How to limit frame rate for all games on Linux Mint?

Question

Affected OS

• Linux Mint 19.1 "Tessa" - Cinnamon (64-bit), based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (Unimportant, but later updated to 19.3 version.)

  the above system was later upgraded to:

• Linux Mint 20.2 "Uma" - Cinnamon (64-bit), based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (This is my primary OS now.)

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Related Hardware

• CPU: Intel, Core 7th gen (Kaby Lake), i7-7700HQ, base clock 2.80 GHz, max Turbo Boost 3.80 GHz, Smart Cache 6 MB

• GPU: NVIDIA, GeForce GTX 1060, Max-Q Design, 6 GB GDDR5 VRAM

• Screen: 4K laptop 15.6 inch display (UHD 3840 x 2160)

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Problem

There are about 200 - 300 FPS while playing any non-GPU-heavy game(s), so I'm thinking there is a lot of power being wasted, and my hardware is overheating if such a game is in the foreground for many hours straight. Additionally, even if I don't pay the electricity bills, I think my hardware is more prone to fault if playing on a maximum frame rate, which in ordinary games can be the above-stated, hardly believable, 200 - 300 FPS.

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Question

How can I set an FPS limit for all games on my Nvidia-based hardware? If possible even, to name a few such games?

For example, NOT an advertisement, Hexcells franchise uses so little GPU, and I tested my solution below on these games.

Solution

NVIDIA-specific solution

Disclaimer: The use of an official driver package from the repository, NOT from a PPA, is recommended by me. You can learn how to install or update your drivers in my other question here: How to install the latest Nvidia drivers on Linux Mint 20

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Important Notice

Disclaimer: This solution has been verified and tested only on one Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 based system. If you have an older one, DO NOT FOLLOW; use caution on newer versions too.

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Solution for Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04 based systems

This solution utilizes V-Sync (Vertical Synchronization). If you don't like using it, this solution is not for you.

Thank you, Xander, for the comment on enabling V-Sync. With this hint, I was able to find out, that I only need to do the following steps.

1. Create the following new (if not yet existing) file in your favorite text editor:

   /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-drm-nomodeset.conf
   

2. Put this single line in there, save and close the file; in case the file exists already, then ensure this line is there:

   options nvidia-drm modeset=1
   

3. Update all of your initramfs images with:

   sudo update-initramfs -u -k all
   

   or if you only want to test it, you can update just the latest image with:

   sudo update-initramfs -u
   

4. Reboot your system.

5. The V-Sync shall be on now, verify with:

   sudo cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset
   

It will say:

• Y

if V-Sync is On

• N

if V-Sync is Off

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You should be done now, capped to your display refresh rate (usually 60).

In spite, I am satisfied with this solution, feel free to add your own (AMD-specific, Intel-specific, whatever...) to make this question useful for others.