5

15823framesin5seconds=3164.56FPS
14902framesin5seconds=2966.89FPS
15999framesin5seconds=3199.71FPS
15562framesin5seconds=3108.3FPS
14355framesin5seconds=2870.98FPS
13302framesin5seconds=2658.34FPS
12874framesin5seconds=2574.78FPS
12035framesin5seconds=2405.71FPS
13241framesin5seconds=2643.99FPS
12642framesin5seconds=2518.72FPS
13182framesin5seconds=2636.35FPS
12258framesin5seconds=2442.91FPS
13277framesin5seconds=2654.65FPS
11104framesin5.1seconds=2194.61FPS
12642framesin5seconds=2518.76FPS
12642framesin5seconds=2509.07FPS
12642framesin5seconds=2524.64FPS
12225framesin5seconds=2444.92FPS
12940framesin5seconds=2587.93FPS
12717framesin5seconds=2538.56FPS
12590framesin5seconds=2517.95FPS
12527framesin5seconds=2505.35FPS
12697framesin5seconds=2534.13FPS
12423framesin5seconds=2484.58FPS
12293framesin5seconds=2458.55FPS
11583framesin5seconds=2313.82FPS
12619framesin5seconds=2507.22FPS
11920framesin5seconds=2383.96FPS
12305framesin5seconds=2460.62FPS
11739framesin5seconds=2342.8FPS
12601framesin5seconds=2520.14FPS
11780framesin5seconds=2355.74FPS
12561framesin5seconds=2512.15FPS
11976framesin5.1seconds=2367.28FPS
13400framesin5seconds=2679.98FPS
Average2505.46FPS

180.06 full screen (1600x1200) – kernel 2.6.27.5
5194framesin5seconds=1038.61FPS
2174framesin5seconds=434.69FPS
2271framesin5seconds=454.09FPS
2226framesin5seconds=445.13FPS
2225framesin5seconds=443.82FPS
2212framesin5seconds=442.3FPS
2281framesin5seconds=456.16FPS
2225framesin5seconds=444.98FPS
2281framesin5seconds=456.11FPS
2200framesin5seconds=439.79FPS
2184framesin5seconds=436.78FPS
2297framesin5seconds=459.27FPS
2265framesin5seconds=452.97FPS
2237framesin5seconds=447.27FPS
2220framesin5seconds=443.93FPS
2274framesin5seconds=454.76FPS
2196framesin5seconds=439.07FPS
2257framesin5seconds=451.17FPS
2165framesin5seconds=432.92FPS
2258framesin5seconds=451.55FPS
Average447.34FPS

===========================================================


180.17 normal window – kernel 2.6.27.7

17279framesin5seconds=3455.78FPS
18699framesin5seconds=3739.72FPS
16935framesin5seconds=3386.99FPS
16876framesin5seconds=3375.16FPS
18728framesin5seconds=3731.46FPS
18761framesin5seconds=3752.09FPS
16703framesin5seconds=3340.6FPS
19324framesin5seconds=3864.69FPS
18380framesin5seconds=3675.94FPS
18349framesin5seconds=3669.73FPS
16532framesin5seconds=3306.35FPS
17183framesin5seconds=3436.6FPS
16169framesin5seconds=3233.74FPS
17678framesin5seconds=3535.57FPS
17271framesin5seconds=3454.11FPS
18230framesin5seconds=3645.91FPS
16855framesin5seconds=3371FPS
18366framesin5seconds=3673.17FPS
17293framesin5seconds=3458.52FPS
17105framesin5seconds=3420.92FPS
17512framesin5seconds=3502.34FPS
16302framesin5seconds=3254.99FPS
18037framesin5seconds=3598.66FPS
17271framesin5seconds=3454.13FPS
17503framesin5seconds=3500.52FPS
18606framesin5seconds=3721.15FPS
17957framesin5seconds=3580.13FPS
17907framesin5seconds=3581.39FPS
18067framesin5seconds=3613.32FPS
17177framesin5seconds=3435.32FPS
17507framesin5seconds=3501.25FPS
17022framesin5seconds=3404.37FPS
17806framesin5seconds=3561.12FPS
17845framesin5seconds=3568.98FPS
17560framesin5seconds=3506.87FPS
Average3527.58FPS

180.06 full screen (1600x1200) – kernel 2.6.27.7
6940framesin5seconds=1387.86FPS
2404framesin5seconds=480.66FPS
2414framesin5seconds=482.68FPS
2432framesin5seconds=486.33FPS
2383framesin5seconds=476.56FPS
2410framesin5seconds=481.97FPS
2364framesin5seconds=472.51FPS
2293framesin5seconds=458.49FPS
2412framesin5seconds=482.34FPS
2359framesin5seconds=471.63FPS
2383framesin5seconds=476.47FPS
2325framesin5seconds=464.9FPS
2360framesin5seconds=471.91FPS
2385framesin5seconds=476.87FPS
2332framesin5seconds=466.37FPS
2366framesin5seconds=473.18FPS
2402framesin5seconds=480.27FPS
2363framesin5seconds=472.51FPS
2360framesin5seconds=469.8FPS
2338framesin5seconds=467.53FPS
Average474.02FPS

Finally some charts (red is test1, blue is test2):

Conclusions:
The new NVidia 180.17Beta driver seems to be faster than the 180.06Beta driver.
In the windowed test there is an approximately 40-45% gain in FPS. But the performance difference doesn't scale up in a linear way, so in a maximized window at 1600x1200 resolution the performance gain is only about 10%.
Maybe this is not the most conclusive test, but it should be a small proof of driver improvement.

Csabi