Pre-flight checklist
Upstream / vanilla kernel check
I have not tested with a vanilla/upstream kernel
Kernel variant
linux-cachyos (EEVDF, Clang)
System information (cachyos-bugreport.sh)
OS: CachyOS (Rolling)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (Zen 2)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT
Desktop Environment: KDE Plasma (Wayland)
Kernel/Driver: linux-cachyos / amd-pstate (active mode)
Power Management: power-profiles-daemon
Manual system information (if cachyos-bugreport.sh is unavailable)
OS: CachyOS (Rolling)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (Zen 2)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT
Desktop Environment: KDE Plasma (Wayland)
Kernel/Driver: linux-cachyos / amd-pstate (active mode)
Power Management: power-profiles-daemon
Bug description
Since a recent update that enabled/defaulted amd-pstate=active and EPP for AMD processors, the default balanced power profile provided by power-profiles-daemon behaves extremely aggressively on Zen 2 CPUs.
When playing games via Proton/DXVK (specifically tested in Heroes of the Storm), the CPU cores aggressively downclock to power-saving sleep states (e.g., dropping as low as 1723 MHz while actively in a match).
When the game engine requires an immediate burst of processing (e.g., rendering a sudden visual effect or a synchronous shader compile), the CPU takes too long to wake up and ramp back to the 4.2 GHz boost frequency. This results in:
Complete system/kernel micro-stalls (lasting up to 1-1.5 seconds).
Perceived "network lag" (local background processes like ping freeze, creating false latency spikes in ICMP logs).
Severe graphical glitches and frame drops.
Steps to reproduce
Ensure power-profiles-daemon is set to balanced.
Ensure the kernel is using amd_pstate in active mode with EPP.
Launch a CPU-bound or single-thread heavy game via Proton (e.g., Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II engine games).
Monitor CPU frequencies with watch -n 1 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep MHz'.
Observe that core frequencies routinely collapse to ~1.7 GHz during active gameplay, directly correlating with massive frame drops/stutters.
Expected behavior
While in balanced mode, the CPU scaling governor (powersave with EPP) should remain responsive enough during active 3D/gaming workloads to prevent aggressive deep-sleep downclocking. The frequency floor should be high enough to prevent 1-second system stalls.
Actual behavior
Since a recent update that enabled/defaulted amd-pstate=active and EPP for AMD processors, the default balanced power profile provided by power-profiles-daemon behaves extremely aggressively on Zen 2 CPUs.
When playing games via Proton/DXVK (specifically tested in Heroes of the Storm), the CPU cores aggressively downclock to power-saving sleep states (e.g., dropping as low as 1723 MHz while actively in a match).
When the game engine requires an immediate burst of processing (e.g., rendering a sudden visual effect or a synchronous shader compile), the CPU takes too long to wake up and ramp back to the 4.2 GHz boost frequency. This results in:
Complete system/kernel micro-stalls (lasting up to 1-1.5 seconds).
Perceived "network lag" (local background processes like ping freeze, creating false latency spikes in ICMP logs).
Severe graphical glitches and frame drops.
Logs / stack traces
There are no kernel panics, oops, or `dmesg` errors, as this is a scheduler/latency issue and not a hard crash.
However, here is a telemetry snapshot showing the CPU frequencies collapsing to 1.7 GHz during active DXVK gameplay while the PPD profile was set to "balanced".
