I've been using Ubuntu and ATI Catalyst for years.

On my clean install of Ubuntu 12.04 I've noticed that Catalyst 12.6 and then 12.8 are not actually using my HD5750 GPU for hardware acceleration - high CPU usage, zero GPU load.

Everything installed correctly with no hassles, fglrxinfo and vainfo are correct as per this HowTo for Precise.

I have an Ubuntu 10.04 with Catalyst 12.6 installation on the same hardware which does use the GPU - low CPU usage, high GPU load when transcodeing video files or playing video content. The VA-API drivers are not installed on the 10.04 build. They are not mentioned in this HowTo for Lucid.

fgl_glxgears frame rates on Precise are a fifth of the rates on Lucid.

LUCID
jw@Kworld:~$ fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
16867 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3373.400 FPS
12523 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2504.600 FPS
13763 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2752.600 FPS

PRECISE
jw@NewWorld12:~$ fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
12905 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2581.000 FPS
3230 frames in 5.0 seconds = 646.000 FPS
517 frames in 5.0 seconds = 103.400 FPS
518 frames in 5.0 seconds = 103.600 FPS
6489 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1297.800 FPS

This is glxgears running in fullscreen. In Lucid (10.04) I can't see the gears, they are spinning so fast, but in Precise (12.04) they are really sluggish.

Has anyone else noticed a problem like this?

Cheers, Jack.