I don't think this is a Nvidia specific issue, I'm also seeing a similar problem on an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT on Fedora, except the non-Gamescope performance is drastically worse than your Nvidia footage is. RPM Fusion install, tried both beta and stable, and launching with Gamescope solves the performance issue. Rest of the desktop Steam client works fine otherwise.

Steam Version: 1726256783
OS: "Fedora Linux 40 (KDE Plasma)" (64 bit)
Kernel Version: 6.10.9-200.fc40.x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-Core Processor
Driver: AMD AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (radeonsi, navi22, LLVM 18.1.6, DRM 3.57, 6.10.9-200.fc40.x86_64)
Driver Version: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.1.7
Logs here: logs.tar.gz

Can confirm, this also applies to AMD drivers. Performance in BigPicture is extremly poor, and Steam Client crashes when connecting for remote play. Streaming only works when a game is already running in fullscreen. But this issue may be unrelated, it just appeared simultaneously in my system.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726256783
OS: Nobara Linux 40 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
Kernel: 6.10.7-200.fsync.fc40.x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (16) @ 4.550GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (radeonsi, navi22, LLVM 18.1.6, DRM 3.57, 6.10.7-200.fsync.fc40.x86_64
Driver: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.2.1

This also affects AMD systems. Running in Gamescope works fine here, as does Remote Play (even without Gamescope).

The difference in performance (some report 15 FPS, some 3 FPS) may stem from running Big Picture in different resolutions (it's much slower in 2160p than 1080p).

Same issue here.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726256783
OS: Nobara Linux 40 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
Kernel: 6.10.2-200.fsync.fc40.x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (12) @ 4.468GHz
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 7700 XT / 7800 XT

Before the update it ran fine.

Also having this same issue on Ubuntu 24.04.1. I thought it was due to changing monitors and the previous one having a higher refresh rate. This is happening on Ubuntu too so maybe the Distro Family: Fedora tag should be removed?

Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1726256783
OS: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Kernel: 6.8.0-44-generic x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: AMD Radeon 6700XT

System report

Also having this same issue on Ubuntu 24.04.1. I thought it was due to changing monitors and the previous one having a higher refresh rate. This is happening on Ubuntu too so maybe the Distro Family: Fedora tag should be removed?

Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update Steam Version: 1726256783 OS: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Kernel: 6.8.0-44-generic x86_64 CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X GPU: AMD Radeon 6700XT

System report

Probably. Also the title description should remove the mention to Nvidia. Let's see if we get more reports.

I'm surprised that AMD users are having issues. This was one of the big downgrades I had to deal with going from my 5700XT to my current 4070 Super. The 5700XT i have running in my GF's PC now and It's not showing any issues, meanwhile my 4070 Super has the issues as described in my post.

Weirdly, I do not seem to have this problem if I launch steam with the -bigpicture (or -tenfoot) flag outright, regardless of whether or not I'm using gamescope.
EDIT to clarify: The issue is still there (i.e. performance is awful if you open Steam first and then switch to Big Picture Mode), but it does not seem to occur if you launch Steam directly into BPM. (It will re-occur if you exit and re-enter BPM.)

Weirdly, I do not seem to have this problem if I launch steam with the -bigpicture (or -tenfoot) flag outright, regardless of whether or not I'm using gamescope.

Just tested it on my desktop and I can confirm the issue is gone, using the -bigpicture flag.

Weirdly, I do not seem to have this problem if I launch steam with the -bigpicture (or -tenfoot) flag outright, regardless of whether or not I'm using gamescope. EDIT to clarify: The issue is still there (i.e. performance is awful if you open Steam first and then switch to Big Picture Mode), but it does not seem to occur if you launch Steam directly into BPM. (It will re-occur if you exit and re-enter BPM.)

I'm on a 6700 xt, and I experience this same behavior. It's laggy, unless I run it with the -bigpicture flag.

same experience here. It runs smooth when opened with -bigpicture, but begins to lag if exiting BPM and re-entering it, or having been in the normal launcher before entering BPM.

Kubuntu 24.04 (wayland)
RX 7900 GRE
i5-.8600K
32GB memory

As a maybe related side note, before upgrading to the AMD gpu a couple of months back, the launcher would tank performance in som games if it was open in the background. I had to minimize the window in order for it to not take the ressouces, here BPM correctly handled ressources when it was launching games.
Before upgrading i had a 1070TI and 16GB memory, but same cpu.

Can confirm on my Nvidia Card that launching with the -bigpicture flag fixes performance. It does appear that the left side menu shows black before the Store,library, Media etc Panel slides into place, but the performance isn't unusable.

I'm also having the same issue on Ubuntu 24.04.1 Valve finally fixed the "Steam is not responding" issue that kept happening, but now this new problem has come up. I tried disabling hardware acceleration and enabling/disabling the GPU blocklist, but unfortunately, nothing works, and I use an AMD CPU and GPU

Having the same exact issue in Windows 11.

This is not Linux-related.

Tried in both the official version and Beta version, same issue.

