#How do I get Mint to use my high performance graphics card?

16 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

meager echo
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Description:
Mint is using my Skylake (Intel graphics card) rather than my Radeon graphics card and I can't figure out how to change it.

*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520]
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
logical name: /dev/fb0
version: 07
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
configuration: depth=32 driver=i915 latency=0 resolution=1920,1080
resources: irq:132 memory:de000000-deffffff memory:b0000000-bfffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
*-display
description: Display controller
product: Sun XT [Radeon HD 8670A/8670M/8690M / R5 M330 / M430 / Radeon 520 Mobile]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 81
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
resources: irq:131 memory:c0000000-cfffffff memory:df100000-df13ffff ioport:e000(size=256) memory:df140000-df15ffff

empty herald
meager echo
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Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Dell driver: i915
v: kernel ports: active: HDMI-A-1 off: eDP-1 empty: none bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:1916 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: AMD Sun XT [Radeon HD 8670A/8670M/8690M / R5 M330 M430 Radeon
520 Mobile]
vendor: Dell driver: radeon v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 4
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6660 class-ID: 0380
Device-3: Microdia Integrated Webcam HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 1-5:4 chip-ID: 0c45:6712 class-ID: 0e02
Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X:
loaded: ati,modesetting,radeon unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x286mm (20.0x11.3")
s-diag: 583mm (23")
Monitor-1: HDMI-1 mapped: HDMI-A-1 model: Acer FHX2153L serial: <filter>
res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 size: 477x268mm (18.8x10.6")
diag: 547mm (21.5") modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 520 (SKL GT2)
v: 4.6 Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3 direct render: Yes

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It is really in Minecraft that I want the Radeon used

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so probably the OpenGL bit

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See System Settings says it is using the Intel and not the Radeon

Screenshot_from_2025-01-10_15-32-21.png
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so I'm guessing somewhere, the X settings need to be changed?

upper egret
# meager echo so I'm guessing somewhere, the X settings need to be changed?

No. You are using switchable graphics, but I have never seen it work with a Radeon. We tinkered with it when the last guy came through here with this problem. The result was: If your switchable graphics is not Intel/nvidia, you are screwed.
If it helps, that Radeon is really, really low performance. You are not missing out.

meager echo
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I see, that's depressing

upper egret
# meager echo I see, that's depressing

Yes, it is. If you are lucky, your BIOS/UEFI can force one GPU over the other. If so, report back and we will get you on the amdgpu driver instead of crusty old radeon, since that is supported on your Sea Islands chip. But since your Intel iGPU is not really slower and also has Vulkan support out-of-the-box, I am not really seeing the benefit.
Here is specs, if you want to compare:
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/hd-graphics-520-mobile.c2783
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-r5-330-oem.c2727

meager echo
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which one would render OpenGL better though?

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the Sodium Renderer for Minecraft seems really sluggish on the skylake chip

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probably because it doesn't have it's own memory and uses RAM?

upper egret
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Radeons used to have abysmal openGL performance before AMD finally fixed it around 2 years ago or so, which improved Minecraft a lot. The iGPU has somewhat lower overall specs, but it is fairly balanced for what it is, and driver support is excellent on Linux.
The first obstacle is getting it to use the Radeon, which I consider impossible without forcing the Radeon in BIOS. Then we can figure out the driver. Otherwise, this is moot.

empty herald
# meager echo Graphics: Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Dell driver: i...

you could probably force it to use the amd GPU only by stopping the intel one from running completely, but this may not work on some devices.
in your grub menu, at startup (if it doesn't appear then spam ESC at boot) select linuxmint, press e and in the linux line add this modprobe.blacklist=i915
(will look like linux /vmlinuz ... quiet splash modprobe.blacklist=i915)
do note it gets reverted on reboot

meager echo