Microstuttering during window movement & 1s freezes with JetBrains IDEs – Kubuntu 24.04, Plasma X11, RTX 5080 Laptop

Help
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1

Hi everyone,

I am reaching out because I am experiencing persistent performance issues and graphical lag on a high-end laptop setup. Despite the hardware (RTX 5080), the desktop experience feels sluggish, with significant frame drops that do not match the system’s capabilities.

Hardware Configuration

  • Laptop: ASUS ROG Strix G18 (G815LW-S9076W)
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU
  • External Monitors:
    • Monitor 1 (Primary): HDMI-0, 1920x1080 @ 60 Hz
    • Monitor 2: DP-3, 1920x1080 @ 60 Hz
  • Internal Display: eDP-1-1, 2560x1600 @ 240 Hz (Connected but typically not used during work)
  • Note: The setup is a fixed workstation. Cables and monitors have been cross-tested with other laptops and work perfectly at full fluid speeds.

Software Stack

  • OS: Kubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
  • Kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic
  • DE: Plasma 5.27.12
  • Session Type: X11
  • NVIDIA Driver: 580.126.09 (Proprietary)
  • Graphics Mode: NVIDIA Only (prime-select nvidia)

Primary Symptoms

  1. Window Management Microstuttering: When moving windows rapidly—especially when dragging them between monitors or snapping them to the top—I experience severe frame drops down to approximately 25 FPS.
  2. JetBrains IDE Freezes: Every time I launch a new instance of a JetBrains IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, GoLand, CLion), the entire graphical session suffers a total freeze for approximately 1 second before recovering.
  3. Login Anomalies: The login screen behavior is inconsistent, often featuring an extremely aggressive monitor timeout.
  4. Performance Consistency: The issue is present immediately from boot/login and does not degrade over time. Interestingly, video playback (e.g., YouTube) remains perfectly fluid.

Current KWin Compositing Settings (~/.config/kwinrc)

[Compositing]  
Backend=OpenGL3.1  
GLCore=true  
GLTextureFilter=1  
LatencyPolicy=ExtremelyLow  
OpenGLIsUnsafe=false  
WindowsBlockCompositing=false

Technical Logs & Debug Info

# Session and Versions
XDG_SESSION_TYPE: x11
plasmashell: 5.27.12
Kernel: Linux 6.17.0-14-generic #14~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC

# GPU Status (nvidia-smi)
NVIDIA-SMI 580.126.09 | Driver Version: 580.126.09 | CUDA Version: 13.0
GPU 0: RTX 5080 Laptop | Persistence-M: Off | Utilization: 1% | Temp: 51C

# X11 Rendering
direct rendering: Yes

Does anyone have ideas on how I can solve this? What other tests can I run to dig deeper and understand the problem? At this point, I don’t know if the issue lies with NVIDIA or something else…

Finally, I am attaching a sequence of commands run on the machine to show the various versions and configurations. Thanks to anyone who can try to help me out.

$ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
x11

$ plasmashell -v
Qt: Session management error: None of the authentication protocols specified are supported
plasmashell 5.27.12

$ kwin_x11 --version
kwin 5.27.11

$ uname -a
Linux matteo-rogstrixg18g815lw 6.17.0-14-generic #14~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jan 15 15:52:10 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux


$ xrandr | grep "*"
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00  
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00  
   
$ nvidia-smi | head -n 13
Fri Feb  6 10:46:44 2026       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 580.126.09             Driver Version: 580.126.09     CUDA Version: 13.0     |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name                 Persistence-M | Bus-Id          Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp   Perf          Pwr:Usage/Cap |           Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|                                         |                        |               MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
|   0  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ...    Off |   00000000:02:00.0  On |                  N/A |
| N/A   50C    P4             29W /   80W |    2117MiB /  16303MiB |      4%      Default |
|                                         |                        |                  N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+