Observing the same thing on Fedora 40.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726604483
OS: Fedora Linux 40 (GNOME 46) x86_64
Kernel: Linux 6.10.11-200.fc40.x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (16) @ 3.80 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800
Mesa 24.1.7

I want to add to my previous comment that the crashes in steam link streaming were caused by pipewire, so unrelated to this issue.

im having the same issue with my radeon 7900 XTX. it gets a super lag for some reason on first launch.(no visual glitches though) if i kill the overlay it will relaunch itself and fix the issue.
my monitor is 2k resolution @170hz
and my tv is 4k @ 120hz it lags worse on my tv

Fedora 40 (KDE edition)
ryzen 5950x
radeon 7900 XTX
Mesa 24.1.7

I'm also having the exact issue with my Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Nobara 40
Ryzen 9 7950x
Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Mesa 24.2.3

I'm also having the exact issue with my Radeon RX 7900 XTX

Nobara 40 Ryzen 9 7950x Radeon RX 7900 XTX Mesa 24.2.3

My issue resolves itself when I launch steam gamepadui directly from the terminal (steam -gamepadui) but if I launch steam directly without -gamepadui and then launch gamepadui from the steam client the issue comes back. I think the reason why steam gamepadui doesn't lag with gamescope is because it's getting launched from the terminal with -gamepadui flag

Launching with -bigpicture fixes the issue but exiting back to normal view then returning to big picture causes the performance issues to return.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726604483
OS: EndeavourOS
Kernel: 6.11.3-arch1-1
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
Driver Version: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.2.4-arch1.1

Same results as above. Very low FPS unless I use -bigpicture. Seems to run much slower with larger resolutions indicating a hardware acceleration issue.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726604483
OS: NixOS 24.05
Kernel: Linux 6.6.54
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Driver Version: Mesa 24.0.7

I can confirm the same behavior described here by others. Poor performance in Big Picture mode unless Steam is launched in Big Picture mode. I also notice transparency/layering issues with the left steam panel when having this performance problem.

I am using Gnome/Wayland.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726604483
OS: Bazzite 40.20240930
Kernel: 6.9.12-205.fsync.fc40.x86_64
CPU: Intel i7-9700K
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2080
Driver: NVIDIA 560.35.03

FWIW, I can not confirm this on Fedora 40 and the NV 560.35.03 driver. The only thing that matters performance wise is, if I have enabled hw-accel in web views. It's noticeably slower without it.

But if I enable hw-accel, the videos in the store become awfully choppy and slow. So I have to keep it off, still. But that's clearly a different issue altogether.

That's all in the current stable version btw.

Same thing happens in Fedora 40 (KDE) + AMD GPU. Logs:
steam-logs.tar.gz

Happens on both flatpak and rpm fusion versions.

Same issue. Starting with -bigpicture helps.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1726604483
OS: EndeavourOS Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.11.4-zen2-1-zen
DE: Plasma 6.2.1 (Wayland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (24) @ 4.673GHz
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 7700 XT / 7800 XT

Launching with -bigpicture fixes the issue but exiting back to normal view then returning to big picture causes the performance issues to return.

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime_0.20240806.97925
OS: Debian GNU/Linux trixie/sid x86_64
Kernel: 6.11.4-amd64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT
Driver Version: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.2.4-1

I can also confirm. Happens too on Beta branch.

Operating System: Ultramarine Linux 41
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.2
Kernel Version: 6.11.5-300.fc41.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6-Core Processor
Memory: 15.5 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 580 Series
Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1730253536
runtime-info.json

Seems like Steam for some reason reverts to Software rendering when switching from desktop to Big Picture.

This also affects me for a long time.

I mostly use Big Picture for Remote Play on my TV. As a workaround I just set it to windowed and then Remote Play scales the Big Picture window to cover 100% of the screen.

And to me, the issue is not 100% gone when using -bigpicture option. The interface animations are still only like 80-90% fluent. I noticed that for it to work I need to obviously to enable GPU accelerated views but when I do that then the Big Picture intro video is laggy.

Running Big Picture with gamescope works like a charm though. Finally lightning fast interface animations just like on my Steam Deck! And it works with Remote Play as well. Great workaround!

Operating System: Debian Sid
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.11
Kernel Version: 6.11.4-amd64
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Memory: 15.6 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
Drivers: 535.183.06
Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1730253536

Quick update: the problem is that GPU accelerated views perform REALLY bad in the desktop mode of the client. I prefer to keep them disabled. So to get best smooth Big Picture experience I need to:

1. Turn on GPU accelerated views
2. Turn off Steam client
3. Turn on Gamescope
4. Turn back on Steam client (either in desktop then click BPM button or in Big Picture mode directly)

...and when I want to get back to best smooth desktop experience I need to perform these steps in reverse.

Not ideal!

Same behaviour on Flatpak version: launching with -gamepadui makes everything work as expected. But upon exit I encounter #9565, and launching Big Picture Mode from this window makes this issue (#11255) happen again.

Launching Steam with -gamepadui from terminal:

flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=/app/bin/steam --file-forwarding com.valvesoftware.Steam -gamepadui

Steam version:

Steam Beta Branch:  Steam Beta Update
Steam Version:  1730253536
Steam Client Build Date:  Tue, Oct 29 10:27 PM UTC -04:00
Steam Web Build Date:  Tue, Oct 29 10:01 PM UTC -04:00
Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

Yeah very weird, if I launch Steam in my terminal with steam -bigpicture it's fine but as soon as I go out of big picture mode and go back in with the button on the top right hand corner it's back to laggy again and I have to close and relaunch Steam with that argument again to run correctly.

Still experiencing it on latest NVIDIA drivers (565.57.01)
RTX4070 laptop here, basically been having this issue since the Big Picture mode/Big Picture overlay is a thing.

Same issue with AMD Vega 64 and 5800X3D CPU.

Is Valve on it or ??
Also the Xbox/home button doesn't trigger the Big picture mode on the beta release but does on the stable release.

Same issue with AMD Vega 64 and 5800X3D CPU.

Is Valve on it or ?? Also the Xbox/home button doesn't trigger the Big picture mode on the beta release but does on the stable release.

I noticed this issue as well

I have a MSI laptop installed with Ubuntu 24.04, AMD as CPU & GPU. The graphic card's a Radeon RX 5600m.

I can confirm I have the same issue, it happens when you change from Steam desktop mode to Big Picture, but not if you enable the "Start in Big Picture mode" option and you open Steam again.

