Poor gaming performance compared to Windows with Intel Arc iGPU on Linux (XMG EVO 15 / Ultra 7 155H) – Spider-Man barely playable, no raytracing

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1

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this forum and looking for help. I’m currently testing Linux as a possible long-term alternative to Windows, to gain more independence and control over my system – especially for work and gaming.

My machine:

  • XMG EVO 15 (2024)
  • Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (Meteor Lake)
  • IGPU Intel Arc integrated GPU (Meteor Lake-P)
  • Dual-boot setup: **Windows 11 + Fedora 42 (formerly TUXEDO OS tested)

I’ve installed Steam and set up Marvel’s Spider-Man on Fedora. While the game launches, performance is terrible – hovering around 20–25 FPS at best, even with lower settings and -dx11 -d3d11 launch options.

On Windows 11, the same game runs at around 45 FPS with Raytracing enabled, showing that the hardware is capable. On Linux, Raytracing isn’t even an option in the graphics settings.

What I observed:

  • No GPU recognized by the game under Linux → message like “No graphics card detected”.
  • Gamemode is active (gamemode -s* **Game is installed on a secondary NTFS partition** (/run/media/user/…) but Steam recognizes and can launch it. returns “active”).
  • Vulkan is installed and works:
    vulkaninfo | grep deviceName
    deviceName = Intel(R) Arc™ Graphics (MTL)
    deviceName = llvmpipe (LLVM 20.1.6, 256 bits)
  • Lack of fan activity under Linux, in contrast to Windows, where the fan kicks in when I play the game. This makes me wonder if Linux fails to ramp up power/performance profiles properly.
  • Proton version used: Proton 9.0-4, with and without VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr11 DXVK_ASYNC=1 → no significant difference.

Already tried (with support from GPT and Perplexity):

  • TUXEDO OS and Fedora 42 Workstation
  • Gamemode, latest Mesa/Vulkan drivers
  • Enabling xe via GRUB (modprobe.blacklist=i915 xe.force_probe=7d55), but then the system does not start anaymore
  • Proton launch options (-dx11 -d3d11, PROTON_ENABLE_NVAPI=1, DXVK_ASYNC=1, VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr11)
  • Clean compatdata folder
  • Different Proton versions (Hotfix, Experimental, 9.x, 8.x)

Questions:

  1. Has anyone else successfully run Marvel’s Spider-Man or similar AAA games with reasonable FPS on Intel Arc iGPU / Meteor Lake under Linux?
  2. Is there a reliable way to force xe as the kernel driver on Fedora (or any other distro), without breaking the GUI?
  3. Could the lack of fan activity and poor performance indicate a missing EC interface or BIOS/firmware-level limitation under Linux?
  4. Are there better distros than Fedora or TUXEDO OS for this use case (gaming on Intel Arc iGPU)?
  5. Any way to enable raytracing or unlock the full Vulkan/DX12 path under Proton?

I would appreciate any insight or experiences, especially from other XMG EVO 15 or Meteor Lake laptop users. I’m still new to Linux and happy to try other solutions or distros if needed.

Thanks in advance!

2

I think you need to blacklist it differently—see Intel graphics - ArchWiki (it’s for Arch, but the kernel parameters are the same). You need to find the right PCI ID and blacklist that.

That being said, I returned my Meteor Lake laptop (for different reasons), and I don’t game, so I can’t help you with that.

4

Dear Ngi,

Many thanks for your kind and prompt feedback.

I tried the proposal:

Now XE is the current kernel.

lspci -k | grep -A3 VGA

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P [Intel Arc Graphics] (rev 08)
        Subsystem: AIstone Global Limited Device 1382
        Kernel driver in use: xe
        Kernel modules: i915, xe

lsmod | grep -E ‘xe|i915’

xe                   4075520  119
drm_ttm_helper         16384  1 xe
drm_suballoc_helper    20480  1 xe
gpu_sched              65536  1 xe
drm_gpuvm              45056  1 xe
drm_exec               12288  2 drm_gpuvm,xe
drm_gpusvm             36864  1 xe
i2c_algo_bit           20480  1 xe
drm_buddy              32768  1 xe
ttm                   135168  2 drm_ttm_helper,xe
drm_display_helper    315392  1 xe
cec                   102400  2 drm_display_helper,xe
video                  81920  2 asus_wmi,xe
intel_vsec             20480  2 intel_pmc_core,xe

Start options Steam with Proton 9.0-4:

PROTON_ENABLE_NVAPI=1 VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr12 DXVK_ASYNC=1 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libgamemode.so gamemoderun mangohud %command% -nolauncher

Performance has improved but is not remotely close to Windows (same settings):

  • Linux without raytracing: 24 fps
  • Linux with raytracing: 2 fps
  • Windows with raytracing: 45 fps

Any other ideas by any chance?

Many thanks for your feedbacks.

5

Yes it could. If you are on Gnome Desktop, look for ‘Performance Profile’ and set it to max. Otherwise research into this aspect may be useful.

Many people like the downstream version of Fedora called Bazzite. Bazzite has options set up for gaming out of the box, as well as some kernel tweaks. Might be worth a try.