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Nvtop: Linux Task Monitor for Nvidia, AMD and Intel GPUs (github.com)

453 points by alexzeitler · 887 days ago · 85 comments on HN

Article summary

Nvtop is a task monitor for GPUs and accelerators that can handle multiple GPUs and print information about them in a htop-like way. It supports various vendors, including AMD, Apple, Huawei, Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm. The tool provides a way to specialize the interface to user needs and can be installed on various Linux distributions. Nvtop is licensed under the GPLv3 license.

Main themes

  • GPU monitoring
  • Linux task management
  • Nvtop features
  • GPU vendor support
  • Linux distribution installation

What commenters say

  • Nvtop is a useful tool for monitoring GPU usage, but its reported utilization can be a poor proxy for actual performance.
  • Alternative tools like btop and bottom are also available for Linux system monitoring and offer similar or improved features.
  • The power consumption reported in nvtop can be a reliable indicator of hardware utilization, especially for NVIDIA gear.
  • Some users find that the temperature and power metrics in nvtop are useful for optimizing GPU performance, while others prefer to use different metrics like FLOPs utilization or memory bandwidth.
  • There are limitations and issues with GPU support in Linux, particularly with video decoding and hardware acceleration in browsers.
  • Nvtop can be used to monitor and debug GPU-related issues, but its effectiveness depends on the specific use case and hardware configuration.
  • Some users prefer to use other tools like nvitop or radeontop for their specific needs, while others find nvtop to be a valuable tool for GPU compute workloads.
  • The status of GPU support in Linux is still poor, with many applications and browsers not utilizing hardware acceleration properly.