Same issue here - I'm on Arch with a 6800XT. Starting in big picture mode directly (either with the UI checkbox or with a command flag) results in a smooth experience but as soon as I exit into desktop mode and go back into Big Picture Mode it's a laggy mess.

What is the command to use if I want to launch big picture mode via gamescope? That seems to have fixed the problem for others and I'd like to try.

I also have the same performance issues on Windows 10, with an RTX 3090.

On Arch with a 6950XT, got the same issue. Disabling smooth scrolling seems to help.

Same issue here: Fedora 41, latest Kernel, Wayland, 6950XT. As previously mentioned starting steam in big picture does not yield any problems but enabling big picture afterwards gives you at most 5fps. Turning off gpu accelerated web-rendering kind of makes it a bit better, but still not usable.

EDIT: Nope. After quitting steam and running it again, it's back to slow Big Picture Mode.

Happy to report that latest beta (updated today) seems to have fixed this issue.

Steam Beta Branch:  Steam Beta Update
Steam Version:  1731716808
Steam Client Build Date:  Fri, Nov 15 7:15 PM UTC -04:00
Steam Web Build Date:  Fri, Nov 15 9:11 PM UTC -04:00
Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

Happy to report that latest beta (updated today) seems to have fixed this issue.

Steam Beta Branch:  Steam Beta Update
Steam Version:  1731716808
Steam Client Build Date:  Fri, Nov 15 7:15 PM UTC -04:00
Steam Web Build Date:  Fri, Nov 15 9:11 PM UTC -04:00
Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

Not for me

Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1731716808
Steam Client Build Date: Sat, Nov 16 1:15 AM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Sat, Nov 16 3:11 AM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient021

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2481660839

Might be related to the distro, maybe? I'm using the flatpak release.

EDIT: I take it back. It's all slow again. It might have been something with the steam updater

@tlneondo may I know the specific running script for the Gamescope case one? I want to try the related issue with it (#9834)

I also have the same performance issues on Windows 10, with an RTX 3090.

I have noticed that this issue happens as if it's struggling to load stuff, sometimes I wanna open the side menu, it will be like half open and I'll see the cover and background images load one by one on the home screen and after it's done doing that the menu just opens. I'm guessing as big picture is basically just a web page it doesn't cache the images/or constantly reloads them. I have a 3900x and steam is installed on a 1TB M.2 1.5Gbit Gigabyte SSD. I'll check if it does this without an internet connection later.

EDIT: Blocked steam and steamwebhelper in firewall, steam is offline but there is no difference.

Hi all, newish to helping troubleshoot this stuff and not a dev but wanted to share my experience. Sorry in advance for long comment. I am having the same issue on:

Steam Version: 1731433018
Package type: .deb
OS: Ubuntu 24.04
GPU: AMD Radeon RX7800XT
Monitor: Dell 2560 x 1440 resolution (and a secondary 4k LG monitor)

To me it looks like an upscaling issue (maybe stating the obvious).

Everything works fine when launching the Steam client directly into BPM, no lag. If I instead turn on windowed mode and launch the client into BPM, the windowed resolution that loads is 1280 x 800. If close BPM, then open it again and expand that window to fullscreen (1440p), the lag comes back. If I minimize again back down to 1280 x 800, lag pretty much goes away.

Next I tried disabling the scaling settings in BPM. I turned off Automatically scale user interface under Display settings and put the slider right to the left for "More content". The went into Interface and disabled Scale text and icons to match monitor settings. The performance after this change was much better. Still some lag but overall a much nicer experience.

I read in this article that gamescope uses AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution for upscaling. Is it possible that launching the client directly into BPM or using gamescope enables this setting? I also noticed these settings in my config.vdf file. Might be nothing but thought I'd share in case someone knows if there is anything here. I tried changing them but they get overwritten when the client launches. Is there some way to play around with these settings in the file without it being overwritten?

Windowed

} "UI" { "Window" { "SP" { "x" "4490" "y" "548" "width" "1280" "height" "800" } } "display" { "Current" { "MinScaleFactor" "0.5" "MaxScaleFactor" "1.49847817420959473" "IsExternalDisplay" "1" "name" "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-1280x800" "AutoScaleFactor" "1" "ScaleFactor" "1" } "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1440" { } "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1305" { "ScaleFactor" "1.80486476421356201" } "External: DP-7 27\"|||Fullscreen-1280x800" { } } } "BigPicture" { "Windowed" "1" }

Not Windowed, scaling settings turned off / right down

} "UI" { "Window" { "SP" { "x" "3840" "y" "235" "width" "2560" "height" "1440" } } "display" { "Current" { "MinScaleFactor" "0.948683321475982666" "MaxScaleFactor" "2.84316229820251465" "IsExternalDisplay" "1" "name" "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1440" "AutoScaleFactor" "1.89736664295196533" "ScaleFactor" "0.948683321475982666" } "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1440" { "ScaleFactor" "0.948683321475982666" } "External: DP-4 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1305" { "ScaleFactor" "1.80486476421356201" } "External: DP-7 27\"|||Fullscreen-2560x1440" { } } } "BigPicture" { "Windowed" "0" }

Still have this issue with similar side effects as others:

Steam Beta Branch:  Steam Beta Update
Steam Version:  1732746274
Steam Client Build Date:  Wed, Nov 27 11:06 PM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date:  Wed, Nov 27 10:54 PM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (radeonsi, navi21, LLVM 18.1.8, DRM 3.59, 6.12.1-zen1-1-zen)
Driver Version: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.2.7-arch1.1
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600
Monitor: 1920x1080@60
(Valve Index attached but not used)

The big picture mode client is "laggy" when in full screen and only when started by Steam itself. Starting steam -bigpicture resolves it temporarily, setting it to windowed resolves it temporarily. Current beta and stable branch did not change anything.

