Far Cry 5 (552520) - Consistently limited to ~42 FPS on Linux despite low GPU utilization

Compatibility Report

Name of the game: Far Cry 5

Steam AppID: 552520

System Information

• Distribution: Linux Mint 22.3
• Session: X11
• Kernel: (6.17)
• CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F (6C / 12T)
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
• NVIDIA Driver: 595.71.05
• Resolution: 2560x1440
• Monitor Refresh Rate: 165 Hz (also tested at 60 Hz)
• Steam: Native package (not Flatpak)
• Game installation: Fresh download from Steam
• Ubisoft Connect: Installed automatically by Steam/Proton

Proton Versions Tested

• Proton-11.0-1-beta5
• Proton Experimental
• GE-Proton 10-34
• GE-Proton 11-1

Both produce the exact same behavior.

Proton 9.0-4 does not launch the game on my system.

Expected Behavior

With this hardware configuration, Far Cry 5 should run well above 100 FPS at 1440p.

Actual Behavior

The game is consistently limited to approximately 40-43 FPS.

This happens:

• during normal gameplay
• during the built-in benchmark
• regardless of graphics quality
• regardless of monitor refresh rate

The frame rate is stable rather than stuttering.

Symptoms

• FPS remain around 40-43
• GPU utilization remains around 30%
• Changing graphics settings from Low to Ultra has virtually no effect
• Changing monitor refresh rate from 165 Hz to 60 Hz has no effect
• V-Sync disabled
• Frame time remains stable
• The built-in benchmark reports approximately the same FPS as gameplay

The GPU never becomes fully utilized.

DXVK HUD

DXVK HUD reports:

• DXVK 2.7.1
• D3D11 renderer
• NVIDIA Vulkan driver
• GPU utilization approximately 30%
• Very low command submission load
• No indication of a rendering bottleneck

Troubleshooting Already Performed

Graphics settings

Tested:

• Low
• Medium
• High
• Ultra

Result:

No meaningful FPS difference.

Refresh rate

Tested:

• 165 Hz
• 60 Hz

Result:

No difference.

V-Sync

Disabled both in-game and through NVIDIA settings.

No change.

Different renderers

Tested:

DXVK (default)

WineD3D:

PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%

Result:

Exactly the same ~42 FPS.

This suggests the problem is not specific to DXVK or Vulkan rendering.

Proton synchronization

Tested:

PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1
PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1

No difference.

NVAPI

Tested:

PROTON_DISABLE_NVAPI=1

No difference.

Combined launch options

Tested:

PROTON_DISABLE_NVAPI=1 PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 %command%

No change.

GPU bottleneck

Observed using:

• DXVK HUD
• nvidia-smi

GPU utilization stays around 30%.

Other games

Other demanding Proton titles run correctly on the same machine and fully utilize the GPU.

The problem appears to be specific to Far Cry 5.

Proton Log

A Proton log has been generated.

Notable observations:

• DXVK initializes correctly.
• Vulkan detects the RTX 4070 correctly.
• WineD3D produces the same performance as DXVK.
• No obvious fatal errors appear in the log.
• Ubisoft Connect processes (including UplayWebCore) are started normally.

I can attach the complete steam-552520.log if requested.

Additional Notes

Because:

• DXVK and WineD3D behave identically,
• GPU utilization remains low,
• graphics settings have no impact,
• the benchmark is also limited to ~42 FPS,

it appears that the bottleneck occurs before the rendering stage.

At this point I suspect either:

• a Proton scheduling issue,
• a game-specific interaction with Ubisoft Connect,
• or another compatibility issue that limits the game's main thread.