Following the recent patch proposal for [1]moving AMD GCN 1.1 generation GPUs over to the AMDGPU Linux driver by default in place of the legacy Radeon driver, a similar patch has now been proposed for the GCN 1.0 graphics processors. AMD GCN 1.0/1.1 GPUs are at parity with the AMDGPU driver to the Radeon driver while needing this newer kernel driver for enjoying RADV Vulkan support, better performance, and overall a better experience.

Timur Kristóf of Valve's open-source Linux graphics team today sent out the patch proposing the GCN 1.0 support by default on the AMDGPU driver now that it's at parity to the Radeon driver. This follows Timur having added [2]analog video connector support to the AMDGPU DC code and other improvements. If/when these patches land, this puts all AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) and newer GPUs now on the AMDGPU driver by default.

Timur wrote with today's [3]patch :

"Now that the DC analog connector support and VCE1 support landed, SI dGPUs are at feature parity with the old radeon driver too.

Why?

Compared to the old radeon driver, amdgpu offers better performance, more display features through DC, as well as support for Vulkan 1.3 through RADV.

What can these GPUs actually do on amdgpu?

Tahiti and Pitcairn can play some modern games, albeit at lower resolutions and lower frame rates. They are mainly held back by a low amount of VRAM (2~3 GiB). The other SI "gaming" GPUs are mainly useful for playing games from their era (the mid-2010s) or less demanding games in general.

As a reminder, SI dedicated GPUs are the following:

Tahiti (2012~2014):

Radeon HD 7870 XT, 7950, 7970, 7990, 8950, 8970, 8990

Radeon R9 280 series

FirePro W8000, W9000, D500, D700, S9000, S9050, S10000

Radeon Sky 700, 900

Pitcairn (2012~2015):

Radeon HD 7850, 7870, 7970M, 8870, 8970M

Radeon R9 265, 270/370 series, M290X, M390

FirePro W5000, W7000, D300, R5000, S7000

Cape Verde (2012~2016):

Radeon HD 7730, 7750, 7770, 8730, 8760

Radeon R7 250E, 250X, 350, 450

FirePro W600, W4100, M4000, M6000

Oland (2013~2019):

Radeon HD 8570, 8670

Radeon R5 240, 250, 330, 340, 350, 430, 520, 610

FirePro W2100

Hainan (2013~2016):

various mobile GPUs"

Great work by Timur. We'll see if this happens for the upcoming Linux 6.19 cycle or if the default decision is punted off until the follow-on cycle likely to be Linux 7.0.

For more background information on this initiative see yesterday's [4]Valve's Open-Source Radeon Linux Driver "Love Song For Gamers With Old GPUs" .



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/AMD-GCN-1.1-Driver-Default-Prop

[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.19-AMDGPU-Analog

[3] https://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/amd-gfx/2025-November/133852.html

[4] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Valve-Old-AMD-Linux-Love-Song