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.12.1-arch1-1
Resolution: 1920x1080
DE: Plasma 6.2.4
WM: kwin
CPU: Intel i9-10850K (20) @ 5.200GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Rev. A
Memory: 17331MiB / 80282MiB

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1731433018
Steam Client Build Date: Tue, Nov 12 12:10 PM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Mon, Nov 11 9:03 PM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient021
Steam Logs: Steam Logs.tar.gz

If i start steam via steam -bigpicture, everything is silky smooth even with Hardware Accellerated Web Views, Hardware Decoding, and Smooth Scrolling enabled. If i exit Big Picture Mode and then try to re-enter via the user interface... EXTREME lag. I then have to completely shut down steam and start again with steam -bigpicture

Steam starts with -no-restart-on-ui-mode-change option. Is there a way to disable it? Should fix this issue at least somewhat.

exec ./steamwebhelper -lang=en_US -cachedir=/home/niko/.local/share/Steam/config/htmlcache -steampid=15949 -buildid=1733265492 -steamid=0 -logdir=/home/niko/.local/share/Steam/logs -uimode=7 -startcount=0 -steamuniverse=Public -realm=Global -clientui=/home/niko/.local/share/Steam/clientui -steampath=/home/niko/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam -launcher=0 -no-restart-on-ui-mode-change --valve-enable-site-isolation --remote-allow-origins=* --remote-debugging-address=127.0.0.1 --remote-debugging-port=8080 --enable-smooth-scrolling --password-store=basic --ignore-gpu-blocklist --log-file=/home/niko/.local/share/Steam/logs/cef_log.txt --disable-quick-menu --enable-features=PlatformHEVCDecoderSupport --disable-features=SpareRendererForSitePerProcess,DcheckIsFatal,ValveFFmpegAllowLowDelayHEVC

I should add to this by mentioning it also affects the Steam Deck in Desktop Mode. It's just as laggy. The steam -bigpicture workaround works on that as well, but launching BPM through Steam on the Deck is still laggy.

Additionally, I tested it on Windows 11 on my (dualbooted) PC, and it seems to exhibit the exact same behavior as Linux after I turn off hardware accelerated web views.

Don't know if only happens to me (Ubuntu 24.04, AMD Radeon 5600m as Graphic card, .deb version) but if you instead in big picture go to "change account" and click on your account again or another, this lag disappear too. More easily to "fix".

Don't know if only happens to me (Ubuntu 24.04, AMD Radeon 5600m as Graphic card, .deb version) but if you instead in big picture go to "change account" and click on your account again or another, this lag disappear too. More easily to "fix".

Just tested this, and the same happens to me. I think that's the same behaviour as starting Steam in Big Picture Mode: by changing account from BPM, you basically restart steam into BPM.

Restarting Steam into Big Picture always fixes the framerate issue (-bigpicture, change account), could it be related to the desktop ui conflicting with something

Same issue, workarounds dont seem to do anything. I have to start it with commandline into big picture mode for no issues.

Same issue here:
OS: Arch (6.12.4-arch1-1)
WM: Hyprland (Wayland)
CPU: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13700KF
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT

Ive had this issue for the longest time, just never really used big picture. Everything is fine when running with -bigpicture.

Hello, I haven't seen anyone mention this but it seems like every time it lags, it's actually writing to cef_log.txt, possibly writing in sync/blocking mode which causes the stutters.

The error is this, repeated per stutter frame:
[1214/164024.026846:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received. Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 24303, .bad_value = 85983373, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}

I think this is a chromium/cef issue instead of valve, unless they are missing a check and using a parameter wrongly. I'll try to waste my time finding the issue (lmao) and maybe find a fix too

it seems like every time it lags, it's actually writing to cef_log.txt, possibly writing in sync/blocking mode which causes the stutters.

I can confirm my cef_log.txt file is flooded with that line whenever I launch BPM.

Same issue on:
OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.12.4-arch1-1
Resolution: 1920x1080
DE: Plasma 6.2.4 on Wayland
WM: kwin
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G with Radeon Graphics (16) @ 4.673GHz
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 7800 XT

I checked in the previously-mentioned cef_log.txt in the logs folder, when I boot up Big Picture mode without going directly from fresh start with -bigpicture, the log is flooded with errors:

[1219/111620.125907:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4111, .bad_value = 33554457, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.126432:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4113, .bad_value = 33554461, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.126717:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4115, .bad_value = 33554465, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.127263:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4117, .bad_value = 33554469, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.127529:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4119, .bad_value = 33554473, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.128470:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4123, .bad_value = 33554477, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.128623:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4125, .bad_value = 33554481, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.128782:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4127, .bad_value = 33554485, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.128934:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4129, .bad_value = 33554489, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.129088:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4131, .bad_value = 33554493, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.129120:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: SendEventRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4133, .bad_value = 33554497, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 25}
[1219/111620.184957:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4162, .bad_value = 33554463, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.184999:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4163, .bad_value = 33554459, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185009:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4164, .bad_value = 33554471, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185016:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4165, .bad_value = 33554467, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185023:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4166, .bad_value = 33554475, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185029:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4167, .bad_value = 33554479, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185041:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4168, .bad_value = 33554483, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185049:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4169, .bad_value = 33554487, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185055:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4170, .bad_value = 33554491, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185061:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4171, .bad_value = 33554495, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.185067:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4172, .bad_value = 33554499, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.225823:ERROR:gl_display.cc(497)] EGL Driver message (Error) eglSwapBuffers: Failed to retrieve the size of the parent window.
[1219/111620.226894:ERROR:gpu_service_impl.cc(1125)] Exiting GPU process because some drivers can't recover from errors. GPU process will restart shortly.
[1219/111620.228501:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4196, .bad_value = 33554463, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228522:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4197, .bad_value = 33554459, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228531:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4198, .bad_value = 33554471, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228538:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4199, .bad_value = 33554467, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228554:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4200, .bad_value = 33554475, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228564:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4201, .bad_value = 33554479, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228637:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4202, .bad_value = 33554483, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.228655:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4203, .bad_value = 33554487, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.247116:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247143:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247267:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4204, .bad_value = 33554491, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.247401:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4205, .bad_value = 33554495, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.247438:WARNING:connection.cc(56)] X error received.  Request: ChangeWindowAttributesRequest, Error: WindowError{.sequence = 4206, .bad_value = 33554499, .minor_opcode = 0, .major_opcode = 2}
[1219/111620.247628:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247636:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247652:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247656:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247670:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247675:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247688:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247693:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247707:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247711:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247725:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247729:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247742:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247746:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247761:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247766:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.247782:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.247785:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.253150:ERROR:gpu_process_host.cc(1002)] GPU process exited unexpectedly: exit_code=8704
[1219/111620.253173:WARNING:gpu_process_host.cc(1436)] The GPU process has crashed 1 time(s)

