Arch Linux

Santo C01

Member

Registered: 2026-03-02

Posts: 28

Moving from RTX 4090 to RX 9070 XT on Arch/KDE Wayland

Moving from RTX 4090 to RX 9070 XT on Arch/KDE Wayland after NVIDIA display crash — RDNA 4 experiences?
Hi everyone,
I'm considering changing the GPU in my main Arch Linux workstation from an RTX 4090 24 GB to an RX 9070 XT 16 GB, and I'd appreciate feedback from people actually running RDNA 4 on Arch, particularly with KDE Plasma/Wayland.
My current workstation is:
- Arch Linux
- KDE Plasma / Wayland
- RTX 4090 24 GB
- Three monitors currently, potentially four
- Samsung 5120×1440 ultrawide
- ASUS XG27UCG 3840×2160 high-refresh / dual-mode display
- MSI 1920×1080 display
- Mixed resolutions and refresh rates
My normal workloads are native 4K gaming, OBS recording, Kdenlive, Blender 3D modeling/design, occasional light rendering, and general desktop use.
Main reason I'm considering AMD
This isn't primarily about performance. I know the RTX 4090 has considerably more raw performance than the RX 9070 XT.
My main reason for considering the switch is display/Wayland stability.
Recently I enabled the dual-mode function on my ASUS XG27UCG. Immediately afterward, all three monitors went black and the graphical session became effectively unusable.
After recovering the system and investigating the logs, I found NVIDIA DRM errors including:
nvidia-drm: flip event timeout on head 0

That incident made me reconsider whether I want the NVIDIA graphics stack driving my everyday Arch/KDE workstation, particularly with my combination of resolutions and refresh rates.
I'm therefore interested in trying AMDGPU + Mesa/RADV.
I'm not expecting AMD to magically eliminate every graphics problem. I'm mainly interested in whether the AMD stack provides a more predictable experience with KDE Wayland and a complicated multi-monitor configuration.
What I actually need from the GPU
The RX 9070 XT would be responsible for:
Arch Linux + KDE Wayland
│
├── 3–4 monitors
├── Native 4K gaming
├── OBS recording
├── Kdenlive
├── Blender modeling / 3D design
├── Blender viewport work
├── Eevee
└── Occasional light rendering

For Blender, my priority is modeling/design and viewport performance, rather than using this machine for continuous heavy rendering.
My main concern is whether I'll noticeably regret giving up the 4090's performance, particularly for native 4K gaming, or whether the RX 9070 XT is already powerful enough that it won't matter much for the rest of my workload.
Questions for RX 9070 XT / RDNA 4 users
1. How has RDNA 4 stability been with current Arch kernels, Mesa and KDE Plasma/Wayland?
2. How reliable has it been with multiple monitors using very different resolutions and refresh rates?
3. Has anyone used an RX 9070 XT with high-refresh 4K and/or 5120×1440 displays?
4. Have you experienced black screens or DRM/modesetting problems when changing monitor modes or refresh rates?
5. How is native 4K gaming under RADV?
6. How has OBS/Kdenlive hardware encoding been?
7. How is Blender viewport/modeling performance and occasional HIP rendering?
8. Have kernel/Mesa updates caused any significant RDNA 4 regressions?
9. For anyone who moved from NVIDIA to AMD specifically because of KDE/Wayland/display issues, did the AMD stack noticeably improve your experience?
I'm particularly interested in real-world Arch/RDNA 4 experiences rather than benchmark comparisons.
I already understand that the 4090 is considerably faster. I'm trying to determine whether the RX 9070 XT is powerful enough for these workloads while potentially giving me a simpler and more stable KDE Wayland experience.
Thanks!

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 15,476

Re: Moving from RTX 4090 to RX 9070 XT on Arch/KDE Wayland

Are your monitors connected through DisplayPort or HDMI ?
Especially HDMI 2.1 is troublesome with amdgpu (it's improving but may need a few more kernel releases to become fully usable).

---

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

nhu

Member

Registered: 2020-09-20

Posts: 1

Re: Moving from RTX 4090 to RX 9070 XT on Arch/KDE Wayland

Hi there,

i cannot respond to all points since i am primarily programming.

- Blender works for me without issues (but i don't do anything special with it, merely simple modeling and sometimes some procedural shaders)
- Stability with wayland (niri): no issues at all
- Kernel update: running each update without issues so far, and the machine was setup around 1 1/2 years ago
- Gaming: No issues at all
  - steam with proton
  - 3440x1440 px, 59.973000 Hz
  - Stalker 2, RDR2, D4, Poe2, MGSV (no mods for all of them, all of them on max. settings but with 60fps cap)

hope it helps a bit.

EDIT: since lone_wolf mentioned it - the display is connected via display port

Last edited by nhu (2026-09-28 10:00:09)

Santo C01

Member

Registered: 2026-03-02

Posts: 28

Re: Moving from RTX 4090 to RX 9070 XT on Arch/KDE Wayland

Thanks both, this is very helpful.
@Lone_Wolf — my plan is to use DisplayPort for my three main monitors. The RX 9070 XT I'm looking at has 3× DP + 1× HDMI, so the Samsung 5120×1440, ASUS 4K high-refresh display, and MSI monitor would all be connected through DisplayPort.
I may eventually use the HDMI output for a fourth display, though, so your comment about HDMI 2.1 on amdgpu is definitely something I'll look into. For the displays I care about most, I can stay on DP.

@nhu — that's actually reassuring. Blender modeling, Wayland stability, Proton gaming and trouble-free kernel updates are exactly the kind of real-world experiences I was looking for.
Your gaming results at 3440×1440/max settings are also useful. My heavier gaming use would be native 4K, sometimes while recording/streaming through OBS, so that's probably where I'll notice the biggest performance difference coming from the 4090.
My main motivation for trying AMD is still the display stack. After the nvidia-drm flip-event timeout and all three monitors going black when switching the ASUS dual-mode setting, I'm curious to see whether amdgpu + Mesa behaves better with my multi-monitor setup.
Thanks again — especially for confirming you're using DisplayPort. That helps.