GPU 100% usage when screen turns off (DPMS) on RDNA3 (RX 7600 XT)

Help
1

When the screen turns off (DPMS/energy saving), GPU usage jumps to 100% and stays there until screen wakes up. This causes unnecessary heat and power consumption on a locked/idle system.

System specs:

  • Arch Linux
  • Plasma 6.5.3 (Wayland session)
  • Kernel: linux 6.17.9
  • Mesa: 25.2.7
  • GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT

Additional info:
pp_dpm_sclk when screen off:

0: 255Mhz
1: 346Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

display turns off

0: 255Mhz
1: 1125Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 1009Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2758Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2858Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2874Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2871Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2869Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2866Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2871Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2879Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2869Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2870Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2871Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2861Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2862Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2861Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2865Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2863Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2861Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2861Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2861Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2860Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2864Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 2860Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 728Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

display turns on

0: 255Mhz
1: 678Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

0: 255Mhz
1: 729Mhz *
2: 2539Mhz

pp_dpm_mclk when screen off is not changing:

0: 96Mhz *
1: 456Mhz
2: 772Mhz
3: 1124Mhz

2

Hello, I also have this same setup and same issue. I made a systemd service/timer and script to throttle gpu usage when the screen is locked and it seems to work well. not ideal if you need the gpu to do stuff via SSH remotely but works if it’s only a desktop. happy to send KDE anything they need to help fix this bug

3

I should say I am also running Arch/KDE Plasma/RX 7600 XT to be more precise. Sorry for the pings. This has been bothering me.

Some system data:

Linux 6.18.1-arch1-2
Display (C27): 1920x1080 in 25", 60 Hz [External] *
Display (BenQ GW2480): 1920x1080 in 24", 60 Hz [External]
DE: KDE Plasma 6.5.4
WM: KWin (Wayland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (16) @ 5.58 GHz
GPU 1: AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT [Discrete]
GPU 2: AMD Raphael [Integrated]

4

i did it the easy way: the displays don’t turn off on the lock screen. not an ideal solution, but the GPU no longer overheats.

5

looks like its fixed now
kernel: 6.18.6-arch1-1 (64-bit)
mesa: 25.3.4