AMD & Intel Graphics

Good news: for AMD and Intel, the best driver is already what you’re running.

What’s preinstalled

The open-source stack comes standard:

  • Kernel: amdgpu (AMD), i915/i965/Xe (Intel)

  • Mesa: OpenGL + Vulkan (RADV for AMD, ANV for Intel)

  • X11 DDX: modesetting

  • Wayland: native support

Nothing to install for normal desktop use — this is the configuration Mesa upstream tests hardest.

Video acceleration (VA-API)

Offloads decode/encode to the GPU, saving battery and CPU:

sudo pacman -S intel-media-driver    # Broadwell+ Intel
sudo pacman -S libva-mesa-driver     # AMD & older Intel
pacman -Qs va-api                    # sanity check
vainfo                               # lists supported codecs

Browsers/players pick it up automatically (VLC: Tools→Preferences→Video→VA-API).

Vulkan

Games increasingly want Vulkan; RADV/ANV ship with Mesa. Confirm:

vulkaninfo --summary      # from vulkan-tools

Optional tuning

  • Overclocking/monitoring: radeontop, nvtop, amdgpu_top from repos.

  • Fresh AGESA/kernel gains on new APUs arrive by simply staying updated (Updating).

  • Tear-free X11: enable in Cinnamon Settings → General → "Sync refresh rate"; compositing already prevents tearing otherwise.

When things look wrong

  1. glxinfo -B — confirms which renderer/GL version is active.

  2. Artifacts after update? Test previous kernel from GRUB advanced menu (Kernel Management).

  3. Report persistent bugs with inxi -Gxxx output to the community channels (Reporting Bugs).