Do you use Ubuntu with an NVIDIA graphics card? If so, you may want to install GreenWithEnvy.
And in this post I show you how.
GreenWithEnvy is a free, open-source utility for Linux designed exclusively for use with with NVIDIA graphics cards.
It displays real-time stats about GPU usage, memory share, current temperature, power consumption, whether encoder/decoders are active, and current fan speed. Plus, you can also see information about your graphics card, including model name, driver version number, and clock speed.
Neatly, you’re also able to view historical data for GPU stats too. This could be a handy way to see how much of an impact an app, game, or process had while you were busy using it (and not staring at this app’s real-time readings).
But what makes GreenWithEnvy most useful are its controls.
This app lets you overclock your NVIDIA graphics card (including memory); change the power limit (a handy way to reduce energy consumption); and control fan(s) speed (ideal if it’s kicking in before you’d like it to).
Will regular home users want to do those things? No, and they arguably shouldn’t. But those with technical skill, knowledge, and/or the need to squeeze the most performance from their hardware will — and this app makes it easy to do that on Linux distros like Ubuntu.
GreenWithEnvy could be seen as a Linux alternative to MSI Afterburner or ASUS’ GPU Tweak II, a pair of popular Windows-only tools. I say ‘could’ as this app doesn’t quite match either of those in every feature, tweak, and toggle, but there’s enough here to satisfy most needs.
Install GrenWithEnvy on Ubuntu
The developer of this NVIDIA graphics card utility recommends Ubuntu users install GreenWithEnvy from Flathub (indeed, recommends it for most other Linux distros too).
Now, Flatpak is not installed in Ubuntu by default so you have to install it first. You then have to enable Flathub too (well worth doing as scores of open-source software is available there).
Below I show you how to do both things using the command line.
The CLI can seem intimidating but for this set of tasks it’s the most efficient way (as Ubuntu Software/App Center doesn’t show “system packages”, and there’s no GUI way to add a Flathub repo without additional software).
First, run this command to install Flatpak on Ubuntu:
sudo apt install flatpak
Then enable Flathub support:
flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
That’s basically it; you can now install GreenWithEnvy like so:
flatpak install flathub com.leinardi.gwe
This command will list any runtimes required by the app (a runtime is a bundle of core dependencies that this and other apps can use, so you only have to download it once) so hit y
to continue.
Once all is done, if Bob wasn’t your uncle, he now is – ‘cos that’s it.
Open the app picker in Ubuntu and launch GreenWithEnvy to gawk at GPU stats.
CoolBits, Overclocking, Ubuntu, What?
To use overclocking and manual fan control in GreenWithEnvy — do keep in mind that overclocking can irreparably damage your hardware — you need to set CoolBits to ’12’. Read up on CoolBits on the Arch Wiki and NVIDIA website first as it will explain why the value is ’12’.
To set CoolBits on Ubuntu you must use a Xorg/X11 session and (I recommend backing up your xorg.conf file before doing this) run:
sudo nvidia-xconfig --cool-bits=12
Log out, reboot, and continue.
Sidenote
I don’t own a single device with an NVIDIA graphics card so I’m unable to test this app myself (plus me overclocking? Hah – I’m too much of a wuss). So I’d love to know your experiences with this app (on Ubuntu or elsewhere, no judgement) down in the comments.