Wine using llvmpipe (software renderer) instead of Intel/AMD GPU while running any windows game

Issues & Assistance Games & Emulators
, , ,
1

Hello everyone,

I’m trying to run BioShock on my Garuda Linux system using Wine, but the game is lagging badly. On investigation, I found that Wine is using llvmpipe (software renderer) instead of my actual GPU. Here’s my system information:

:desktop_computer: System Details:

  • OS: Garuda Linux (KDE Plasma, Wayland)
  • Kernel: 6.15.6-zen1-1-zen
  • CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4258U
  • GPU 1: Intel Iris Graphics 5100
  • GPU 2: AMD Radeon R5 M230
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Wine version: wine-8.x
  • Renderer (from glxinfo while running game):
OpenGL renderer string: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6, 256 bits)

:cross_mark: Issue:

When I launch the game using Wine, it falls back to llvmpipe instead of using either the Intel or AMD GPU, which causes extreme lag. The CPU is doing all the rendering work, and the GPU is not being utilized at all.

:light_bulb: What I’ve tried so far:

  1. Installed all necessary Vulkan/Mesa drivers:
sudo pacman -Syu mesa vulkan-radeon vulkan-intel lib32-vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-intel
  1. Launched game with AMD GPU using:
DRI_PRIME=1 wine Bioshock.exe
  1. Verified with:
DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

Output still shows llvmpipe.
4. Tried switching to X11 (instead of Wayland), but still facing the same problem.

:red_question_mark: My Questions:

  1. Why is Wine defaulting to llvmpipe instead of using the discrete AMD GPU or even Intel integrated graphics?
  2. How can I force Wine to use hardware acceleration (either Intel or AMD GPU)?
  3. Is there a better way to configure Wine/Vulkan for dual-GPU systems on Garuda?
  4. Would using Lutris or Bottles help in auto-detecting the GPU properly?

Thanks in advance for your help :folded_hands:
Any suggestions or insights are welcome!

2

Hello. Sorry I don’t know if this is allowed but could you just uninstall llvmpipe and modeset in boot.cfg?

3

Any reason for using a version that is almost 2 years old? Wine 10.12 was released 2025-07-11 and gets update via garuda-update

Also you need to provide your garuda-inxi for help

3 Likes
4

As a recent forum registrant, perhaps you are unfamiliar with our forum’s guidelines. In order to receive technical assistance on the Garuda forum we require that a garuda-inxi output acompany any technical assistance help request. Please comply with our forum’s policies if you wish to receive further assistance.

6 Likes
5

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.