After those I get a lot of errors relating to things being null, presumably as a result of the above errors:

[1219/111620.258053:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.258068:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
[1219/111620.258312:ERROR:shared_image_interface_proxy.cc(130)] Buffer handle is null. Not creating a mailbox from it.
[1219/111620.258318:ERROR:one_copy_raster_buffer_provider.cc(348)] Creation of StagingBuffer's SharedImage failed.
...

I get the impression this is what's causing the slowdown, rather than just writing to the log itself, though what is causing these errors is beyond me. I've attached the full log for more info.
cef_log.txt

Edit: same as https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2543116113 but hopefully this still helps.

I'll try to waste my time finding the issue (lmao) and maybe find a fix too

Welp, I don't have enough storage on my PC and the Codespaces I ran also ran out of space.
The best educated guess i can make is after closing pop-up windows, they don't get cleared out properly, causing the errors to pop up. Something makes it go for 8 more window handles, don't know why.

Which also might be the reason why it doesn't lag when you launch it with "Start in Big Picture Mode" enabled.

This is also happening to me on Intel Arc A750. So it is not an NVIDIA, AMD or Intel issue imo. Big Picture Mode is incredibly slow and laggy.

OS: Arch Linux
Kernel: Linux 6.12.7-arch1-1
Resolution: 2560x1440
DE/WM: GNOME 47.2 on Wayland (Mutter)
GPU: Intel Arc A750
Mesa: 24.3.2-1 (Using Xe driver instead of i915)

Also reporting this occurs for me too.

Things I've tried:

• Running in Window mode at least makes it usable, but not ideal on a big screen.
• Launching steam in big picture mode does nothing.
• I had originally installed the the .deb since that's what the Steam website directs you to do but I found that the Steam flatpak had better performance. Still doesn't fix performance issue in big picture mode.
• I had tried enabling the "Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views" which had a mild improvement in big picture mode, but a noticeable performance impact to desktop mode.

System details:

• Steam client version (build number or date): 1733265492
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
• GPU: Nvidia RTX 2080
• CPU: Intel i7-8700
• RAM: 32 GB
• Kernel: Linux 6.8.0-51-generic

Same issue here on Fedora 41 even on integrated graphics

Steam Beta Branch: Stable Client
Steam Version: 1733265492
Steam Client Build Date: Mon, Dec 2 10:26 PM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date: Mon, Dec 2 10:20 PM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version: SteamClient021

Launching steam from the desktop icon or from the cmd with "steam", then opening big picture, causes this issue
I have an entry for "Big Picture - Steam" (don't know if it's default for everyone) and when launching that or using the cmd "stea, -bigpicture" the performance is great

I have all hardware acceleration options enabled, and i even tried enabling "disable GPU blocklist" to no avail

Hardware:
CPU: i5-1235U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Kernel: 6.12.4-200.fc41.x86_64

Same issue using Flatpak (Freedesktop 24.08) on Bazzite (Fedora Kinoite 41)

Steam Version 1735842154 (Beta Branch, though also experienced on stable branch)
Steam Client Build Date Thu, Jan 2 11:10 AM UTC -07:00
Steam Web Build Date Thu, Jan 2 11:10 AM UTC -07:00
Steam API Version SteamClient021

Hardware:
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
GPU: Radeon RX 7900XTX
RAM: 32GG
Kernel: 6.12.6-203
Driver: Mesa 24.3.1
4K Monitor

I have found that enabling the "Start Steam in Big Picture Mode" option does not exhibit the same degraded performance as starting Big Picture Mode from the standard desktop interface. If I start Steam in Big Picture Mode, then exit Big Picture Mode to the standard desktop interface, then start Big Picture Mode again from the desktop interface, then the performance degradation returns.

I've also found that running Big Picture Mode in windowed mode (launched from the desktop interface) helps address the performance issue. I'm on a 4K monitor and if the Big Picture window is about 1600x900 pixels the performance seems fine™, but much higher than that it gets pretty bad. Around 1980x1080 with quarter tiling I start to see a little degradation, by 2500x1500 it's pretty bad, by fullscreen 3840x2160 the interface is pretty unusable. Same behavior across all permutations of hardware acceleration options enabled/disabled (options adjusted both from the desktop interface and BPM settings interface).

I have a similar conclusion.

I have a 21:9 display which has a resolution of 3440 x 1440 and Big Picture is unusable.
(It was fine for a while, but that was a long time ago)

When I launch Steam straight to Big Picture via the terminal, the performance is fine until I exit and re-enter Big Picture. Then it's horrible again.