<details>
<summary>CPU Frequency / System Telemetry Snapshot</summary>
[SENSORS]
Tctl: +44.6°C
edge: +48.0°C
junction: +51.0°C
[CPU FREQS] (During stutter event while gaming)
cpu MHz : 3867.721
cpu MHz : 3760.164
cpu MHz : 3828.542
cpu MHz : 3867.686
cpu MHz : 3359.273
cpu MHz : 3837.020
cpu MHz : 3868.591
cpu MHz : 3636.698
cpu MHz : 3867.429
cpu MHz : 1723.944 <-- Deep sleep downclock
cpu MHz : 3115.407
cpu MHz : 3865.483
[TOP PROCESSES]
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
12015 damirl 36 16 6872476 2,5g 190400 S 75,4 7,8 71:00.49 C:\Program Files (x86)\Heroes of the Storm\Versions\Base97039\HeroesOfTheStorm_x64.exe
Additional system information
Workaround
Running powerprofilesctl set performance instantly resolves all stuttering, locks the CPU into a higher performance floor, and eliminates the latency penalty of waking from the deep EPP power-saving states.
Suggestions
Could the CachyOS default EPP hints for the balanced profile be adjusted for desktop/gaming variants? The current balanced EPP hint acts more like power-saver during highly variable gaming workloads on Zen 2.
cachyos_bug_logs.tar.gz
Pre-flight checklist
linuxkernel.Upstream / vanilla kernel check
I have not tested with a vanilla/upstream kernel
Kernel variant
linux-cachyos (EEVDF, Clang)
System information (cachyos-bugreport.sh)
Manual system information (if cachyos-bugreport.sh is unavailable)
Bug description
Since a recent update that enabled/defaulted amd-pstate=active and EPP for AMD processors, the default balanced power profile provided by power-profiles-daemon behaves extremely aggressively on Zen 2 CPUs.
When playing games via Proton/DXVK (specifically tested in Heroes of the Storm), the CPU cores aggressively downclock to power-saving sleep states (e.g., dropping as low as 1723 MHz while actively in a match).
When the game engine requires an immediate burst of processing (e.g., rendering a sudden visual effect or a synchronous shader compile), the CPU takes too long to wake up and ramp back to the 4.2 GHz boost frequency. This results in:
Complete system/kernel micro-stalls (lasting up to 1-1.5 seconds).
Perceived "network lag" (local background processes like ping freeze, creating false latency spikes in ICMP logs).
Severe graphical glitches and frame drops.
Steps to reproduce
Ensure power-profiles-daemon is set to balanced.
Ensure the kernel is using amd_pstate in active mode with EPP.
Launch a CPU-bound or single-thread heavy game via Proton (e.g., Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II engine games).
Monitor CPU frequencies with watch -n 1 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep MHz'.
Observe that core frequencies routinely collapse to ~1.7 GHz during active gameplay, directly correlating with massive frame drops/stutters.
Expected behavior
While in balanced mode, the CPU scaling governor (powersave with EPP) should remain responsive enough during active 3D/gaming workloads to prevent aggressive deep-sleep downclocking. The frequency floor should be high enough to prevent 1-second system stalls.
Actual behavior
Since a recent update that enabled/defaulted amd-pstate=active and EPP for AMD processors, the default balanced power profile provided by power-profiles-daemon behaves extremely aggressively on Zen 2 CPUs.
When playing games via Proton/DXVK (specifically tested in Heroes of the Storm), the CPU cores aggressively downclock to power-saving sleep states (e.g., dropping as low as 1723 MHz while actively in a match).
When the game engine requires an immediate burst of processing (e.g., rendering a sudden visual effect or a synchronous shader compile), the CPU takes too long to wake up and ramp back to the 4.2 GHz boost frequency. This results in:
Complete system/kernel micro-stalls (lasting up to 1-1.5 seconds).
Perceived "network lag" (local background processes like ping freeze, creating false latency spikes in ICMP logs).
Severe graphical glitches and frame drops.
Logs / stack traces
Additional system information
Workaround
Running powerprofilesctl set performance instantly resolves all stuttering, locks the CPU into a higher performance floor, and eliminates the latency penalty of waking from the deep EPP power-saving states.
Suggestions
Could the CachyOS default EPP hints for the balanced profile be adjusted for desktop/gaming variants? The current balanced EPP hint acts more like power-saver during highly variable gaming workloads on Zen 2.
cachyos_bug_logs.tar.gz