$ prime-select query
nvidia


$ lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia_uvm           2150400  0
nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight    12288  0
nvidia_drm            135168  50
nvidia_modeset       1814528  148 nvidia_drm
drm_ttm_helper         16384  2 nvidia_drm,xe
nvidia              14409728  1807 nvidia_uvm,nvidia_modeset
video                  77824  6 nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight,asus_wmi,asus_nb_wmi,xe,i915,nvidia_modeset
wmi                    28672  5 video,nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight,asus_wmi,wmi_bmof,mfd_aaeon

$ glxinfo | grep "direct rendering"
direct rendering: Yes


$ journalctl -b0 | grep -i nvidia | cut -d ' ' -f 5-
kernel: nvidia-nvlink: Nvlink Core is being initialized, major device number 510
kernel: nvidia 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
kernel: nvidia 0000:02:00.0: vgaarb: VGA decodes changed: olddecodes=io+mem,decodes=none:owns=none
kernel: NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX Open Kernel Module for x86_64  580.126.09  Release Build  (dvs-builder@U22-I3-AM02-24-3)  Wed Jan  7 22:51:36 UTC 2026
kernel: nvidia-modeset: Loading NVIDIA UNIX Open Kernel Mode Setting Driver for x86_64  580.126.09  Release Build  (dvs-builder@U22-I3-AM02-24-3)  Wed Jan  7 22:33:56 UTC 2026
kernel: [drm] [nvidia-drm] [GPU ID 0x00000200] Loading driver
systemd[1]: Starting systemd-backlight@backlight:nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight.service - Load/Save Screen Backlight Brightness of backlight:nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight...
systemd[1]: Finished systemd-backlight@backlight:nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight.service - Load/Save Screen Backlight Brightness of backlight:nvidia_wmi_ec_backlight.
kernel: nvidia 0000:02:00.0: Enabling HDA controller
kernel: input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card0/input32
kernel: input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=7 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card0/input33
kernel: input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=8 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card0/input34
kernel: input: HDA NVidia HDMI/DP,pcm=9 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:06.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card0/input35
kernel: nvidia-modeset: nvidia-modeset: ACPI reported no NVIDIA native backlight available; attempting to use ACPI backlight.
kernel: nvidia-modeset: WARNING: GPU:0: Unable to read EDID for display device DP-0
kernel: nvidia-modeset: WARNING: GPU:0: Unable to read EDID for display device DP-0
kernel: [drm] Initialized nvidia-drm 0.0.0 for 0000:02:00.0 on minor 0
kernel: nvidia 0000:02:00.0: [drm] fb1: nvidia-drmdrmfb frame buffer device
systemd[1]: Starting nvidia-persistenced.service - NVIDIA Persistence Daemon...
nvidia-persistenced[1046]: Verbose syslog connection opened
nvidia-persistenced[1046]: Now running with user ID 121 and group ID 124
nvidia-persistenced[1046]: Started (1046)
nvidia-persistenced[1046]: device 0000:02:00.0 - registered
nvidia-persistenced[1046]: Local RPC services initialized
systemd[1]: Started nvidia-persistenced.service - NVIDIA Persistence Daemon.
systemd[1]: Starting nvidia-suspend.service - NVIDIA system suspend actions...
suspend[2129]: nvidia-suspend.service
logger[2129]: <13>Feb  6 09:03:01 suspend: nvidia-suspend.service
systemd[1]: nvidia-suspend.service: Deactivated successfully.
systemd[1]: Finished nvidia-suspend.service - NVIDIA system suspend actions.
systemd[1]: nvidia-suspend.service: Consumed 1.218s CPU time.
kernel: nvidia 0000:02:00.0: Enabling HDA controller
kernel: nvidia-modeset: nvidia-modeset: ACPI reported no NVIDIA native backlight available; attempting to use ACPI backlight.
systemd[1]: Starting nvidia-resume.service - NVIDIA system resume actions...
suspend[2329]: nvidia-resume.service
logger[2329]: <13>Feb  6 09:03:08 suspend: nvidia-resume.service
systemd[1]: nvidia-resume.service: Deactivated successfully.
systemd[1]: Finished nvidia-resume.service - NVIDIA system resume actions.
kwin_x11[2598]: OpenGL vendor string:                   NVIDIA Corporation
kwin_x11[2598]: OpenGL renderer string:                 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2
kwin_x11[2598]: OpenGL version string:                  3.1.0 NVIDIA 580.126.09
kwin_x11[2598]: OpenGL shading language version string: 1.40 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
kwin_x11[2598]: Driver:                                 NVIDIA
systemd[2364]: Starting app-nvidia\x2dsettings\x2dautostart@autostart.service - NVIDIA X Server Settings...
systemd[2364]: Started app-nvidia\x2dsettings\x2dautostart@autostart.service - NVIDIA X Server Settings.
2

