Just putting this here in case anyone else is dealing with the same issue, or if I decide to play some EA games later on…
I came across this issue in this thread, while trying to get EA apps and games running smoothly on Arch Linux, following this helpful guide.
In certain situations, split lock mitigation can cause performance issues in some applications and games. Luckily, there’s a simple patch available to disable it via sysctl.
Disable split lock mitigate
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Enable split lock mitigate
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Gamemode
If you’re using GameMode, you can automate this tweak so you don’t have to run the command manually every time. GameMode lets you apply performance optimizations when launching games, and you can add the split lock mitigation tweak directly in its configuration.
Also, don’t forget to add yourself to the gamemode user group. Without it, the GameMode daemon won’t have the necessary permissions to change CPU governors or adjust the niceness of processes. To add your user to the group, use:
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You can check if your user is part of the gamemode group with:
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After adding yourself to the group, you’ll need to end your session and start a new one — either log out and back in, or reboot your PC.
Security risks
Alternatively, if you prefer not to add yourself to the group, you can still use the command to disable split lock mitigation as described above. However, note that disabling this mitigation can have potential security risks, as it could allow certain kinds of vulnerabilities to be exploited in some cases. Use this tweak with caution if you’re concerned about security.
Gamemode
If you’re not sure what GameMode is, be sure to check out one of my previous posts here.