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Research GPU driver evidence and workload options

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# GPU driver evidence and performance workloads
Research for [Establish GPU driver evidence and performance workloads](https://git.bongbetic.com/xavierk/odin/issues/3). All sources were inspected on **2026-09-25**. These are conditional recommendations for the workload decision, not an adopted suite or support guarantee. No drivers were installed, settings changed, device queries executed, or benchmarks run.
## Decision summary
Odin can establish **which device and API worked for a specified operation under the current session**. It cannot certify one universally “correct” driver from a package name, loaded module, advertised API version or benchmark score. Keep discovery, successful execution, output validation, presentation and performance as distinct evidence.
The strongest initial options are a small **headless Vulkan compute profile** using a qualified clpeak build, plus **API-specific rendering workloads** where supported. vkmark and glmark2 offer useful scenes, but their backend requirements and relatively infrequent releases need qualification. No candidate alone measures compute throughput, rendering, compositor behavior, video acceleration and browser usability.
Visible GPU windows remain a decision for **Choose Odin’s workload suite and run profiles**. The user's approval of headed/headless browser modes does not settle GPU presentation. Terminal orchestration can support headless workloads without opening a window; it cannot thereby prove the desktop presentation path works.
## 1. Evidence to collect per device
| Stage | Evidence | Justified conclusion |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hardware and kernel path | DRM/sysfs device, associated PCI or platform identity, bound kernel driver, accessible render node | Device and kernel path are present; userspace API operation is still unproven |
| API discovery | Vulkan physical-device properties/features/queues; OpenGL vendor/renderer/version from the actual context; OpenCL platform/device type | This implementation advertises these capabilities in this environment |
| Execution | Bounded allocation, command submission, completion and error outcome on the selected device | The tested operation completed; report device loss, allocation failure and timeout distinctly |
| Correctness | A known-output compute or rendering check with a defined tolerance | The sampled operation returned an expected result; throughput alone does not supply this proof |
| Presentation | Successful creation and presentation to a particular X11/Wayland surface, if this mode is selected | That surface/session path worked; headless success is a different finding |
Linux render nodes permit non-global rendering without DRM-master authentication, subject to ordinary filesystem permissions. They do not grant modesetting rights. Treat denied access as capability coverage, not “bad GPU,” and do not respond by elevating the entire TUI or changing device permissions. DRM discovery must include platform devices: ARM GPUs need not be PCI devices. [1]
Vulkan properties include device type, vendor/device identifiers, device UUID, and driver identification. `deviceType=CPU` identifies a typically host-processor implementation; the specification calls device type informational, so combine it with driver/renderer evidence. `driverVersion` is vendor-specified, not universal semantic versioning. `conformanceVersion` describes the implementer's prior conformance testing, not a test of this installation. Where supported, `VK_EXT_physical_device_drm` connects API devices to DRM node major/minor numbers. [2]
**vulkaninfo** is a useful discovery candidate. Its `--summary` covers enumerated devices; `--json=<index>` writes a Vulkan Profiles JSON file for one device. Plain `--json` defaults to the first device, so one successful invocation does not inventory every GPU. Use a private output directory and record the tool/schema version. The inspected SDK tag is `vulkan-sdk-1.4.357.0`, with Apache-2.0 project licensing. [3]
Mesa LLVMpipe/Softpipe are software renderers. Zink is an OpenGL implementation over Vulkan and can use a hardware Vulkan driver: the word “Mesa” or “Zink” is not evidence of software rendering. Mesa and the Vulkan loader also expose selection/override variables, including `LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE`, `DRI_PRIME`, `MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT` and `VK_DRIVER_FILES`. Record relevant effective overrides and selected devices; do not silently change the user's stack during baseline measurement. Vulkan/OpenCL CPU devices and mock drivers must not contribute a hardware-GPU score. [4][5][6]
## 2. Driver and architecture scope
| Hardware family | Paths worth supporting conditionally | Boundary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intel | Appropriate Linux kernel driver plus Mesa OpenGL/ANV; an independently available compute runtime | Working OpenGL does not establish Vulkan or OpenCL support. Discover generation-specific capabilities rather than prescribe one package universally |
| AMD | Supported kernel/userspace combination, commonly amdgpu plus Mesa RADV for Vulkan | RADV and ROCm serve different purposes. ROCm has its own hardware/OS/firmware compatibility matrix; absence of ROCm does not mean ordinary graphics is broken |