i can’t see anything obvious and it looks like you ruled out the usual suspects

you could double check that ubuntu-drivers devices recommends the 580 driver.

you could try a different DP cable (not all of them meet spec) and i can recommend the ones from cablematters.com

might be old info, but there are a couple kernel modules that need to be set whey i was using a nvidia GPU

3

Hi everyone, thanks for the suggestions. Here is an update on my situation:

I have successfully updated the drivers to version 590.xx. The core issue persists but with a very interesting finding:

$ nvidia-smi | head -n 13
Mon Feb  9 08:54:30 2026       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 590.48.01              Driver Version: 590.48.01      CUDA Version: 13.1     |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name                 Persistence-M | Bus-Id          Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp   Perf          Pwr:Usage/Cap |           Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|                                         |                        |               MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
|   0  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ...    Off |   00000000:02:00.0  On |                  N/A |
| N/A   39C    P4             27W /   80W |    1126MiB /  16303MiB |      4%      Default |
|                                         |                        |                  N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
  • Single Monitor (Laptop Only): If I disconnect the external monitors and use only the internal display (240Hz), the system is perfectly fluid. No stuttering, no freezes when moving windows, and JetBrains IDEs open without lagging the entire session.
  • Multi-Monitor Setup: The micro-stuttering and the 1-second freezes return as soon as I connect my two external monitors (HDMI and DP, both 1080p @ 60Hz).

This leads me to strongly suspect that KWin is struggling with the mixed-refresh rate or the multi-display management on X11 with this specific NVIDIA architecture.

I also noticed something strange in System Settings → Display and Monitor → Compositor: I no longer have the option to choose the Rendering Backend (OpenGL version). It seems “locked” or the dropdown is missing.

  1. Is this normal behavior in recent Plasma versions ?
  2. My kwinrc shows Backend=OpenGL3.1, but I cannot change it via UI anymore.

To debug this further:
What is the best way to get detailed logs from KWin specifically during these window movements? Are there specific environment variables, i should set to capture what’s happening when the frame drops occur?

Thanks for any further insights!

4

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this problem?
It’s frustrating to have a system that’s been castrated with a 5080.

=(

5

any reason you can’t put both monitors on either HDMI or DP cables?

could be mixing outputs that is causing the issue.

6

Hi, thanks for the detailed feedback!

I actually realized just now that I missed a detail in my laptop’s specs: it actually features 2x Thunderbolt™ 5 ports with DisplayPort™ support.

This changes things as I don’t have to rely on different physical outputs (HDMI vs DP). I’m going to buy a second cable now to run both external monitors through the Thunderbolt ports to see if having a more uniform connection setup helps with the stuttering.

I’ll report back once I’ve done the test. Thanks again for the help for now! =)

7

Update: Switching to a dual USB-C/DisplayPort setup has drastically improved the situation, but I am still seeing sporadic frame drops and micro-stuttering.

I’m wondering how these lags are still possible with an RTX 5080 Laptop on Kubuntu 24.04 (X11). What else should I check at this point?

  1. Should I enable “Force Full Composition Pipeline” in NVIDIA settings, or will it just introduce more input latency?
  2. Are there any KWin environment variables (like __GL_YIELD) or kwinrc tweaks I should force to stabilize the desktop framerate?
  3. Could GPU Power Management (P-states) be a factor? It feels like the card isn’t “clocking up” enough for simple window rendering.

Has anyone with similar hardware found a way to smooth out these final stutters on X11?