[HOWTO] Enable fastwrites on your nVidia driver on Ubuntu

[RYX]

I always wondered why my fastwrites and SBA are not enabled but didn't care much. After enabling fastwrites I got about 15-20% increase in 3d-performance (i.e. FPS). For all of you who want to get the best out of their hardware, this might be of interest:

Link: Enable AGP FastWrite for NVIDIA (Ubuntu) (http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Nvidia_Driver_AGP_FastWrite_and_Side_Band_Addressi ng)

:)

[zeddock]

How do I turn it on?

zeddock

[karmapolice]

click on the link? :lol: :wink:

[zeddock]

click on the link? :lol: :wink:

The link does not work.

zeddock

[RYX]

Here is what I could restore from google cache, slightly formatted.

HOWTO: Nvidia Driver AGP FastWrites and Side Band Addressing

Introduction

This guide is largely inspired to a wonderful guide of the Gentoo Forums (and wiki) ( and I would really thank the user elboricua who wrote the original guide. Unfortunately Gentoo and Ubuntu do not share the same configuration files therefore I couldn't port the entire guide to Ubuntu.

You can find the original guide for Gentoo here: Nvidia Driver AGP FastWrites and Side Band Addressing (http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Nvidia_Driver_AGP_FastWrite_and_Side_Band _Addressing)

The purpose of this guide is to give you a performance boost which could help you in 3d applications such as videogames.


Requirements

By default the nvidia drivers do not enable AGP FastWrites or Side Band Addressing. This tip is a quick and easy way to turn it on. To enable fastwrite you must have a motherboard that supports it, and have it turned on in the BIOS. Most AMD boards have fastwrite capability. I am not sure about Pentium based boards.

You need a kernel compiled with support for agpgart (you can find it under the section Character Devices). The kernels that come with Ubuntu by default support agpgart.

You need to have the Nvidia Drivers enabled and working.


NOTE: If you have questions about the guides above and/or you need help you can find a link to the support threads on the Forums at the end of each guide.

NOTE: This tip requires a reboot.

NOTE: Fast Writes and SBA might make your computer freeze if they are not supported therefore you should use them at your own risk.



Check to see if the FastWrites and SBA is enabled or disabled
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status

Status: Enabled
Driver: AGPGART
AGP Rate: 4x
Fast Writes: Disabled
SBA: Disabled


with recent nVidia drivers (since 9746 at least) type
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/registry


VideoMemoryTypeOverride: 1
EnableVia4x: 0
EnableALiAGP: 0
NvAGP: 3
ReqAGPRate: 15
EnableAGPSBA: 0
EnableAGPFW: 0
SoftEDIDs: 1
Mobile: 4294967295
ResmanDebugLevel: 4294967295
FlatPanelMode: 0
DevicesConnected: 0
RmLogonRC: 1
VbiosFromROM: 0
ModifyDeviceFiles: 1
DeviceFileUID: 0
DeviceFileGID: 0
DeviceFileMode: 438
RemapLimit: 0
UseCPA: 4294967295
DetectPrimaryVga: 1
SaveVBios: 0
EnableBrightnessControl: 0
PanelPWMFrequency: 1018
PanelBrightnessLimits: 65280
UseVBios: 1
RMEdgeIntrCheck: 1


Test the fps you can get with your current setup

Open Terminal or Konsole and type:
glxgears -printfps

You will get something like this:

~$ glxgears -printfps 6073 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1214.530 FPS 6723 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.542 FPS 6724 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.704 FPS 6725 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.805 FPS 6724 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.699 FPS 6724 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.657 FPS 6727 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1345.201 FPS 6724 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.708 FPS 6724 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1344.774 FPS 6719 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1343.688 FPS 6627 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1317.529 FPS


NOTE: you can press CTRL+C in the command line to stop the process

Save the output somewhere so that you can see if you get an fps boost after enabling Fast Writes and SBA.


Enable Fast Writes and SBA

Open Terminal or Konsole and type:

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc

OR (if you use KDE)

kdesu kate /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc

OR

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc


Make the content of the file look exactly like this:
File:/etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc
alias char-major-195* nvidia
options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1


Save the file and exit.

Restart your computer.


Check that it works

Type:
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status


If you get something like this then it works
Status: Enabled
Driver: AGPGART AGP
Rate: 4x
Fast Writes: Enabled
SBA: Enabled


Test the fps you can get with your current setup

Open Terminal or Konsole and type:
glxgears -printfps

It is likely that the number of fps will increase. Nonetheless you shouldn't rely only on the results of glxgears but you should see if you have a performance boost while using games (or other 3d applications).

If you want to disable Fast Writes and SBA

Open Terminal or Konsole and type:
gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc

OR (if you use KDE)

kdesu kate /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc


OR
sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-kernel-nkc

Remove the following line:
options nvidia NVreg_EnableAGPSBA=1 NVreg_EnableAGPFW=1


Save the file and exit.

Restart your computer.
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