Nouveau vs. NVIDIA Quadro 2D / 3D OpenGL benchmarking of the NVIDIA 290.10 binary Linux driver compared to Nouveau as found in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin repository as of 30 January. Then using the same Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 30-January snapshot but pulling in the latest xf86-video-nouveau, Linux 3.3 kernel, and Mesa 8.0-devel components. Testing for a future article on Phoronix.com by Michael Larabel. NVIDIA 290.10: Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: LENOVO 4318CTO, Chipset: Intel Core DMI, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 160GB INTEL SSDSA2M160, Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M 1024MB (550/790MHz), Audio: Conexant CX20585, Network: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Connection + Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.2.0-12-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: NVIDIA 290.10, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1600x900 Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30: Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: LENOVO 4318CTO, Chipset: Intel Core DMI, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 160GB INTEL SSDSA2M160, Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M 1024MB (550/790MHz), Audio: Conexant CX20585, Network: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Connection + Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.2.0-12-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1600x900 Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30: Processor: Intel Core i7 720Q @ 1.60GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: LENOVO 4318CTO, Chipset: Intel Core DMI, Memory: 4096MB, Disk: 160GB INTEL SSDSA2M160, Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M 1024MB (550/790MHz), Audio: Conexant CX20585, Network: Intel 82577LM Gigabit Connection + Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 OS: Ubuntu 12.04, Kernel: 3.3.0-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity, Display Server: X Server 1.11.3, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0-devel (git-6e9a165) Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1600x900 Cairo Performance Demos 2012-01-30 Demo: Charts FPS > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 11.22 |================================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 8.74 |========================= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 9.06 |========================== Cairo Performance Demos 2012-01-30 Demo: Gradients FPS > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 54.82 |================================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 41.03 |======================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 44.72 |========================== Cairo Performance Demos 2012-01-30 Demo: Fish FPS > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 1.69 |================================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 1.21 |======================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 1.18 |======================= Cairo Performance Demos 2012-01-30 Demo: Gears FPS > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 178.45 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 42.57 |======= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 42.87 |======= cairo-perf-trace 1.10.2 Cairo Trace: Firefox Canvas Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 29.29 |======= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 121.94 |============================= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 128.69 |=============================== cairo-perf-trace 1.10.2 Cairo Trace: GNOME Terminal Vim Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 5.38 |=== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 57.60 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 58.17 |================================ cairo-perf-trace 1.10.2 Cairo Trace: Poppler Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 2.91 |==== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 25.63 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 25.89 |================================ x11perf 1.5 Test: 500px PutImage Square Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 1167 |================================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 505 |============== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 798 |======================= x11perf 1.5 Test: Scrolling 500 x 500 px Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 10300 |================================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 4203 |============= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 4210 |============= x11perf 1.5 Test: Fill 300 x 300px AA Trapezoid Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 9900 |================================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 3157 |=========== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 3137 |========== x11perf 1.5 Test: 500px Copy From Window To Window Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 10067 |================================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 4223 |============= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 4230 |============= x11perf 1.5 Test: 500px Compositing From Pixmap To Window Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 9767 |================================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 4223 |============== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 4220 |============== x11perf 1.5 Test: 500px Compositing From Window To Window Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 0.90 | Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 4220.00 |============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 4227.00 |============================== x11perf 1.5 Test: Copy 500x500 From Pixmap To Pixmap Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 10700 |================================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 4350 |============= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 4337 |============= x11perf 1.5 Test: PutImage XY 500x500 Square Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 154.00 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 44.90 |========= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 45.00 |========= x11perf 1.5 Test: Char in 80-char aa line Operations / Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 2450000 |============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 480000 |====== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 473000 |====== Render Bench Phoronix Test Suite v3.8.0m1 Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 20.59 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 21.53 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 21.51 |================================ GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkComboBox Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 87.89 |========================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 111.05 |=============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 98.74 |============================ GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkComboBoxEntry Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 74.40 |======================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 99.92 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 89.49 |============================= GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkToggleButton Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 28.19 |============================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 31.00 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 30.50 |=============================== GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkCheckButton Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 4.53 |=================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 8.02 |================================= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 7.96 |================================= GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkRadioButton Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 7.91 |================ Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 15.58 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 15.45 |================================ GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkTextView - Add Text Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 1619.35 |============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 1626.36 |============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 1619.37 |============================== GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkTextView - Scroll Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 0.13 |================================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 0.11 |============================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 0.10 |========================= GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkDrawingArea - Circles Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 40.90 |======================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 56.05 |================================ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 51.47 |============================= GtkPerf 0.40 GTK Widget: GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs Seconds < Lower Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 5.03 |============= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 11.66 |============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 12.40 |================================ QGears2 Rendering: XRender Extension - Test: Gears Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 115.92 |======================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 148.65 |=============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 101.93 |===================== QGears2 Rendering: XRender Extension - Test: Text Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 103.35 |========================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 128.68 |=============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 93.41 |======================= QGears2 Rendering: XRender Extension - Test: Image Scaling Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 417.13 |========================= Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 527.38 |=============================== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 527.60 |=============================== OpenArena 0.8.5 Resolution: 1600 x 900 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 235.10 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 95.40 |============= Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 82.90 |=========== World of Padman 1.2 Resolution: 1600 x 900 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 272.37 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 102.07 |============ Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 80.17 |========= Lightsmark 2008 Resolution: 1600 x 900 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better NVIDIA 290.10 ......................... 105.69 |=============================== Nouveau - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 ..... 26.45 |======== Nouveau Git - Ubuntu 12.04 2012-01-30 . 24.26 |=======