NVIDIA Jetson Xavier - Maximizing Performance
Activate CPUs
By default 4 out of 8 possible CPU cores are disabled on the Jetson Xavier. You can activate them with the following commands (you need root permissions):
sudo su echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu4/online echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu5/online echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu6/online echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu7/online exit
You can also set the nvvpmodel (power model) to the maximum. To see the options:
nvpmodel -p --verbose | grep POWER_MODEL
which outputs:
NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=0 NAME=MODE_15W_2CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=1 NAME=MODE_15W_4CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=2 NAME=MODE_15W_6CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=3 NAME=MODE_10W_2CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=4 NAME=MODE_10W_4CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=5 NAME=MODE_10W_DESKTOP NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=6 NAME=MODE_20W_2CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=7 NAME=MODE_20W_4CORE NVPM VERB: POWER_MODEL: ID=8 NAME=MODE_20W_6CORE
To select the maximum, let's choose the ID=8:
nvpmodel -m 8
Activate Fans
We recommend also turning on the Xavier module fan if you turn on all CPUs:
The method to set the fan speed in JP 4.x is not longer working. You need to, instead, use the nvfancontrol daemon for this purpose: more info here.
However, it sets only to "cool", which is still managed by the temperature sensor in an open loop control. To set the fan at full speed, edit the /etc/nvfancontrol.conf with:
FAN_PROFILE quiet {
...
}
FAN_PROFILE full {
#TEMP HYST PWM RPM
0 8 255 6000
108 0 255 6000
}
FAN_PROFILE cool {
...
FAN_DEFAULT_CONTROL open_loop
FAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE full
FAN_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR pid
then, execute the following commands:
sudo systemctl stop nvfancontrol sudo rm /var/lib/nvfancontrol/status sudo systemctl start nvfancontrol
And that's it.
Another observation: the monitor from jetson-stats (a.k.a. jtop) does not work with the fan :(
You must activate all CPUs before running jetson_clocks to overclock these CPUs too.
VIC clocking
By default, Jetson clocks command does not activate the full clock in VIC. To manually set them to the maximum clock (Jetson), first inspect which one is the highest:
cat /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/devfreq/15340000.vic/available_frequencies
In the case of Jetson NX, it is: 601600000 Hz.
Then, set the manual control of the VIC:
# Set manual control to the max frequency echo on > /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/power/control echo userspace > /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/devfreq/15340000.vic/governor echo 601600000 > /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/devfreq/15340000.vic/max_freq echo 601600000 > /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/devfreq/15340000.vic/userspace/set_freq # Current freq cat /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x/15340000.vic/devfreq/15340000.vic/cur_freq
Note: for JP 4.x, change /sys/devices/platform/13e10000.host1x by /sys/devices/13e10000.host1x
Jetson Clocks
Xavier provides the jetson_clocks script to maximize Jetson Xavier performance by setting static max frequency to CPU, GPU, and EMC clocks. The script can also be used to show current clock settings, store current clock settings into a file, and restore clock settings from a file.
Options
Usage:
jetson_clocks [options]
options,
--help, -h show this help message
--show display current settings
--fan set PWM fan speed to maximal
--store [file] store current settings to a file (default: ${HOME}/l4t_dfs.conf)
--restore [file] restore saved settings from a file (default: ${HOME}/l4t_dfs.conf)
run jetson_clocks without any option to set static max frequency to CPU, GPU and EMC clocks.
- To show the current settings:
sudo jetson_clocks --show
- To store the current settings:
sudo jetson_clocks --store
- To maximize Jetson Xavier performance
sudo jetson_clocks
- To restore the previous settings
sudo jetson_clocks --restore