General System Tweaks

AMD Performance Tweaks

AMD P-State Driver

amd-pstate is the AMD CPU performance scaling driver that introduces a new CPU frequency control mechanism on modern AMD APU and CPU series in the Linux kernel. The new mechanism is based on Collaborative Processor Performance Control (CPPC) which provides finer grain frequency management than legacy ACPI hardware P-States.

Current AMD CPU/APU platforms are using the ACPI P-states driver to manage CPU frequency and clocks with switching only in 3 P-states. CPPC replaces the ACPI P-states controls and allows a flexible, low-latency interface for the Linux kernel to directly communicate the performance hints to hardware.

Below are 3 operation modes of the amd-pstate driver and kernel cmdline entries to use them on boot:

AMD P-State (Non-Autonomous Mode): amd-pstate=passive
AMD P-State Guided (Guided Autonomous Mode): amd-pstate=guided
AMD P-State EPP (Autonomous Mode): amd-pstate=active

You can also switch between operation modes at runtime to test the options:

Autonomous mode: platform considers only the values set for Minimum performance, Maximum performance, and Energy Performance Preference.
Terminal window
```
echo active | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/amd_pstate/status
```
Guided-autonomous mode: platform sets operating performance level according to the current workload and within limits set by the OS through minimum and maximum performance registers.
Terminal window
```
echo guided | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/amd_pstate/status
```
Non-autonomous mode: platform gets desired performance level from OS directly through Desired Performance Register.
Terminal window
```
echo passive | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/amd_pstate/status
```

For more information:

Configuring AMD P-State EPP

To use the P-State EPP, there are two CPU frequency scaling governors available: powersave and performance. It is recommended to use the powersave governor and set a preference.

Set powersave governor: sudo cpupower frequency-set -g powersave
Set performance governor: sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

To set a preference, run the following command with the desired preference:

echo power | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/energy_performance_preference

Available preferences: performance, power, balance_power, balance_performance

Benchmarks for each preference can be found here: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20221219064042.661122-1-perry.yuan@amd.com/

AMD 3D V-Cache Optimizer

AMD posted a patch to optimize the Cache Scheduling on Dual CCD 3D CPUs, like 7950X3D and 7900X3D. You need to set in the BIOS under the CPPC Option to the “Driver” Option. This will allow to override with the sysfs the used mode.

There are two modes:

Frequency
Cache

If cache is set, the driver will try to put the tasks first on the CCD with the higher Cache, this is mainly profitable on games. The frequency option will try to put the tasks on the second CCD, which has a higher frequency than the 3D Cache CCD.

Frequency (Default):

echo frequency | sudo tee /sys/bus/platform/drivers/amd_x3d_vcache/AMDI0101:00/amd_x3d_mode

Cache:

echo cache | sudo tee /sys/bus/platform/drivers/amd_x3d_vcache/AMDI0101:00/amd_x3d_mode

After you changed the modes, the amd preferred core stats should provide a different ranking. You can read it out with:

grep -v /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/amd_pstate_prefcore_ranking

AMD P-State Core Performance Boost

AMD Core Performance Boost aka AMD Turbo Core is a dynamic frequency scaling technology by AMD that allows the processor to dynamically adjust and control the processor operating frequency in certain version of its processors which allows for increased performance when needed while maintaining lower power and thermal parameters during normal operation.

Since linux-cachyos 6.9.6, the kernel is patched with CPB support for AMD’s p-state drivers (includes passive, active and guided). Users can change each CPU’s boost state via the sysfs boost file /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpuX/cpufreq/boost (X refers to the core number e.g. cpu0 is the first core, cpu1 second, etc).

