Should I install the old AMD driver for better gaming performance on my laptop?
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MapleOrbit42
I'm using a Sony VGN-NS31ST laptop with a Radeon HD 3430, an SSD, and CachyOS with kernel 7.1.3-2. Performance is generally better than it was with the original hard drive, but games run worse than they did on Windows 7. The system currently uses the default Radeon drivers without any other noticeable problems. AMD provides a driver package for this GPU, but it appears to be very old. Could installing it improve gaming performance, or would it likely cause compatibility problems? What would be the best approach?
Answers
You generally should not install the old proprietary driver from AMD’s website. This GPU uses the TeraScale architecture, and the driver package is intended for much older X.Org and kernel versions, so it is very unlikely to install or work correctly on a modern CachyOS system. The kernel’s built-in Radeon driver is probably the best-supported option.
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The main gaming limitation is that this older Radeon does not support Vulkan. Modern Linux gaming tools and many Proton titles expect Vulkan, so performance and compatibility will be limited. For games that need it, try running Proton with the PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 launch option, which uses WineD3D instead of Vulkan, although it may be slower.
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The AMD download page specifically mentions X.Org versions up to 1.12 and kernels up to 3.4. Since drivers include kernel modules, using it on a current kernel would require porting and fixing the source code. Installing the package as-is could fail or leave you with a broken graphics setup.
MapleOrbit42: So I should probably accept the current performance rather than risk breaking the working graphics driver?
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MapleOrbit42: I tested Proton-GE and Wine 11.14, but I haven’t noticed a meaningful performance difference between them so far.