| NVIDIA | NVIDIA's supported userspace/kernel stack, or Mesa NVK and applicable OpenGL path | NVK is a legitimate Vulkan implementation. NVIDIA's open kernel modules still require matching NVIDIA userspace and GSP firmware; “open module installed” does not establish compatibility |
| ARM SoCs | Panfrost/PanVK for supported Mali, Freedreno/Turnip for supported Adreno, other model-specific Mesa/vendor paths | aarch64 names the CPU architecture, not the GPU API capability. Some devices support GLES without Vulkan; experimental support must not be force-enabled automatically |
Mesa documents RADV's separation from the kernel driver and hardware limitations; Panfrost lists distinct API support by GPU and explicitly warns about experimental PanVK enablement. NVIDIA's inspected `615.71.09` open-module release supports x86_64/aarch64 and Turing-or-later hardware, with corresponding-release userspace/firmware requirements. These examples justify capability probing, not a universal driver recommendation. [7][8][9]
Qualify **x86_64/glibc, x86_64/musl, aarch64/glibc and aarch64/musl** independently for the chosen executable and transitive libraries. Source availability does not certify a binary across that matrix. Void explicitly states proprietary NVIDIA drivers do not support musl; packaging Odin differently cannot erase that driver limitation. Mesa-based paths can be candidates where that GPU and distribution support them. Current ROCm support is also a specific matrix, not a promise for every Linux distribution or libc. [8][10]
## 3. Workload candidates and concrete tradeoffs
| Candidate and inspected version | Measurements, footprint and control | Conditional role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **clpeak 2.1.4**, Apache-2.0; released August 27, 2026 | Current code supports Vulkan, OpenCL, CUDA, ROCm/HIP, oneAPI and CPU, among others. CLI has backend/device/test selection and JSON/CSV/XML output. `--max-time` controls each GPU test's timed phase; warmup/calibration add time. C++17/CMake; SDKs/backends are optional but auto-detected by default | Strong first candidate for a deliberately restricted CLI build and selected Vulkan FP32/bandwidth workloads. Pin enabled backends, shaders and compiler; avoid its “run every backend/device/test” default |
| **vkpeak 20260527**, MIT; source activity in August 2026 | Vulkan peak scalar/vector/matrix arithmetic and transfer tests using ncnn. Select device and scenarios. Small top-level program, substantial transitive shader/runtime dependency. No user time-budget option is documented in the inspected CLI | Alternative focused compute candidate. Its README explicitly says peak metrics do not represent real-world use. Source returns zero for some unsupported features **and failures**, so zero cannot be interpreted as measured zero performance |
| **vkmark 2025.01**, LGPL-2.1-or-later | Configurable Vulkan rendering scenes, dimensions, present mode, duration and device UUID selection. C++17, Vulkan, GLM and Assimp; optional XCB/Wayland/DRM/GBM dependencies | Candidate graphics profile after backend qualification. The released source includes a headless plugin requiring `VK_EXT_headless_surface`; its manpage backend list omits that plugin. Generic Vulkan support alone is insufficient |
| **glmark2 2023.01**, GPLv3 | OpenGL 2.0/GLES2 scenes; per-scene duration, off-screen mode, frame-end/swap controls, output validation and CSV/XML results. Build flavors include X11, Wayland, DRM and GBM; GL/EGL/GLES and image libraries/assets | Useful compatibility and rendering candidate; its older API workloads are not a complete modern-GPU assessment. GBM source can use a selected render node; `--off-screen` on an X11 build does not imply display-server independence |
Primary released READMEs, manuals, licenses and implementation sources support this comparison. glmark2's latest inspected tag remains 2023.01 with main activity in September 2025; vkmark's latest tag is 2025.01 with main activity in September 2025. These are maturity/maintenance observations, not evidence of current hardware certification. clpeak and vkpeak show more recent source/release activity, but still require qualification. [11–14]
Two implementation traps matter immediately:
- clpeak's Vulkan instance requests Vulkan 1.0 or 1.1 depending on compiled optional features. Its reported capability floor therefore depends on the build. Its timing code performs warmup and calibration before the timed batch; `--max-time` is not an end-to-end timeout. Its Vulkan backend distinguishes CPU and integrated/discrete GPU device types. [11]
- vkpeak adapts work and reports peak results, with memory sizing based partly on device heap information. A selected subset is more controllable than its complete default suite, but a wrapper still needs independent resource and runtime bounds. Neither tool's advertised throughput proves it checks the numerical result required by Odin's correctness stage. [12]
Licenses above describe inspected project code. Bundling requires a separate manifest for assets, embedded dependencies, modifications and any vendor runtime redistribution terms; these source inspections are not a completed distribution-license audit. Installing a large CUDA/ROCm SDK solely to enable baseline benchmarking would weaken the universal deployment objective. Vendor-specific compute paths are better considered optional capability profiles.