Few days ago I launched a game through the Steam Link app and I had the main monitor disabled, with the PC displaying to a dummy HDMI plug in 1080p, 16:9.

I was shocked that the Big Picture mode launched not only quickly, but also was buttery smooth.

Well, the main menu still wasn't appearing (the one that allows you to exit big picture, shut down the controller, shut down the system or go to settings) but it was still way better than my previous experience.

Untill I check software versions, I'll at least mention that my system is running fully updated Arch with Gnome on x11.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: Radeon RX 6700 XT

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2508955556

Just wanted to point out, if not already known, that the lag is still absent when starting Steam with the "- bigpicture" argument, exiting Big Picture mode and returning to Big Picture mode via the icon in the top right corner.

So, in summary, whatever the argument "- bigpicture" does differently on Steam's startup than launching Steam without the argument seems to be a key factor.

I can report the same behavior. If I close steam and then relaunch with "/usr/games/steam steam://open/bigpicture", it's fine. I'm assuming this is the same as the -bigpicture launch argument, essentially.

Running on Debian Bookworm, using Cinnamon, on X11.

Same bug in POP!_OS with steam deb-package

OS: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS
KERNEL: 6.9.3-76060903-genericCPU: Intel Core i7-9700KF @ 3.60GHzGPU:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 565.77
RAM: 32 GB

The lag completely disappeared for me since the newest Steam update from today.

OS: Fedora Linux 40 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
Kernel: 6.12.9-100.fc40.x86_64
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 7700 XT

Thank you!

Can confirm it's fixed, also on AMD

I can also confirm the issue is fixed with Intel Arc A750.

OS: Arch Linux
Kernel: Linux 6.12.10-arch1-1
GPU: Intel Arc A750 (Xe driver instead of i915)
Mesa: 24.3.3-arch1.2
Resolution: 2560x1440
DE/WM: GNOME 47.3 on Wayland (Mutter)
Steam Version: 1737404083

Tested with both Steam (Runtime) and Steam (Native). Exited and re-entered Big Picture Mode multiple times to be sure. Works fine so far.

Can confirm, after updating to the latest verions it works fine on Fedora 41

Hardware:
CPU: i5-1235U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB
Kernel: 6.12.4-200.fc41.x86_64

I'm not sure but it might be a bit more stable.
I still have slowdowns and hangs even after the update.
Windows 10.
RTX 3090
AMD R9 3900X
16GB DDR4
All on NVME SSD'S.

Can also confirm, it's fixed on Arch with KDE Plasma.

CPU: i9-9900K
RAM: 32GB DDR4-3000 (clocked at 3200)
GPU: RX 7900 XTX
Kernel: 6.12.10-zen1-1-zen

It seems better here too, as it's now usable. That said, it's not yet as smooth as I'd expect it to be in this system. I tried to get more info by enabling Nvidia's "Graphics API Visual Indicator" and found it to behave a bit weird, as if there were two+ overlapping GL contexts, as seen in the screenshot below. That indicator looks fine/crispy on other openGL applications.

I'm not sure that is related to this performance problem at all, but I thought it was worth reporting.

Note: this is on Xorg. I tested on Wayland and the performance seems better now, but I still see glitches in there, mainly flickering. Before this update those glitches were much worse.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3090 - driver 550.120 (Open)
Kernel: 6.8.0-51

@vitorboschi (and anyone that still feels like the UI lags a bit) do you feel a difference when starting it in regular mode and switching to big picture VS starting in Big picture (maybe using --bigpicture argument)

I'm on an Intel iGPU and yet I don't notice any difference, so yes it might be a separate issue, maybe to do with Nvidia

I confirm it works nice on AMD:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
GPU: AMD Radeon 780M
Arch with kernel 6.12.10
Mesa 24.3.3
Wayland

However, it still lags as hell on NVIDIA, even when starting with -bigpicture, except if big picture runs in windowed mode (which works nicely):

CPU: Core i7 6700K
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 980M
Ubuntu 24.04.1 with kernel 6.8.0-51
NVIDIA driver 550.120
Xorg

CPU: Core i7 4790
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070
Ubuntu 24.10 with kernel 6.11.0-13
NVIDIA driver 565.57.01 (beta)
Both Xorg and Wayland

Can confirm this seems fixed too on Fedora 41 + flatpak steam, with AMD GPU

@dahenry i think this confirms that this issue is different and relative to Nvidia, while the starting with --bigpicture or not is now fixed

OS: Arch Linux
Kernel: Linux 6.12.10-arch1-1 (64-bit)
GPU: RTX 3080
DE/WM: KDE Plasma 6.2.4 (Wayland)
Steam Version: 1737404083

Hardware acceleration works now and framerate is stable, however the steam menu remains corrupted, all other menus render normally including the QAM

Can confirm that hardware acceleration seems to be consistently enabled now on my Nvidia 3090. Still seeing the occaisional menu corruption issues like @TheAndroidx1, but its progress!!

Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.10.0
Qt Version: 6.8.1
Kernel Version: 6.12.10-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core Processor
Memory: 60.4 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090/PCIe/SSE2 w/ 565.77
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7

Fixed and working great on my AMD 7900XT on NixOS / GNOME / Wayland.

Thanks to everyone for the reports.

Seems like Big Picture is working properly, though the right click menu in desktop mod is still showing similar errors, but that I believe is its own issue.

Yep, works on my machine™ too.
can you close the issue, @tlneondo ?

No, it's still very laggy on RTX 4070 @ Ubuntu 24.10.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2657145256

Are you using the Steam beta release?

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2657207787

Yes, steam client beta (february 6th).

