[Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

Funkt4st1c · 2025-03-06 22:00:26

Edit: gave up, waiting for driver update to base Arch before returning
---------------
Hello, omega-noob here. Got Arch fully set up (citation needed) about 2 days ago.

I got a 9070xt today, and I tested it out on my windows install (same machine, just downloaded drivers) and it's running great.
Swapped over to my Arch install and suddenly it's not being used at all -- For example, Doom Eternal is showing that my GPU is my intel integrated graphics, which according to other posts shouldn't be possible since I have my monitor plugged directly into my GPU's DisplayPort.

I have Mesa installed from pacman, "sudo pacman -Syu" and "yay" says there's nothing to update.

Some outputs (that I don't really understand) that I've seen in other posts for troubleshooting:

$ lspci -k | grep -A 2 -E "(VGA|3D)"
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 48 [RX 9070/9070 XT] (rev c0)
        Subsystem: Tul Corporation / PowerColor Device 2435
        Kernel driver in use: amdgpu

..Which seems to me like it's being detected?

 glxinfo -B
name of display: :1
display: :1  screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
Extended renderer info (GLX_MESA_query_renderer):
    Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
    Device: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, gfx1201, LLVM 19.1.7, DRM 3.61, 6.13.5-arch1-1) (0x7550)
    Version: 24.3.4
    Accelerated: yes
    Video memory: 16384MB
    Unified memory: no
    Preferred profile: core (0x1)
    Max core profile version: 4.6
    Max compat profile version: 4.6
    Max GLES1 profile version: 1.1
    Max GLES[23] profile version: 3.2
Memory info (GL_ATI_meminfo):
    VBO free memory - total: 14776 MB, largest block: 14776 MB
    VBO free aux. memory - total: 15757 MB, largest block: 15757 MB
    Texture free memory - total: 14776 MB, largest block: 14776 MB
    Texture free aux. memory - total: 15757 MB, largest block: 15757 MB
    Renderbuffer free memory - total: 14776 MB, largest block: 14776 MB
    Renderbuffer free aux. memory - total: 15757 MB, largest block: 15757 MB
Memory info (GL_NVX_gpu_memory_info):
    Dedicated video memory: 16384 MB
    Total available memory: 32322 MB
    Currently available dedicated video memory: 14776 MB
OpenGL vendor string: AMD
OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, gfx1201, LLVM 19.1.7, DRM 3.61, 6.13.5-arch1-1)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 24.3.4-arch1.1
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile

OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 24.3.4-arch1.1
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile

OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 24.3.4-arch1.1
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20

..However, when I try to play a game, my UHD utilization (seen through Mission-center) spikes to 100 every couple of seconds while my brand new 9070xt stays at 5% or lower

For what it's worth, when I had my 7800xt plugged in, it was working flawlessly out of the box. I think I maybe forced something to use my 7800xt that wasn't updated when I put in my new card? literally no idea

Running games through Flatpak Steam (proton fixes enabled) on KDE plasma desktop, if that matters; same issue with games installed through Lutris. Tried to disable my integrated graphics though my UEFI, but the desktop didn't initialize.

Last edited by Funkt4st1c (2025-03-09 10:38:01)

Funkt4st1c · 2025-03-07 05:48:21

Self solve: downloaded linux-firmware-git from AUR, rebooted, disabled IGPU.

Nordom · 2025-03-07 05:59:54

I followed the guide on https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/AMDGPU and I couldnt get vulkaninfo or vkgears -info to work. After swapping from vulkan-radeon to amdvlk and back several times, I eventually came to the conclusion my drivers were out of date. All you need to do is run yay -Syu mesa-git lib32-mesa-git and it will work Spent way too much time on this to figure it out.

Edit -- I kept getting crashes on video like things so I think xf86-video-amdgpu-git also needed if you run into that issue. Unfortunately for me it was giving me a build issue. Not sure if issue is with the package or with me.

Edit2 -- Better explanation:
I swapped from an Nvidia GPU to an AMD one, which required some cleanup. Following the AMDGPU path, I installed mesa + vulkan-radeon. My GPU worked fine displaying desktop, and I could see ram usage by applications like Chromium using nvtop. However, when trying to play a Steam game, I encountered issues. Despite watching the ram usage in nvtop, nothing would happen, and the game would crash. The typical spike in ram usage that occurs when launching a game was absent. This problem persisted even after switching from vulkan-radeon to amdvlk.

