GPU usage limited to 40%

NVIDIA Open GPU Kernel Modules Version

570.144

Please confirm this issue does not happen with the proprietary driver (of the same version). This issue tracker is only for bugs specific to the open kernel driver.

• I confirm that this does not happen with the proprietary driver package.

Operating System and Version

Bazzite 42 (FROM Fedora Kinoite)

Kernel Release

Linux bazzite 6.14.4-103.bazzite.fc42.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Apr 28 16:03:31 UTC 2025 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Please confirm you are running a stable release kernel (e.g. not a -rc). We do not accept bug reports for unreleased kernels.

• I am running on a stable kernel release.

Hardware: GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti

Describe the bug

The GPU is limited to 30-40%(most of the time 40% is the hard limit) usage in every game and benchmark(it doesn't matter if native or wine/proton) when using the open source driver. I've tried multiple distributions and it always behave the same.

To Reproduce

1. Install bazzite-deck-nvidia, or any other distribution with the open source driver
2. Install and run any GPU-bound game or benchmark
3. Observe that the GPU usage is never above 40%

Bug Incidence

Always

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz

nvidia-bug-report.log.gz

More Info

While writing this report I've decided to check things again, and it looks like enabling nvidia reflex in games that supports it is fixing this issue.

Start by reviewing the attached nvidia-bug-report.log.gz and reproducing the cap on the RTX 4070 Ti with Bazzite 42, kernel 6.14.4-103.bazzite.fc42.x86_64, and the open driver. Compare GPU-bound games or benchmarks with and without NVIDIA Reflex, as the report says Reflex changes the behavior. Done means identifying and fixing the open-driver condition that limits usage to 30–40% without Reflex.