Performance Tuning

How to pick Auriya’s settings and what values to use — the “which knob, which value, and why” guide. For the exhaustive per-key spec (types, defaults, what the daemon consumes) see the settings reference and gamelist reference; this page is the practical layer on top.

Tip

Every setting on this page is configurable from the Auriya manager app. You do not need to open a terminal or hand-edit settings.toml / gamelist.toml. The app writes both files for you and the daemon picks the changes up. Manual file editing exists (see Configuration) but is a fallback for power users, not the intended workflow.

The two levels of configuration

Level	Sets	Edit in the app under
Global (settings.toml)	daemon defaults, FAS behavior, thermal ceilings	Settings / Config screen
Per-game (gamelist.toml)	a game’s governor, target FPS, refresh rate, mode, ceiling	the game’s entry on the Games screen

Per-game overrides win while that game is foreground; global values apply everywhere else.

FAS: what it is and how to set it

Frame-Aware Scheduling (FAS) watches real frame timing and nudges CPU/GPU up or down to hold your target FPS with the least power. It only runs for whitelisted games and only when the eBPF frame probe is available (see FPS detection and Kala eBPF frame probe).

Enabling FAS

[fas] enabled = true (default). If the device kernel can’t load the eBPF probe, the daemon automatically falls back to sysfs-only FPS and disables FAS — nothing to configure.

FAS modes (the margin knob)

FAS behavior is chosen by modes. Each mode is a margin (FPS headroom) plus a thermal_threshold. fas.default_mode selects which mode is active. Smaller margin = more aggressive (pushes clocks harder to stay glued to the target); larger margin = calmer (tolerates dropping a little below target to save power/heat).

Mode	margin	thermal_threshold	Feel
powersave	5.0	80 °C	Coolest/most battery; lets FPS sag furthest below target
balance	2.0	90 °C	Default — good FPS, sensible heat
performance	1.0	95 °C	Chases the target tightly
fast	0.0	95 °C	Zero headroom — hugs the frame deadline hardest

These are the shipped values and match the upstream fas-rs presets Auriya’s controller is adapted from. fast is a FAS margin preset, not a separate CPU profile — don’t confuse it with the three profile modes below.

Recommended settings by goal

Your goal	fas.default_mode	Notes
Balanced daily driver	balance	Leave everything default.
Max smoothness (comp games)	performance	Tighter frame pacing; more heat/battery.
Absolute lowest latency	fast	Only if your device stays cool enough (95 °C ceiling).
Long sessions / hot device / battery	powersave	Accepts minor FPS dips to run cool.

[dynamic_governor] (defaults cv_threshold = 0.15, debounce_frames = 3) tunes how FAS decides CPU-bound vs GPU-bound. Leave these at defaults unless you are diagnosing a specific bottleneck-misclassification — they are advanced knobs, not everyday settings.

Note

Changes to [fas], [dynamic_governor], and [modes.*] are read when the daemon starts. After changing them, restart the daemon (the app does this for you; from a shell it’s auriyactl restart). cpu.default_governor and daemon.default_mode apply live. See settings → reload behavior.

Per-game tuning

On the Games screen, each whitelisted game can override:

Field	What it does	Typical value
target_fps	FAS target; single (120) or steps ([60,90,120])	your game’s cap, e.g. 120
cpu_governor	governor while this game runs	performance or walt
mode	static profile: performance / balance / powersave	performance for demanding games
refresh_rate	requested display Hz	match target_fps
ceiling	frequency-ceiling level	leave default unless throttling
enable_dnd	Do-Not-Disturb while playing	true for focus

Recommended per-game starting point for a demanding game: mode = performance, target_fps = the game’s real cap, refresh_rate = same, cpu_governor = performance. Tune down toward balance if the device runs hot.

target_fps as an array ([60, 90, 120]) lets FAS match whichever rate the game actually renders at — useful for games with in-menu vs in-match rate changes.

Profile modes vs FAS modes (don’t mix them up)

• Profile modes — performance / balance / powersave (3). These set CPU governor, GPU mode, and tweaks. Chosen per-game via mode, or globally via daemon.default_mode. What each writes: overview → static profiles.
• FAS modes — powersave / balance / performance / fast (4). These are just margin + thermal_threshold presets for the FAS controller, chosen via fas.default_mode. fast exists only here.

Same words, different layers: profile modes decide the baseline; FAS modes decide how aggressively FAS chases the frame target on top of it.

See also

• settings.toml reference — every global key.
• gamelist.toml reference — every per-game field.
• Profile scheduler — how a profile is chosen each tick.