It wasn't until I switched to using amdvlk that I could launch a game at all - but instead of utilizing my AMD 9070 GPU, the games launched using my IGPU. Like Funkt4st1c, I disabled my IGPU in the UEFI settings. Unfortunately, this resulted in games not launching with either vulkan-radeon or amdvlk. After much effort I figured my drivers weren't the latest, so I installed mesa-git and lib32-mesa-git, which resolved the launch issue and allowed me to play Steam games without any further problems... for the most part. Cyberpunk 2077 consistently freezes after 1-3 minutes from launch, making benchmarking impossible. I was able to play "The Finals" just fine, but the match intro scene would cause me to freeze (I think due to 2d elements). after I rebooted, I could rejoin and play the match normally. The intros are the main reason I suspect that this issue is related to xf86-video-amdgpu where I am show how not correctly rendering 2d elements. I tried xf86-video-amdgpu-git, but as I said it has come complication error. I will try later today see if I can resolve it.

Last edited by Nordom (2025-03-07 19:22:04)

cryptearth · 2025-03-07 07:20:31

I'm jealous and envy you about your fancy new cards - how much you guys paid for them and what cards you got specifically?

laichiaheng · 2025-03-07 07:59:57

I can't even buy the card, they were sold out in few seconds.

Are you using the linux6.13.5 with mesa-git?

Nordom · 2025-03-07 19:11:57

Cryptearth, I wouldn't try to buy online. I got mine from Microcenter. As long as you can make a bot, and corner the market due to limited inventory the scalpers will be there. I went around 4pm. They were all out of XTs. They only had $600+ 9070s left. I got a hellhound and after tax it was $670ish. $550 is the perfect price for an 9070. $600 for XT. If you pay more than $700 then its not worth it. AMD did say after initial stock depletes, they will raise prices. Its really gross how 5000 series does a paper launch so they can raise prices. Because Nvidia is doing it so will AMD. Because of limited supply, scalpers are rampant also helping to raise prices.

Laichiaheng, I am using Linux 6.13.5-zen1-1-zen. I don't think the kernel matters as much as the mesa drivers.

Last edited by Nordom (2025-03-07 19:18:26)

Funkt4st1c · 2025-03-07 19:28:13

Alright well it stopped working.

Downloaded mesa-git via AUR, made sure I'm on 6.13.5 but it's still not being recognized (at least, by proton).

I'm currently able to run my desktop off of it, but any game I try to play is at like 20fps or doesn't launch at all

Apparently, I need to update linux-firmware to the absolute latest release, but I have no idea how to do that (pacman -Syu gives no update, same with yay)

Last edited by Funkt4st1c (2025-03-07 19:28:40)

makkusu · 2025-03-07 23:49:53

I also got my hand on a 9070XT at MicroCenter yesterday. I am going to build my new PC in the next couple of days with it and I am looking around to see how users are doing.

I have seen that Arch needs kernel 6.13.5, Mesa 25, Vulkan Radeon git and "and some manual firmware" but I am also not sure how to do this latest part. This is by tech1 forums big boss.

I was also told that 25.0.1 MESA released and its in Arch test state so we should also wait for that, but current latest mesa should work.

Let me know how it goes for you! I am very invested in this.

Nordom · 2025-03-08 01:41:51

I had my second monitor plugged into my 9070, but turned off and disabled via kdm's display manager properties, because I didnt want to deal with my mouse going off screen when I had the monitor off. I turned it on, moved various monitors to debug what was causing the freezes in Cyberpunk and strangely cyberpunk stopped freezing! The secret sauce was just turn on that 2nd monitor. Disabling it was some how was causing issues. Hopefully this wont become a trend for others.

Funkt4st1c and makkusu, mesa-git and lib32-mega-git only contain mesa 25.0.0. If you want the 25.0.1 you'd need to compile it yourself. Wendell is correct you don't need 25.0.1 to play games, the 25.0.0 contained in mesa-git will work. I suspect it may be a little before before we get the next 25.x version. When it does release the -git versions will be the first to get it. It looks like mesa and lib32-mesa are kept minus 2 versions from the latest, with the last version being the one you build directly off of the repo. That means it might be a few months before it trickles down to the base mesa package. For future people, I'd try base mesa first before trying GIT one, because despite being the latest released version it still might have bugs in mesa-git and lib32-mesa-git.

makkusu if you are building a new system you might have the best result on Ubuntu as AMD has this install script https://amdgpu-install.readthedocs.io/e … cript.html for it. It also looks like a bunch of level1tech forum members are also rocking Ubuntu. If you are okay with potentially buggy experience you can certainly join us on Arch. Just be willing to accept your games might not work. The desktop does work great with these drivers ;D

For anyone else running arch trying to get the 9070 or 9070 XT working on steam, as of 3/7/2025 you will need to run 'yay -Syu mesa-git lib32-mesa-git vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-radeon xf86-video-amdgpu' and it should work. Although beware of multiple displays. I am hopeful mine is a one off bug, but might useful for others to know while these mesa drivers are still buggy Also if you still have issues also try yay -Syu linux-framework-git although I suspect it wont help.