❯ echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/boost # Disable boost for all cores
❯ lscpu -ae # This shows that AMD CPB is disabled globally
CPU NODE SOCKET CORE L1d:L1i:L2:L3 ONLINE    MAXMHZ   MINMHZ       MHZ
  0    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 3301.0000 400.0000 1212.8250
  1    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 3301.0000 400.0000 1394.2180
  2    0      0    1 1:1:1:0          yes 3301.0000 400.0000 1204.4600

❯ echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/boost # Enables boost on cpu0
❯ lscpu -ae
CPU NODE SOCKET CORE L1d:L1i:L2:L3 ONLINE    MAXMHZ   MINMHZ       MHZ
  0    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 4564.0000 400.0000 1393.2380
  1    0      0    0 0:0:0:0          yes 3301.0000 400.0000  400.0000
  2    0      0    1 1:1:1:0          yes 3301.0000 400.0000 2157.8469

CachyOS also provides a version of power-profiles-daemon that backports a commit which enables support for AMD CPB. AMD CPB will be disabled if the powersave profile is being used, and will be enabled on balanced or performance.

For more information see:

Performance Improvements

Disabling Split Lock Mitigate

In some cases, split lock mitigate can slow down performance in some applications and games. A patch is available to disable it via sysctl.

Disable split lock mitigate: sudo sysctl kernel.split_lock_mitigate=0
Enable split lock mitigate: sudo sysctl kernel.split_lock_mitigate=1

To make the change persistent, add the following line to /etc/sysctl.d/99-splitlock.conf:

kernel.split_lock_mitigate=0

For more information on split lock, see:

ADIOS I/O Scheduler

Created by firelzrd

Brief introduction from README:

ADIOS (Adaptive Deadline I/O Scheduler) is a block layer I/O scheduler for the Linux kernel, designed for modern multi-queue block devices (blk-mq). It aims to provide low latency for I/O operations by combining deadline scheduling principles with a learning-based adaptive latency control mechanism.
- Inspired by and builds upon concepts from the mq-deadline and Kyber I/O schedulers. Its core feature is the ability to predict I/O completion latency based on past performance and request characteristics (operation type, size) and use this prediction to dynamically adjust request deadlines and batching behavior.

TLDR: ADIOS works by learning the latency profile of your storage device and using that knowledge to dynamically set deadlines for I/O requests. It prioritizes requests into four tiers, from critical system operations (Tier 0) to background tasks (Tier 3), to ensure a smooth user experience. While it focuses on responsiveness, its behavior can be fine-tuned via sysfs settings to balance latency and throughput.

For a live demo, you can watch this video

This method sets the scheduler for the current session. The change will be lost on reboot.

sync && echo adios | sudo tee /sys/block/<yourdrive>/queue/scheduler
    # Replace <yourdrive> with the actual drive identifier (e.g. sda, sdb, nvme0n1)

Open or create a new udev rules file in your preferred text editor (e.g., nano, micro, vim)
Example
```
sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/60-ioschedulers.rules
```

Add the following rules to the file. These rules automatically apply a specific I/O scheduler based on the drive type (HDD, SSD, or NVMe).

# HDD
ACTION=="add|change", KERNEL=="sd[a-z]*", ATTR{queue/rotational}=="1", \
    ATTR{queue/scheduler}="bfq"

# SSD
ACTION=="add|change", KERNEL=="sd[a-z]*|mmcblk[0-9]*", ATTR{queue/rotational}=="0", \
    ATTR{queue/scheduler}="adios"

# NVMe SSD
ACTION=="add|change", KERNEL=="nvme[0-9]*", ATTR{queue/rotational}=="0", \
    ATTR{queue/scheduler}="adios"

Save the file and close the editor.
Reload the udev rules to apply the changes immediately without a reboot.
Terminal window
```
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
```

FAQ:

If it improves responsiveness, why isn’t it enabled by default?
- ADIOS is still under active development and continuous testing. While it offers significant benefits for desktop responsiveness, it is not yet considered stable enough to be the default for all workloads and hardware types. In some edge cases, bugs could lead to issues like system lockups. For this reason, it is an optional feature for users who wish to test and benefit from its latest improvements.

Power Saving Tweaks

Enable RCU Lazy

RCU Lazy helps reducing the power usage at idle or lightly loaded systems. This can be useful for laptops and handheld devices. The improvement is between 5-10% in terms of power savings. However, it’s important to note that this power saving feature may come at the cost of slightly reduced performance depending on the scenario. The linux-cachyos-deckify kernel will have this option enabled by default, since power saving is key and necessary for these devices.