## 4. Headless, desktop, multiple GPUs and virtualization
Keep three execution classes distinct: **surface-free compute**, **offscreen rendering**, and **desktop presentation**. Vulkan does not require every physical device or queue to support presentation. Support must be queried for the actual surface. FIFO presentation waits on vertical blanking; an FPS result can therefore reflect display/compositor policy rather than maximum render throughput. Fix and record present mode, resolution and backend. [15]
vkmark's headless plugin still uses a Vulkan surface/swapchain extension; glmark2's GBM backend opens a render node and creates a GBM surface. These are different requirements and workloads. A KMS/direct-display backend may need display ownership and disturb the session, so it is not an automatic fallback when X11/Wayland fails. An SSH terminal can have usable GPU compute without a display socket; classify presentation as unavailable in that session rather than infer a missing graphics driver. [1][13][14]
Enumerate all devices, map them to stable identifiers where available, and let the run profile select the display GPU, another named GPU or separate per-GPU runs. Do not treat index zero as “best GPU.” Mesa's selection variables can reorder enumeration; vkmark's UUID selector and NVIDIA's documented UUID/PCI-ID selection illustrate stronger identity mechanisms. Avoid summing overlapping APIs or independently averaging all installed GPUs into one unexplained number. [2][5][9][13]
Virtual hardware needs its own label. Mesa Venus serializes Vulkan through virtio-gpu to a host renderer and can operate over hardware **or Lavapipe**; guest enumeration does not establish physical passthrough. A VM result measures that guest path, while its host telemetry may be hidden. Passthrough must be established from the recorded environment and device evidence. Containers similarly need device access and compatible userspace libraries; missing exposure is not proof the host has no GPU. [6][16]
## 5. Reproducibility, safety and diagnosis
Before scoring, freeze workload version, scene/kernel code, input size, precision/vector width, backend, device, output format, build flags and compiler. Record kernel, userspace driver identity, power source, thermal state, display mode and concurrent load. Warmup/cache policy must be explicit. Compare repeated runs under the same policy; do not compare shader compilation included in one result with warmed execution in another.
Compute FLOPS, transfer bandwidth and scene FPS answer different questions. A CUDA FP16 matrix peak cannot replace a Vulkan FP32 score; software rendering cannot replace the hardware result; unavailable features are not zeros. Preserve upstream metrics and chosen aggregation rules. glmark2/vkmark aggregate FPS does not automatically supply frame-time percentiles. Small rendering scenes can also be CPU/driver limited, so unexpectedly low throughput is evidence to investigate, not automatic proof of defective hardware.
Recommended safety boundaries are one GPU workload at a time, bounded memory demand with system/VRAM reserve, an independent wall-clock watchdog, staged process-group cancellation, and refusal of unbounded “run forever” modes. Include initialization/calibration in the overall budget. Stop on device loss, repeated API errors or meaningful driver-reported critical thermal findings; retain partial results. Killing a client cannot guarantee immediate recovery from a kernel/driver hang. Do not automatically overclock, alter fan/power limits, reset a GPU or replace drivers. Resource limits and safe cancellation remain acceptance tests for the selected workload.
Telemetry is supporting evidence, with provider-specific meaning:
- NVIDIA `nvidia-smi` documents unsupported values as `N/A`, separate errors for permission denial, unloaded driver and missing NVML, and stable UUID/PCI selection. Its utility success does not test Vulkan/OpenGL presentation. Read-only query adapters must preserve unavailable/error outcomes. [9]
- amdgpu exposes temperature, load, power and other sysfs metrics, but support varies. Its APU power reading includes CPU power, so it is not interchangeable with discrete-GPU-only power. [17]
- Linux DRM fdinfo defines per-client engine-busy counters, capacities and accounting rules; availability depends on the driver and accessible process descriptors. These can help attribute work without assuming one vendor's utilization meaning applies everywhere. [18]
Advice should name the evidence: “Vulkan userspace driver could not load,” “render-node access denied,” “software renderer selected,” “this feature is unsupported,” or “workload lost the device.” A package/version mismatch needs concrete loader or vendor evidence; a successful fallback may be intentional. Present a distro-appropriate investigation step with confidence and tradeoffs, rather than an unconditional “install proprietary drivers.”
## 6. Decisions and limits carried forward
The workload decision must choose: headless compute and graphics requirements; whether visible GPU presentation is allowed; selected tool/build and minimum API features; treatment of software/virtual/unsupported paths; default multi-GPU selection; memory/runtime budgets; and the correctness check and scoring eligibility rules.
