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rayray

Member

Registered: 2025-07-11

Posts: 14

[Solved] VRR issues on RX 9070 XT with Xorg

If using AMDGPU with Xorg, TearFree must be enabled if using VRR. Otherwise it causes issues with the refresh rate that I am unsure how to fix besides a reboot with the correct settings enabled.

Hey everyone. I am using a 9070XT on my Arch PC using XFCE with XORG. My monitor is an Asus VG27AQL3A. I have ELMB SYNC disabled in the monitor. I am only using one monitor.

I'm having an issue regarding Variable Refresh Rate on my monitor. Launching or interacting with certain programs (Librewolf and Dota 2) cause the refresh rate to lower to 76, then to 48, reported by the monitor OSD. This issue persists after killing the programs that started the issue. Nothing in journalctl or xorg log related to this issue

On boot with VRR on and tearfree off, it works as expected. Once I launch certain applications within XFCE, the refresh rate drastically lowers to 48 and stays there. I just don't understand what would cause this issue to occur now. I updated my system today and it began doing this, so it is almost certainly one of the upgraded packages. I have been downgrading packages to try to isolate the problem but I have yet to find one that is the cause. I have downgraded to 7.2.6-arch2-1 and  *inux-firmware-amdgpu 20260910-2, issue persists.

The problem was Mesa 26.2.4-1. I downgraded to Mesa 26.2.2-1. I also had to downgrade the LLVM libraries to the matching versions:

mesa
lib32-mesa
vulkan-radeon
lib32-vulkan-radeon
vulkan-mesa-implicit-layers
lib32-vulkan-mesa-implicit-layers

After downgrading, VRR works as expected.

Any idea what could've caused this? I haven't tested Mesa 26.2.3-1, I can if requested. I've checked the Mesa Gitlab tracker and I can't seem to find anything similar to this issue posted.

Last edited by rayray (2026-10-07 16:17:59)

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 15,515

Re: [Solved] VRR issues on RX 9070 XT with Xorg

Please try both mesa 26.2.3-2 and 26.2.3-1 .
The only difference between them is that -2 uses llvm 23, while -1 uses llvm 22.
amd on mesa currently uses a lot less of llvm then before so doesn't see much testing with newer llvm versions before mesa releases .

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

rayray

Member

Registered: 2025-07-11

Posts: 14

Re: [Solved] VRR issues on RX 9070 XT with Xorg

I tried mesa 26.2.3-2 and 26.2.3-1. Both worked, so I considered what else could have been causing the issue. After more robust testing, I think I have finally determined the cause of the issue and why I was so confused.

If using AMDGPU with Xorg, TearFree must be enabled if using VRR. Otherwise it causes the refresh issue that caps it to around 48, and requires a reboot; I was naive to think that restarting xorg would be enough during testing. It would false-fix the issue for a moment.

I was confused because XFCE Compositor actually was keeping the Refresh rate at a consistent 180, essentially disabling VRR. I had been foolishly disregarding a warning stating the TearFree/VRR dependency in the Xorg log from amdgpu; I did this because I was under the assumption that it had been working fine due to the XFCE compositor "fix". Also, one of my test cases for the error was actually working as intended, just a misunderstanding on my part. Huge headache.

Apologies for the waste of time. I'll edit the OP.

Last edited by rayray (2026-10-07 15:42:04)