An independent project, xess-xmx-linux, says its November 4, 2026 build can run Intel XeSS Super Resolution and frame generation on XMX units in Arc GPUs when Windows games run through Proton. The project uses a shim and patched Mesa graphics drivers; it does not add the feature to Proton or vkd3d-proton. Its project documentation sets specific GPU, software and Steam-client requirements.
An earlier proposal outlined coordinated changes across Wine, VKD3D-Proton, DXVK and Proton. NeoTeo covered that proposal previously; xess-xmx-linux takes a separate, independent approach.
What xess-xmx-linux does in Proton
XeSS is Intel’s upscaling technology; XMX refers to matrix-compute units in supported Arc GPUs. The project routes Windows XeSS libraries through an igdext64.dll shim to a patched Mesa ANV Vulkan driver, which compiles the XeSS kernels with Intel Graphics Compiler (IGC). That lets the project target XMX rather than XeSS’s generic DP4a path.
The project’s stated GPU scope is Intel Arc with XMX on Xe-HPG, Xe2 or Xe3 architectures. Its developer used an Arc B390; the project also names user-reported tests on Arc B580 and Arc A310. Xe-LPG, used in Meteor Lake, has no XMX units. Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake-H are detected by the project but remain untested.
The setup the project documents
The project’s compatibility notes describe a narrow software stack, not general support for every Intel handheld or Linux installation.
| Area | Project-documented requirement or scope |
| GPU | Intel Arc with XMX on Xe-HPG, Xe2 or Xe3; development on Arc B390, with user-reported tests on Arc B580 and Arc A310 |
| Kernel driver | Intel xe or i915 |
| Graphics driver | Patched Mesa 26.1.2 or Mesa 26.3.0-rc3; the latter is a release candidate tested in fewer games |
| Proton | vkd3d-proton as in Proton 11 or GE-Proton 11; development used GE-Proton 11-6 and Proton Experimental |
| Steam client | Native Steam; Flatpak Steam is unsupported |
| Supplied-driver libraries | glibc 2.38 and libwayland-client 1.24 or newer |
The supplied drivers are built on Arch Linux. The project says Debian 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 need a driver built on the system because their libwayland-client version is 1.23. For a game to use the described XeSS selection, it must use its DirectX 12 renderer.
The project also notes practical failure paths: the first game launch compiles kernels and can pause for a minute or two, then caches them under ~/.cache/xess-xmx. If patched drivers fail to load, its session check can fall back to stock drivers, leaving XeSS on a generic path such as DP4a. A kernel-compilation failure can produce image noise or black patches, and changes to Mesa or vkd3d-proton internals can disrupt the workaround.
What the Arc B390 benchmark results show
The project reports one built-in benchmark run per game on Arc B390. Its comparison changes both Mesa version and XeSS path, so the full difference between the two configurations is not an isolated measurement of XMX.
| Game | Mesa 26.1.2 + DP4a | Patched Mesa 26.3.0-rc3 + XMX | XMX with Frame Generation 3x |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 47.7 fps | 61.3 fps | 117 fps |
| Forza Horizon 6 | 43 fps | 46 fps | 98 fps |
The project attributes most of the difference between the Mesa configurations to Jay, Mesa’s newer shader-compiler backend, and estimates that XMX alone is about 5% faster than DP4a in both games. In Forza Horizon 6, it reports GPU rates of 47.3 fps and 55.0 fps for the two configurations, alongside game rates of 43 fps and 46 fps; the project says the game is constrained by its render thread.
The project also reports a 36–50% reduction in frame-queue latency at the same frame rate in Wuthering Waves. That figure refers to time spent in the frame queue, not total input-to-display latency. Its 5x–8x frame-generation overrides are experimental and not supported by Intel; the project says 7x and 8x add substantial latency.
What the MSI Claw demo shows
ETA PRIME’s demonstration shows ClawDeck controls for XeSS XMX override, frame-generation multipliers and Xe Low Latency, alongside gameplay on an MSI Claw 8 EX with Arc G3 Extreme / Arc B390 at a 30 W setting. Games shown include Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 6. The demonstration provides no FPS figures for publication.
