I915 PERF OVERVIEW(9)

💖 i915 Perf Overview 💖

okay bestie, welcome to i915 Perf Overview(9) from the Kernel API Manual — this is the page for the i915 perf interface, and no cap it's kinda iconic. 🎀

Gen graphics supports a large number of performance counters that can help driver and application developers understand and optimize their use of the GPU. ✨

This i915 perf interface enables userspace to configure and open a file descriptor representing a stream of GPU metrics which can then be read as a stream of sample records. 🦋

The interface is particularly suited to exposing buffered metrics that are captured by DMA from the GPU, unsynchronized with and unrelated to the CPU. 👑

Streams representing a single context are accessible to applications with a corresponding drm file descriptor, such that OpenGL can use the interface without special privileges. 🔥 Access to system-wide metrics requires root privileges by default, unless changed via the dev.i915.perf_event_paranoid sysctl option. 💅

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

Here's the whole squad — every single reference, bestie, no skips: 🫶

• Kernel file ./drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_perf.c
• i915 Perf History and Comparison with Core Perf(9)
• OA Tail Pointer Race(9)
• struct perf_open_properties(9)
• oa_buffer_check_unlocked(9)
• append_oa_status(9)
• append_oa_sample(9)
• gen8_append_oa_reports(9)
• gen8_oa_read(9)
• gen7_append_oa_reports(9)
• gen7_oa_read(9)
• i915_oa_wait_unlocked(9)
• i915_oa_poll_wait(9)
• i915_oa_read(9)
• oa_get_render_ctx_id(9)
• oa_put_render_ctx_id(9)
• i915_oa_stream_enable(9)
• i915_oa_stream_disable(9)
• i915_oa_stream_init(9)
• i915_perf_read(9)
• i915_perf_poll_locked(9)
• i915_perf_poll(9)
• i915_perf_enable_locked(9)
• i915_perf_disable_locked(9)
• i915_perf_ioctl_locked(9)
• i915_perf_ioctl(9)
• i915_perf_destroy_locked(9)
• i915_perf_release(9)
• i915_perf_open_ioctl_locked(9)
• read_properties_unlocked(9)
• i915_perf_open_ioctl(9)
• i915_perf_register(9)
• i915_perf_unregister(9)
• i915_perf_add_config_ioctl(9)
• i915_perf_remove_config_ioctl(9)
• i915_perf_init(9)
• i915_perf_fini(9)
• i915_perf_ioctl_version(9)

okay that's the whole page, bestie — source/version ./drivers/gpu/drm/i915, dated October 2026, manual i915 Perf Overview(9). mwah, slay, byeee! 💋🫶🌈