Hey everyone! I'm running Xubuntu 25.04 and I'm struggling to set my display to 144Hz using HDMI 2.1 with my AMD 9070. While I can easily select 144Hz VRR on Windows 10, Xubuntu only allows me to choose 4K at 120Hz, and I can't seem to get the option for 144Hz at any resolution. I'm not sure if I'm using Wayland or Xorg, which makes it tricky to know if I can modify settings like XRANDR. If anyone could help me figure out which one Xubuntu is using, that could really narrow down my troubleshooting options. I really want to get 144Hz working since I notice a significant difference between 120Hz and 144Hz, especially when scrolling, which drives me a bit nuts! I love XFCE, so I'd prefer to stick with it instead of switching to Ubuntu. Any tips or solutions would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
HDMI 2.1 has some limitations on Linux. Consider swapping your cable to DisplayPort instead for better compatibility!
Just so you're aware, Xubuntu uses Xfce, which operates on the legacy X11 Window Manager. Currently, it has limited support for modern hardware, and it might not be worth troubleshooting to get 144Hz working on your setup. It might be better to switch to a more modern Linux distro that can utilize a Wayland compositor. Software options like Plasma or GNOME on something like Fedora or Arch Linux might give you better results without all the hassle. You could even boot up a live version of Fedora to see if it works out for you! Also, you can use Fastfetch to check if you’re on X11 or Wayland.
Thanks for the detailed info! I absolutely adore XFCE, and I'm willing to look into other distros that I can customize. I haven't spent much time on my current setup, so a switch wouldn't be too bad. I've heard good things about Plasma, so that’s definitely on my list. If you happen to know any updated distros with Kernel 6.13 or higher that would work well with my 9070, I’d love any recommendations! I appreciate the help!
Absolutely! You might want to check out Rolling release distros like Arch or Manjaro, which usually have the latest kernels. They also have great community support! Best of luck with your search!
I get that! But actually, HDMI 2.0 can also handle 144Hz with 8-bit color and 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 chroma subsampling. Just a heads up in case you want to stick with HDMI for now.