protonscr

Steam client is very aggressive in using CPU time and RAM even when IDLE

steamopen
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#8553 · opened 2022-04-25 by ezdev128 · updated 2022-05-14 · 9 comments · github
Eezdev128 2022-04-25 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): 1647446817
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Ubuntu
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No
  • Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

The last time (during almost year) there has been an excessive consumption of CPU time and RAM, even at IDLE.
The restart solves the problem.

It happens at random times, there is no apparent periodicity or reason. The best way to reproduce this - do not do anything special, just work at your job and play your favorite games on Steam.
Sometimes you can't even play the game normally without restarting the Steam client.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. do not play any game or touch Steam client during several days
  2. launch and play any game
  3. drink coffee between games
Kkisak-valve maintainer 2022-04-25 github

Hello @ezdev128, when this happens, can you find what the name of the thread is which is using more resources than you expected? (https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7372#issuecomment-696193644)

Eezdev128 2022-04-25 github

Hi, @kisak-valve. I'll let you know as soon as I get it.

Rryao 2022-04-27 github

I have noticed this. For me, it is caused by fossilize-replay from shader pre-caching. It is easy to see in htop after sorting by CPU utilization when the CPU fan spins up when the system should be idle.

Eezdev128 2022-04-27 github

@ryao, is it at the very beginning before the game starts or just in idle?

Ddos1 2022-04-27 github

This happens even on Steam Deck.

powertop signals about 1400-1600 wakeups per second in gaming mode, and about 1600-1700 wakeups per second in desktop mode. Shutting down Steam in desktop mode takes it down to 140-150 wakeups per second (and no, there's no zero missing there ;)). All measurements made when idle with nothing running.

For a comparison, I get about 1500-1600 wakeups per second on my laptop right now with tons of apps open, including Firefox with 900 tabs.

I imagine this hurts battery consumption a lot. Also, it appears that Steam client remains active in this way also when games are running, which can hurt their performance as well.

[edit] For the record: simply shutting the Steam client down in Deck's desktop mode reduces power consumption when idle from ~4.1W to ~2.7W. This nearly doubles estimated battery life. I'm not interacting with Steam client in any way before shutting it down.

Eexa18 2022-05-05 github

@dos1 confirm, opened only Deck and rised CPU usage to 1/3 (all cores). This issue also prevents display to blank (power manager). Also list steam in htop show over 100 pids open where ps reports only 12-15.

TTTimo 2022-05-05 github

this comment is probably still relevant: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7372#issuecomment-696193644 (kisak mentioned above)

you could also tail the steam logs to narrow down what the Steam client may be doing, as there is some 'expected' background work in the client (related to shader cache for instance, or background game updates etc.).

Ddos1 2022-05-07 github

So, in my case it appears that CSteamControlle thread is the worst offender, followed by CIPCServer::Thr. All the rest is negligible compared to these two threads.

NN00byKing 2022-05-14 github

I've been hitting this issue as well on two seperate systems, both Arch, Kernel 5.17.7. However, with the new update (About Steam says build May 14) it doesn't seem to happen? I was about to write another confirmation, but got an update in the middle. Just in case, adding a screenshot of previous htop output if it happens again; I just got the update and don't have time to test in depth. Screenshot

Upstream links