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2657460384

just downloaded the beta but it's still not lagging on my machine.
can you check if you have a package that cant be updated?

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2657671487

Well, I tested after a fresh system update + reboot. I'm using NVIDIA drivers 565 (beta), as this is the latest version provided and recommended by ubuntu.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2659808372

Just a hunch, but if you’re not using the flatpak version, can you test it, please?

I'm still having issues on my AMD 5700xt on wayland when going from standard steam to big picture mode. The UI lag in big picture mode is unbearable. I've installed steam through pacman & I'm not using Flatpak or AppImages.

Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1732590255
OS: EndeavourOS
Kernel: 6.13.2-arch1-1
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
Driver Version: 4.6 Mesa 24.3.4-arch1.1

I've also noticed that when opening & then exiting big picture, it seems like scaling is incorrect as well.

Before launching big picture	after launching big picture & exiting

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2660317608

Please update to the latest Steam beta: 1739497777 and try again

Hi, I was also experiencing lag in big picture mode, Arch Linux distribution repo release version, not flatpak.
System Info:

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Host: ASUS TUF Gaming A16 FA617NT_FA617NT (1.0)
Kernel: Linux 6.13.2-arch1-1.1-g14
DE: KDE Plasma 6.3.0
WM: KWin (Wayland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS (16) @ 4.83 GHz
GPU 1: AMD Radeon RX 7700S [Discrete]
GPU 2: AMD Radeon 680M [Integrated]
Memory: 9.26 GiB / 30.59 GiB (30%)

Updated to the latest Steam beta as last comment suggested

Steam Beta Branch:  Steam Beta Update
Steam Version:  1739497777
Steam Client Build Date:  Thu, Feb 13 11:29 AM UTC -08:00
Steam Web Build Date:  Thu, Feb 13 4:41 PM UTC -08:00
Steam API Version:  SteamClient021

Big Picture Mode was still lagging.

However! I copied the steam.desktop file from /usr/share/applications/ to /home/user/.local/share/applications/ and changed line 37 PrefersNonDefaultGPU=true to PrefersNonDefaultGPU=false

Now big picture mode does not lag.

I believe that I had tried the same .desktop file modifiation and it did not fix the issue there. I will have to roll back and see if it works.

Please update to the latest Steam beta: 1739497777 and try again

I've just learned that my steam hasn't been properly updating with the following error when an update is attempted:

failed to rename package/tmp/./compatibilitytools.d/LegacyRuntime/compatibilitytool.vdf_ -> ./compatibilitytools.d/LegacyRuntime/compatibilitytool.vdf
BCommitUpdatedFiles: failed to process ./compatibilitytools.d/LegacyRuntime

This was due to my ~/.local/share/Steam/compatibilitytools.d/ folder being a symlink to a folder on a larger drive. Once I converted this to a normal folder - an update applied on restart & this lag issue is gone.

I only realized this since I launched steam via my terminal since I had a hankering that my updates weren't applying - It'd be nice if these errors popped as a warning if an update fails to apply since right now it just endlessly says "A Steam Client update is available" when you manually check for updates.

Quite the opposite, on my GPD Win Max i5-1035-G7 running Bazzite, Big Picture Mode runs smoothly without Gamescope, but in GS it's only 10fps, and CPU usage is noticably high, like it's only using CPU rendering.

Was it resolved? I'm still having the laggy big picture UI (basically unusable, way more considerable than in OP's video), and when exiting Big Picture, the whole Steam client has a 2* scale UI, just like in https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11255#issuecomment-2660317608
For the reference, I'm using an NVIDIA RTX4070 + 570.144 drivers, on Steam beta

Was it resolved?

It should be. If you're using an NVIDIA GPU, make sure both "Enable GPU accelerated..." and "Disable GPU blocklist" are enabled. The latter is only available in Big Picture Mode, under the "Display" tab.

Was it resolved?

It should be. If you're using an NVIDIA GPU, make sure both "Enable GPU accelerated..." and "Disable GPU blocklist" are enabled. The latter is only available in Big Picture Mode, under the "Display" tab.

Unfortunately... enabling GPU acceleration for me still results in Steam becoming a black window (https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11488), and this includes the big picture mode. Which is now, one big black picture in fullscreen. 😄
I will have to wait for #11488 to be fixed first, before sending any more feedback regarding the Big Picture mode. Thank you for the help.

its seems like this issue popped up again, its laggy for me too.

Disable GPU Blocklist | Enabled -> Lag
Disable GPU Blocklist | Disabled -> Glitches

Happens for me even with blocklist enabled. Not having lag issues with that tho, so idk if it's working. Running arch in a wayland compositor with an Nvidia gpu

Edit: Seemingly only the menu pop-up though.

Still laggy for me too...

I have both GPU acceleration and Disable GPU blocklist enabled.

Starting Steam from the terminal with the -bigpicture flag reduces a lot of the lag, but it's not 100% smooth.

Still no definitive solution here, guys?

Also, I noticed that the lag is even worse in a dual/multiple monitor setup. In my case, I use a laptop. If I keep only one screen on and start Steam in Big Picture from the terminal, it gets butter smooth. But that's still far from ideal.

EDIT: I realized that disabling fractional scaling and using a single display makes it butter smooth. With fractional scaling disabled, I don't need to start Steam from the terminal.