To enable RCU Lazy, add the following parameter to your kernel cmdline parameters list:

rcutree.enable_rcu_lazy=1

NVIDIA Troubleshooting

Disabling SDDM Wayland Backend

While this a nice step forward, it might introduce some annoyances such as breaking support for overclocking using nvidia-settings or cause incompatibility with older GPUs which struggle under Wayland.

In order to revert this change. Remove the cachyos-kde-settings package:

sudo pacman -R cachyos-kde-settings

NVIDIA GSP Firmware

The NVIDIA GSP Firmware can “in some cases” lead to decreased performance. While the 555.58.02 NVIDIA Driver has largely addressed this issue, it may persist on certain systems. If you are facing hiccups in KDE or bad performance in some cases, you can disable the GSP Firmware with the following config file: /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-gsp.conf

options nvidia NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0

After creating the file, execute the following command:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

It’s generally recommended to test the GSP firmware after each new NVIDIA driver installation, as it often introduces beneficial features. Moreover, NVIDIA primarily started conducting QA testing using the GSP firmware.

Audio and Software Enhancements

Enhancing Laptop Speaker Sound

Laptop speakers often produce thin and underwhelming sound due to their compact size and limited hardware capabilities. EasyEffects can significantly enhance the sound quality of your laptop’s built-in speakers by applying various audio effects and custom configurations.

To get started you need to install EasyEffects and the required dependencies:

# Install EasyEffects
sudo pacman -S easyeffects
# Install additional plugins for more effects
sudo pacman -S lsp-plugins-lv2
sudo pacman -S zam-plugins
sudo pacman -S calf
sudo pacman -S mda.lv2

Configuration

Follow these steps to configure EasyEffects:

Launch EasyEffects from your application menu or by typing easyeffects in the terminal.
Navigate to the Output tab to manage effects applied to your speaker audio.
Switch to the Effects tab to add, modify, or adjust audio effects.

Using Community Presets

For a quick and effective setup, start with community-created presets tailored for various audio scenarios:

Download presets from the EasyEffects Community Presets repository.
In EasyEffects, click the Presets button and choose “Import preset from local storage”.
Locate and select the downloaded preset file.
Once imported, the preset will appear in your list—click “Load” to apply it to your audio output.

Creating a Custom Profile

For a more personalized audio experience, create a custom profile tailored to your laptop’s speakers:

Click the ”+” button in the Presets menu to create a new preset (e.g., name it “Laptop Speakers”).
Select “Load” to activate the new preset.
Add and configure effects in the Output > Effects tab, experimenting with options like equalizers, bass enhancers, or stereo wideners.

Using the Convolver Effect (Dolby Atmos Laptops)

The Convolver effect can dramatically improve sound by applying impulse responses that simulate high-quality audio environments. However, it requires precise setup:

Add the Convolver effect to your effects chain in the Effects tab.
Load an impulse response file (in .wav format) specific to your laptop model, if available. You can search for these files online at resources like:
Prevent clipping: The Convolver effect may increase volume significantly. Add a Limiter effect after the Convolver in your effects chain to control peaks and avoid distortion.

Tips for Optimal Results

Experiment with different presets to identify the best match for your specific laptop model and personal sound preferences.
Make incremental adjustments to individual effects to prevent distortion or unnatural sound output.
Compare with toggle: Frequently toggle EasyEffects on/off to evaluate the improvements against the default audio.
Search for device-specific presets or Convolver impulse responses for popular laptop models like Framework Laptop 13 or ThinkPad T14 to achieve tailored results.
Automate startup: Configure EasyEffects to launch automatically at startup through the app’s preferences to ensure your custom profile is always applied.
Autoload presets for multiple devices: Use the PipeWire > Presets Autoloading tab to associate specific presets with different output devices (e.g., Speakers vs. Headphones) for seamless switching.

Alternative to EasyEffects

As an alternative you can try using JDSP4Linux, which is an audio effect processor for PipeWire and PulseAudio clients.

OBS Studio

We provide a custom obs-studio-browser package in our repository that is recommended over the standard obs-studio package. It contains patches to fix some of the common issues like cuda-errors and virtual camera problems.

sudo pacman -S obs-studio-browser
# If you previously had the obs-studio installed then pacman is going to ask you if
# you want to replace it, if so enter "Y".