Before a supported release, qualify the four architecture/libc lanes, real Intel/AMD/NVIDIA hardware, representative ARM SoCs, X11/Wayland/headless sessions, multiple GPUs, denied permissions, software rendering, VM acceleration/passthrough, and cancellation/device-loss fixtures. No such execution evidence was produced here. No package-size estimates or full vendor conformance/redistribution audit were established.
Context7 resolution preceded documentation lookup. Its glmark2 queries yielded no relevant main-project documentation; clpeak was unindexed; vkpeak resolved to an unrelated speech tool and was rejected; NVIDIA NVML searches produced unrelated/wrapper results. Official tagged source and vendor documentation supplied those gaps. The guessed Mesa Lavapipe page returned 404; software/virtual-path claims use inspected Mesa driver documentation and API/device evidence instead. Current Mesa pages contain evolving and occasionally differing generation summaries, so no exhaustive model support table is inferred from them.
## Sources
1. [Linux DRM userspace API, render nodes](https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/drm-uapi.html).
2. [Vulkan device/queue specification](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Docs/blob/main/chapters/devsandqueues.adoc), physical-device, driver, UUID and DRM properties.
3. Vulkan Tools SDK tag: [vulkaninfo documentation](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Tools/blob/vulkan-sdk-1.4.357.0/vulkaninfo/vulkaninfo.md), [license](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Tools/blob/vulkan-sdk-1.4.357.0/LICENSE.txt).
4. Mesa [platforms/drivers](https://docs.mesa3d.org/systems.html), [LLVMpipe](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/llvmpipe.html), [Zink](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/zink.html).
5. [Mesa environment variables](https://docs.mesa3d.org/envvars.html), [Vulkan loader driver discovery](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Loader/blob/main/docs/LoaderDriverInterface.md).
6. [OpenCL device enumeration](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/OpenCL-Registry/blob/main/specs/unified/refpages/man/html/clGetDeviceIDs.html), [Vulkan Guide support/null-driver discussion](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Guide/blob/main/chapters/checking_for_support.adoc), inspected through Context7.
7. Mesa [ANV](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/anv.html), [RADV](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/radv.html), [NVK](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/nvk.html), [Panfrost](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/panfrost.html), [Freedreno/Turnip](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/freedreno.html).
8. [ROCm current compatibility matrix](https://rocm.docs.amd.com/en/latest/compatibility/compatibility-matrix.html).
9. NVIDIA [open-module 615.71.09 README](https://github.com/NVIDIA/open-gpu-kernel-modules/blob/615.71.09/README.md), [nvidia-smi documentation](https://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/nvidia-smi/index.html).
10. [Void musl compatibility](https://docs.voidlinux.org/installation/musl.html).
11. clpeak 2.1.4: [README](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/README.md), [CLI options](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/src/common/options.cpp), [Vulkan timing/instance implementation](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/src/vulkan/vk_peak.cpp), [device mapping](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/src/vulkan/vulkan_device.cpp), [build options](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/CMakeLists.txt), [license](https://github.com/krrishnarraj/clpeak/blob/2.1.4/LICENSE).
12. vkpeak 20260527: [README](https://github.com/nihui/vkpeak/blob/20260527/README.md), [implementation](https://github.com/nihui/vkpeak/blob/20260527/vkpeak.cpp), [build/dependency configuration](https://github.com/nihui/vkpeak/blob/20260527/CMakeLists.txt), [license](https://github.com/nihui/vkpeak/blob/20260527/LICENSE).
13. vkmark 2025.01: [README](https://github.com/vkmark/vkmark/blob/2025.01/README.md), [manual](https://github.com/vkmark/vkmark/blob/2025.01/doc/vkmark.1), [headless implementation and license notice](https://github.com/vkmark/vkmark/blob/2025.01/src/ws/headless_native_system.cpp), [backend build](https://github.com/vkmark/vkmark/blob/2025.01/src/meson.build).
14. glmark2 2023.01: [README/license declaration](https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2/blob/2023.01/README), [manual](https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2/blob/2023.01/doc/glmark2.1.in), [GBM implementation](https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2/blob/2023.01/src/native-state-gbm.cpp), [build flavors](https://github.com/glmark2/glmark2/blob/2023.01/meson_options.txt).
15. [Vulkan WSI specification](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Docs/blob/main/chapters/VK_KHR_surface/wsi.adoc), surface support, headless surfaces and present modes.
16. [Mesa Virtio-GPU Venus](https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/venus.html).
17. [Linux amdgpu thermal/power monitoring](https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/amdgpu/thermal.html).
18. [Linux DRM usage-statistics ABI](https://docs.kernel.org/gpu/drm-usage-stats.html).