High CPU Usage (50-90%) When Using External Monitor on NVIDIA GPU

[1DiEgo11]

Already reported ? *

• I have searched the existing open and closed issues.

Regression?

I don't know, I started using Hyprland only recently

System Info and Hyprland Version

System/Version info

Hyprland 0.47.2 built from branch  at commit 882f7ad7d2bbfc7440d0ccaef93b1cdd78e8e3ff  (version: bump to 0.47.2).
Date: Sun Feb 2 00:47:17 2025
Tag: v0.47.2, commits: 5767
built against:
 aquamarine 0.7.2
 hyprlang 0.6.0
 hyprutils 0.5.0
 hyprcursor 0.1.11
 hyprgraphics 0.1.2


no flags were set


System Information:
System name: Linux
Node name: kairos
Release: 6.13.4-arch1-1
Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sat, 22 Feb 2025 00:37:05 +0000


GPU information: 
0000:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] [8086:9a49] (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	DeviceName: VGA
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q] [10de:2520] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
	DeviceName: Second VGA
NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module  570.86.16  Fri Jan 24 21:25:51 UTC 2025


os-release: NAME="Arch Linux"
PRETTY_NAME="Arch Linux"
ID=arch
BUILD_ID=rolling
ANSI_COLOR="38;2;23;147;209"
HOME_URL="https://archlinux.org/"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://wiki.archlinux.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://bbs.archlinux.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://gitlab.archlinux.org/groups/archlinux/-/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/privacy-policy/"
LOGO=archlinux-logo


plugins:

Description

I’m experiencing abnormally high CPU usage (50-90%) in Hyprland when interacting with the system (e.g., moving the mouse, typing) only on an external monitor. The issue disappears completely when using the laptop’s built-in display.

How to reproduce

Connect an external monitor to the NVIDIA GPU.

Launch Hyprland and switch to the external monitor.

Move the mouse cursor or type in any window.

Observe CPU usage via htop/btop.

Attach not paste

• I understand that all text files must be attached, and not pasted directly. If not respected, this issue will likely get closed as spam

Checklist of files to include below

• Hyprland config - hyprctl systeminfo -c (always include)
• Crash report (always include in case of crash)
• Video (always include in case of a visual bug)
• Logs (might contain useful info such as errors)

Additional info & File uploads

hyprland_config_dump.txt

[oshitaka]

same thing

[cilki]

Same. Memory usage is now surprisingly high on 0.47.2 at ~4Gb. Had no such problems on 0.46.2.

[DockterTeagle]

I dont have this issue on latest git

[DockterTeagle]

are your drivers up to date?

[1DiEgo11]

I have nvidia-dkms driver 570.86.16. I basically just installed the system, set up a minimal config even without waybar and immediately this. I installed all packages using pacman

[DockterTeagle]

I use the beta drivers, are those the beta drivers? I am working my way through your config to see if I can repro on latest git

[DockterTeagle]

thats my exact driver so it cant be that

[1DiEgo11]

I'll send you confirmation of my information tomorrow, since it's night for me now. Sorry...

[DockterTeagle]

did you follow the nvidia page on the wiki?

[DockterTeagle]

you have __GLX_VENDOR_DRIVER_NAME commented out, try undoing that

[DockterTeagle]

and also uncomment LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME unless these env variables are defined somewhere else

[DockterTeagle]

oh sory didnt see your comment, gn, time zones suck

[PedroHBrasil]

Hey. Same problem here. Didn't have the issue when running on NixOS stable (24.11), where Hyprland's version was 0.45.2. My env vars are set correctly. Also, there's an older issue where some people had this problem already #7356. Btw, it looks looks like nvidia is partially at fault too https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/nvidia-please-get-it-together-with-external-monitors-on-wayland/301684/55, but something in Hyprland definitely changed since the cpu usage only got high enough to actually make my experience bad when I changed from 0.45.2 to 0.47.2 due to a change in my OS (from NixOS to Arch).