Linux users have long preferred AMD GPUs for their superior built-in support in the Linux kernel, and the latest Linux kernel update, version 6.19, appears to reinforce these notions, according to testing by Phoronix. For users of old GCN 1.0 and GCN 1.1 GPUs, like the AMD R9 390x, recent change to the Linux kernel now defaults to using the newer AMDGPU Linux kernel driver, where they would previously default to the Radeon driver. This change was facilitated by Valve, whose engineers have been working on bringing modern feature support to the GPUs and getting the AMDGPU kernel driver support into a state that allowed for it to become the default option. This change was expected to deliver a performance uplift, but in testing, it has been revealed that this performance uplift often exceeds 40%, depending on the game.

Phoronix tested the new configuration on an AMD Radeon HD 7900 3 GB from the Southern Island family, which is a 13-year-old graphics card, and in the publication’s testing, the new driver outperformed the older version in every test, with the biggest performance increases coming from the GravityMark 1.87 OpenGL tests, although Unigine’s benchmarks also saw a handsome improvement. Aside from performance improvements, access to features like the Mesa RADV Vulkan driver, among others, allows these older GPUs to play a number of games using Proton, which could improve performance or make previously unplayable games compatible.