Last edited by Nordom (2025-03-08 02:14:16)

cryptearth · 2025-03-08 08:20:31

xf86-video-amdgpu

that sounds wrong
if I'm not mistaken that's some legacy stuff
reddit says:

xf86-video-* is the legacy DDX driver for Xorg 2D acceleration that isn't really being developed anymore.

Lone_Wolf · 2025-03-08 11:54:15

Most of the capabilities in xf86-video-amdgpu are nowadays provided by xorg modesetting driver, but there are still edge cases were xf86-video-amdgpu works better.

Looking at https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/dri … -/commits/ there have been recent additions, the 9070 / 9070xt could be such an edge case.

makkusu · 2025-03-08 14:52:35

Nordom wrote:

Funkt4st1c and makkusu, mesa-git and lib32-mega-git only contain mesa 25.0.0. If you want the 25.0.1 you'd need to compile it yourself. Wendell is correct you don't need 25.0.1 to play games, the 25.0.0 contained in mesa-git will work. I suspect it may be a little before before we get the next 25.x version. When it does release the -git versions will be the first to get it. It looks like mesa and lib32-mesa are kept minus 2 versions from the latest, with the last version being the one you build directly off of the repo. That means it might be a few months before it trickles down to the base mesa package. For future people, I'd try base mesa first before trying GIT one, because despite being the latest released version it still might have bugs in mesa-git and lib32-mesa-git.

Awesome!

Nordom wrote:

makkusu if you are building a new system you might have the best result on Ubuntu as AMD has this install script https://amdgpu-install.readthedocs.io/e … cript.html for it. It also looks like a bunch of level1tech forum members are also rocking Ubuntu. If you are okay with potentially buggy experience you can certainly join us on Arch. Just be willing to accept your games might not work. The desktop does work great with these drivers ;D

I will give Arch a go, i suspect most of the annoying things will get ironed out in the next couple of days/weeks.

Nordom · 2025-03-08 16:29:01

Lone_Wolf wrote:

Most of the capabilities in xf86-video-amdgpu are nowadays provided by xorg modesetting driver, but there are still edge cases were xf86-video-amdgpu works better.
Looking at https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/dri … -/commits/ there have been recent additions, the 9070 / 9070xt could be such an edge case.

Lone_Wolf, I only included in my list as I was having issues with crashing in games when 2d elements like videos would play. Strangely enough after enabling my second monitor in KDE settings they went away. So there is a good chance it is not needed. I will remove the package and report back.

BS86 · 2025-03-08 17:27:49

The 9070 cards require Mesa 25.0 for working Vulkan. That is already included in testing repo's.
mesa-git of course can contain further optimizations, but that comes with the risk of breakage due to it's experimental state.

Last edited by BS86 (2025-03-08 17:28:52)

Funkt4st1c · 2025-03-08 20:07:00

An update from my side; I simply trashed my arch installation and swapped to CachyOS; works flawlessly out of the box. I'll come back to base arch in a few updates or so

cryptearth · 2025-03-09 00:28:35

wouldn't call out that to loud - mods here have a habit to lock down topics about forks of arch
also: I don't know if switching to a fork is an option as they hardly be any more up to date than arch - and if they are only because they skip proper staging/testing stage but instant release newest git as "stable" which can come with all sorts of issues and hence not supported here

Lone_Wolf · 2025-03-09 10:27:33

Funkt4st1c, it seems you have given up to try to get this card working under archlinux .

If that is correct, please prepend [Abandoned] or [Gave Up] to the thread title (edit first post)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-03-06 22:00:26

[Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#2 2025-03-07 05:48:21

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#3 2025-03-07 05:59:54

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#4 2025-03-07 07:20:31

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#5 2025-03-07 07:59:57

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#6 2025-03-07 19:11:57

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#7 2025-03-07 19:28:13

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#8 2025-03-07 23:49:53

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#9 2025-03-08 01:41:51

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#10 2025-03-08 08:20:31

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#11 2025-03-08 11:54:15

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#12 2025-03-08 14:52:35

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#13 2025-03-08 16:29:01

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#14 2025-03-08 17:27:49

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#15 2025-03-08 20:07:00

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#16 2025-03-09 00:28:35

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

#17 2025-03-09 10:27:33

Re: [Gave up] 9070xt not being used during gaming, works in Windows

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