After installing an AMD RX 9060 XT 16GB, my mouse pointer became sluggish whenever the GPU is idle. Interestingly, starting a YouTube video immediately makes the pointer responsive again, which suggests the issue may be related to GPU power management or display handling at low power states. I have already tried different kernel versions and switching to Wayland, but neither helped. The system is running Linux Mint 22.3 with Cinnamon 6.6.9, kernel 7.0.0-28-generic, Mesa 25.2.8, and a Ryzen 5 2600. The graphics setup uses two 1920×1080 monitors, one at 75 Hz and one at an unspecified refresh rate, through DisplayPort and HDMI.
3 Answers
There may also be a USB or wireless-interference issue rather than a purely graphics problem. If the mouse uses a wireless receiver, try moving the receiver from a rear motherboard port to a front-panel port or use a short USB extension cable to keep it away from the GPU and other USB devices. Since playing video changes the GPU’s power state, the timing may be coincidental, so it is worth testing the mouse separately with different USB ports and, if possible, a wired mouse.
Variable refresh rate or the combination of two displays with different refresh rates can sometimes cause pointer stutter, especially under Cinnamon and X11. Try disabling VRR if it is enabled, and test with both monitors set to the same refresh rate or with one monitor disconnected. The setting may be exposed by the monitor or desktop display configuration rather than the general system settings.
I couldn’t find a VRR option in the normal system settings, so I’ll also test the monitors at matching refresh rates.
This sounds like an overly aggressive GPU power-saving state. As a test, try forcing the graphics card into a higher-performance power profile. If the pointer becomes smooth, you can then adjust the power settings to find a compromise. Your desktop may only expose Balanced and Energy Saving, so you might need to change the amdgpu power setting manually or use a utility that provides a Performance mode.
I only see Balanced and Energy Saving on this installation, so I’m not sure where to enable a Performance profile. I may investigate the amdgpu power settings directly.
Moving the wireless receiver to a front USB port reduced the lag for me, although it didn’t eliminate it completely. The issue appeared after upgrading the graphics card and also happens on another operating system.