btop (and similar tools like intel-gpu-top, mongohud, etc.) rely on sysfs for gathering info on Intel iGPU, but from what I've found so far, this requires elevated privileges due to a bug (feature?) from Intel's kernel driver. Is there a way to access the sysfs Intel iGPU files without elevating the privileges?
#Intel iGPU sysfs access without root
foggy summit
As I was writing this question, I've found a satisfactory (albeit macabre) solution in this freedesktop issue for the i915 driver
TLDR: setcap cap_perfmon=+ep /path/to/executable
Probably this should get a mention (and possibly an explanation of repercussions) in the Arch Wiki for various hardware monitoring utilities?...
livid ether
Probably this should get a mention (and possibly an explanation of repercussions...
feel free to contribute man. seems like you know more about the subject