The Best Features Of Linux 7.3: Performance Improvements, Lots From Valve

The Linux 7.3 kernel is slated to be officially released on Sunday, 18 October, barring any last minute issues from coming about. With that said, here's a reminder about some of the most exciting features to look forward to in this next kernel version. Exciting me the most about Linux 7.3 have been some nice I/O performance improvements that deliver some solid gains both for synthetic I/O benchmarks and carrying over to databases and other heavy I/O work. These I/O wins with Linux 7.3 have carried across various systems. Separately and also on the performance side are some nice Btrfs performance improvements in Linux 7.3. Linux 7.3 also continues preparing for upcoming AMD Zen 6 platforms with now identifying the new low-power CPU core type complementing the typical performance and dense cores. The AMD HSMP driver and other platform drivers have also added support for upcoming Zen 6 client processors. Another exciting hardware addition is initial Apple M3 Pro / Max / Ultra support to complement the base M3 model added in Linux 7.2. But this code isn't yet ready for end-users and is just early bring-up. For those still running early generations of AMD GCN GPUs, Timur Kristóf of Valve's Linux graphics team has landed DRM format modifier support for old AMD GPUs as well as improving GPU reset recovery support. Also on the topic of old/low-end graphics hardware, Linux 7.3 brings the change for improving vRAM management on systems with limited amounts of video memory. Another Linux win thanks to Valve. For Linux gamers, further excitement with Linux 7.3 is initial kernel driver support for the 2026 Steam Controller. There is also a MSI Claw gamepad driver that was worked on by Valve. More details on the many features of this next kernel version can be found via our Linux 7.3 feature overview.