Linux 7.3 is giving my decade-old AMD GPU features it never had on Windows

Published Aug 29, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. One thing I love about using Linux is that it's not a product; it's a project. As such, every so often, the Linux kernel will get an update that aids older hardware, unlocking features for it that Windows never gave it due to being outdated. So, here's why I'm excited for Linux 7.3 to finally give my AMD GPU the fix for a problem that Windows never addressed for it. Older AMD GPUs had a problem when running modern games Turns out, you can ask for too much of a good thing The problem in question is called "VRAM overcommit." This is when a game demands more VRAM from your GPU than your card actually has. In order to fill the gap, some of the CPU's RAM is used instead. This ensures that everything keeps running, but unfortunately, CPU RAM isn't ideal for storing stuff like a video game. As such, the game keeps running, but the performance really isn't great. The problem is that CPU RAM is just too slow; the data has to go through the PCIe bus. However, the really nasty part comes when the GPU is under heavy memory pressure. The kernel has to constantly juggle which data lives in VRAM and which gets moved into CPU RAM. Bugs in that process can cause things to get stuck waiting for each other. In the worst cases, this can result in a deadlock, causing the game to crash. Fortunately, the cool thing about the Linux kernel is that anyone can hop in and fix problems they find, no matter how niche or old the problem is. So, a Linux developer called Natalie Vock took it upon herself to get this problem fixed. Linux 7.3 calms down the RAM fight so games don't crash It's like a peace treaty for your hardware Fortunately, Vock wrote in great detail as to how she managed to fix this annoying issue. The good news is that Linux already has a built-in safety net, called "wound-abort-retry," in drm_exec, that can break deadlocks by canceling and retrying the request. The bad news is that TTM, Linux's shared GPU memory manager, wasn't using that mechanism. When it encountered the deadlock, it treated it as a failed eviction instead of aborting the operation and trying again. To fix this, Vock simply tweaked the kernel, so it acted properly. During the fix, another problem reared its ugly head. As it turns out, applications were being very pushy with the system RAM. If there were two processes using the VRAM, Process A would see that Process B was taking up space and would boot some of it to the CPU RAM. When it was Process B's turn to use the VRAM, it would see that Process A was hogging all the VRAM, and that its own process had been evicted to CPU RAM. So, it would boot out Process A's data to the CPU RAM and bring its own data back into VRAM. The end result was, essentially, two processes eternally squabbling over who got to use the VRAM and who had to settle for CPU RAM. This meant the PC was spending lots of resources swapping memory back and forth when it could be using that same power to actually render the game you're trying to play. To fix this, Vock added smart eviction strategies so that apps spent less time fighting and more time keeping everything running. The end result was a Linux kernel that no longer crashed or encountered weird struggles when a GPU's VRAM overflowed. Sure, the game you're playing won't exactly run as smoothly as you'd like, but it wouldn't hard-crash to the desktop anymore. Vock has the change ready to go for Linux 7.3, which, at the time of writing, hasn't been released yet. However, it's good to hear that someone took it upon themselves to give older GPUs more stability. Linux developers are keen to boost older hardware, which is more than can be said for Microsoft It's one of the major benefits of Linux It's a very cool story as to how one developer can make a difference in an operating system; but how does that relate to Windows, and why did I say that Linux is getting something Microsoft hasn't given us? Well, the key point here isn't the technology itself; Windows does, in fact, have similar technologies that perform this same job. However, the key is that it didn't retroactively add this feature for older AMD GPUs. While newer GPUs had the privilege of enjoying this change on Microsoft's OS, my model simply never got it. That's what I really like about Linux vs. Windows. Windows is meant to be a product; it's meant to earn Microsoft money. As such, the company can't spend time ensuring people with older GPUs have the best experience possible, as that doesn't do anything for revenue. It's easier to cut ties with legacy hardware and tell people to buy a new PC. Linux, however, has no profit incentive or shareholders; it's all open-source, too. That means if someone (such as Vock) finds an annoying issue on Linux, they can fix it, even if said fix only really applies to older hardware. Because Linux isn't meant to be a product; it's meant to be a tool, and tools will ideally run on as much hardware as possible.