I have been experimenting a little with undervolting and overclocking the GPU by using a software called LACT.
To install LACT, go into desktop mode. Search for the flatpack LACT and install it. Open the software. Enable overclocking inside the app (it will give you an error). Close the error and close the app. Then reboot. Upon reboot, go into desktop mode and open LACT again. You can now use the overclocking settings for the GPU.
I have set mine to -100mV on the core (undervolt) and +100Mhz for the core (overclock).
Then I played some 4k Tomb Raider GOTY, and also ran some 3Dmark stresstests. I ran Steel nomad and Fire Strike ultra stresstests and both came back with a pass at 99.7% accuracy.
Running a 3Dmark firestrike results in a small uplift in performance. Which is in line with the increased coreclock speed (4%, 100mhz).
What I can also say from my testing is to not enable “Game Recording” as it is an absolutely performance killer. So only activate it if you really need it.
For game recording, have you tried GPU screen recorder from Flathub? It’s essentially a UI clone of Shadowplay on Windows, yet it puts both ReLive and Shadowplay to shame in terms of features and reliability.
I’m not sure if this will require you to use the desktop mode for optimal experience, though it does support controller input, and can establish a background service + work with global hotkeys under both x11 and Wayland sessions
I have only checked/tested the SteamOS integrated recording. It kills performance. For example the built in Tomb Raider GOTY edition benchmark scores around 72 fps average with recording on. With recording off, 92 fps average. Big difference.
But recording and creating footage of my gameplay is just not something I like to do. So I have not checked out other game recording solutions. I don’t want it to lessen graphics performance, I do not want it to take up space nor do I want to sacrifice any nvme life in order to create footage that I will never use ;) The easy and obvious solution for me is to turn it off 😏
that’s fair enough, I was under the impression you may have wanted DVR given the mention within the post.
I am curious as to why the impact is so large on the steam machine given their client should be using VAAPI for hw accelerated encode for low overhead. ReLive is quite good with low overhead, high fidelity instant replay.
May play with the Steam DVR system at some point.
I made mention of it simply because the impact is indeed quite large. So when comparing overclocks etc., better keep it disabled.