Steam Beta Branch: Steam Beta Update
Steam Version: 1754001374
OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Kernel: 6.14.0-27-generic
CPU: Intel Ultra 7 165H 1.40GHz
GPU: Nvidia RTX 4060 Laptop
Driver Version: 550.163.01

I used to have this issue, with both hyprland and river, but after switching to Niri it hasn't been an issue. With this context, my guess is it may be an issue with either specific compositors (i.e, hyprland, sway, gnome) or specific Wayland protocol libraries (i.e, wlroots, smithay)

Same issue here, exclusively on my main desktop of course. Mint 21.3 Cinnamon, GTX 1660 Ti, Ryzen 7 2700, everything up to date. This has been a constant for me ever since Big Picture was introduced years ago. BPM interface spikes CPU usage like crazy and runs like laggy trash, so much so that it occasionally drags the entire system to an unrecoverable full halt. GPU acceleration on, GPU blocklist disabled, tested with regular and beta branches. Have not tested with Gamescope because I haven't been able to get that installed. Launching steam directly with -bigpicture improves framerate slightly, running BPM in windowed mode improves framerate slightly, but something is still evidently amiss.

Secondary machine 1: a near decade-old Intel HD APU mini-PC still running Windows 10. Runs BPM buttery smooth.

Secondary machine 2: slightly newer AMD APU mini-PC with Linux Mint 22.2 Xfce. Runs BPM buttery smooth.

I think I have resolved this issue. But first I want to mention next thing- big picture, looks like, is just a steamwebhelper process, which is a chrome webview. When you start steam BP- default behaviour for webviews is to ignore gpu acceleration process wise (in process output I have seen next line)

exec ./steamwebhelper -nocrashdialog -lang=en_US -cachedir=/home/atassis/.local/share/Steam/config/htmlcache -steampid=24572 -buildid=1766451605 -steamid=0 -logdir=/home/atassis/.local/share/Steam/logs -uimode=4 -startcount=0 -steamuniverse=Public -realm=Global -clientui=/home/atassis/.local/share/Steam/clientui -steampath=/home/atassis/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam -launcher=0 -use_xcomposite_workaround --valve-initial-threadpool-size=8 --valve-enable-site-isolation --enable-smooth-scrolling --disable-gpu-compositing --disable-gpu --no-sandbox --password-store=basic --ignore-gpu-blocklist --log-file=/home/atassis/.local/share/Steam/logs/cef_log.txt --disable-quick-menu --disable-component-update --gaia-url=http://disabled.invalid --disable-features=WinRetrieveSuggestionsOnlyOnDemand,SpareRendererForSitePerProcess,DcheckIsFatal,BlockPromptsIfIgnoredOften,ValveFFmpegAllowLowDelayHEVC

Here we can see that --disable-gpu flag is passed, which might override any other options you have toggled in BP settings.

So below is the setting, that got it fixed:
Navigate to Settings > Interface and ensure "Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views" is ON.

CONTEXT: Disable GPU Blocklist doesn't change anything in my case, with both options BP is working well
With this option ON in my installation I see no --disable-gpu flag as well as some others related. Both standard on BP steam are working smoother now.

Operating System: CachyOS Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.21.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.2-2-cachyos (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (31,2 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

Please, let me know if this has fixed an issue for you, I had troubles with this for a long time, too, pretty annoying

Thanks atassis, that worked for me.

I previously tried the rest like enabling "Enable GPU accelerated..." and "Disable GPU blocklist" , but that didn't seem to affect it.

Computer Information:
CPU Brand: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 Eight-Core Processor
Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS (64 bit)
Kernel Name: Linux
Kernel Version: 6.17.9-76061709-generic
Steam Runtime Version: steam-runtime_1.0.20251202.187498
Browser GPU Acceleration Status: Enabled
Driver: NVIDIA Corporation NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070/PCIe/SSE2
Driver Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 580.82.09
RAM: 64245 Mb

I have now updated my main desktop to Mint 22.3 Cinnamon with a fresh install. Tried toggling the other options off and on again to no avail, have tried this before but tried it again anyway:

Navigate to Settings > Interface and ensure "Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views" is ON.

No effect. BPM still runs like laggy trash.

@Techbane have you checked the flag existence on steam web helper process? And have you completely restarted the process after enabling the flag?

@Techbane have you checked the flag existence on steam web helper process? And have you completely restarted the process after enabling the flag?

Have to admit I have no idea how to check that. That code block you pasted above is an output as opposed to input, right? But I have restarted Steam in full more than once after toggling the mentioned setting, yes.

Moreover, having "GPU accelerated rendering in web views" enabled actually tanks the performance while browsing the storefront outside of BPM. Trailer videos won't even play at full framerate. I have to turn this back off.

My code block is just a part or terminal output os process list commands, like next

ps aux | grep steamwebhelper

You can try to run it while different steam windows are opened, to check how each of them runs. You can try to check when flag is passed, and when it is not, to find any difference.
Related to the performance, I still have a suggestion that these are rendered via chromium, so if any chromium based browsers do well on your machine- so the steam might. We just have to make it pass proper config for rendering.
Also, I see you use mint 21.3 cinnamon, it might default to X, I was testing on wayland, it can make a difference, too

Also, I see you use mint 21.3 cinnamon, it might default to X, I was testing on wayland, it can make a difference, too

Mint still uses X11, yeah. There's an experimental Wayland mode but it's still very experimental, like "flip a coin as to whether the entire desktop environment crashes and fails to relaunch anytime a program is run" experimental.

I set aside a little time to kick the wheels on it, and turns out that on my main desktop, if using Wayland, enabling "GPU accelerated rendering in web views" DOES fix Big Picture's performance. Sadly it doesn't fix Wayland being basically unusable on Mint, and actually exacerbates performance issues on X11. So that might be a Wayland-exclusive fix.

Meanwhile for some reason my mini-PC running a roughly equivalent Mint installation on far lesser hardware, also using X11, remains without performance issues.

still a problem on my Framework 16 (amd graphics) running fedora, also it seems like other people in here also still have this issue or need a workaround to fix it, so why is this closed?

I still have this issue in Cachyos.