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A proposed Linux kernel change could improve Civilization VI’s worst-frame performance on Steam Deck, but it is not a SteamOS feature players can enable today. In David Vernet’s July 2026 RFC, an opt-in per-core boost raised 1%-low FPS by 31.8% in one benchmark; by October, the design was still under discussion and had shifted toward a governor-level approach.
What the proposed AMD P-State change does
AMD P-State is a Linux CPU frequency-scaling driver. Vernet’s July 28, 2026 RFC proposes an optional feature called epp_boost for systems using the MSR-based CPPC interface while the driver is in active EPP mode. EPP, or Energy Performance Preference, is a request that helps guide how the processor balances performance and energy use.
Rather than setting every core to a performance-oriented preference, the proposal watches per-core CPU activity. A scheduler update-util hook samples busy time no more than once every 10 milliseconds. When a sample reaches the RFC’s 50% busy threshold, it temporarily asks that core for performance EPP. If no new qualifying sample arrives, the boost is restored to the configured policy value after 300 milliseconds.
Why short bursts matter in games
A game’s main or render thread may run briefly, wait on a futex or GPU fence, then become runnable again. Vernet’s RFC argues that these short pauses can allow the hardware performance signal to fall before the next burst, adding delay that appears in frame-time tails. The proposal aims to keep recently busy cores responsive without applying a performance EPP setting to every core and workload.
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“A workload dominated by one mostly-busy thread that takes frequent short sleeps (common in gaming workloads, for example) can fare poorly under this strategy.”
That is the problem the RFC targets—not a claim that every game, processor or handheld will benefit.
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What the Steam Deck benchmark found
The RFC tested Civilization VI on a Steam Deck with a Van Gogh APU and EPP set to balance_performance. With epp_boost enabled, the busy core’s median frequency was 3.5 GHz. Across six interleaved A/B test iterations, the RFC reported these results, using Welch’s t-test for the deltas:
- 1%-low FPS: 31.8% higher (p=0.014).
- Frame-time p99: 4.1% better (p=0.015).
- Average FPS and p999 frame time: unchanged.
These are results for that game, device, configuration and test—not a typical uplift across Steam Deck games or AMD systems. The 31.8% figure is for 1%-low FPS, not average frame rate.
Per-core boosting versus global performance EPP
The RFC also compared the proposed targeted boost with setting EPP globally to performance. In the same reported test, global performance EPP brought the busy core’s median frequency to 3.5 GHz and improved 1%-low FPS by about 16%. Unlike the per-core approach, the global setting affects every core and workload.
| Approach | Scope | Reported Civilization VI result |
|---|---|---|
Global EPP=performance |
All cores and workloads | About 16% higher 1%-low FPS; busy-core median frequency 3.5 GHz. |
Proposed per-core epp_boost |
Temporarily targets cores whose sampled busy time reaches the RFC threshold | 31.8% higher 1%-low FPS; busy-core median frequency 3.5 GHz. |
Both figures come from the RFC’s single stated benchmark setup, so they are not a general head-to-head prediction for other games or hardware. The RFC also reports that a variant which raised the busy core’s minimum performance to nominal regressed p999 frame time by 13–21%, illustrating why simply demanding more CPU performance is not necessarily beneficial to every frame-time measure.
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What changed after the July RFC
The July patch series describes a driver-level implementation. Phoronix reported on October 6, 2026 that review of the summer series had prompted a shift toward a governor-level design and other design changes. The report also discussed possible thread hints from Wine or Proton, but that is part of the evolving proposal, not an established feature in those compatibility layers.
The Linux Plumbers Conference listing confirms that Vernet presented “EPP-boost: Per-core util-based performance boosting in AMD p-state driver” on October 5 in Prague, describing discussion of the RFC and frequency-scaling gaps for gaming. These October records establish ongoing discussion and design evolution; they do not establish that the change merged or shipped in SteamOS.
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No enablement steps are established by the cited status reports, and the proposal should not be treated as a feature included in a stock Steam Deck or SteamOS release. The July implementation details describe the RFC’s opt-in mechanism and its hardware and mode conditions; the later governor-level direction may differ. Check the relevant kernel and SteamOS release notes for a confirmed implementation before looking for a setting or command.
Buying a Steam Deck does not install this proposed kernel feature or guarantee the RFC’s benchmark delta. The measured result concerns the tested software configuration, not a hardware revision.
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