Linux 5.6 Will Bring Another Radeon Run-Time Power Management Improvement

While the Linux 5.5 cycle begins next week, looking ahead to early next year when the Linux 5.6 cycle will begin, there is expected to be another power management improvement coming for AMD Radeon graphics cards.

Right now the Linux kernel doesn't support run-time power management for AMD display audio hardware meaning wasted energy when not using the DisplayPort / HDMI audio. As part of the recent work on the AMDGPU driver's "BACO" (Bus Active, Chip Off) support, run-time power management for the audio hardware has been in the works.

Coming with the Linux 5.6 cycle (not the imminent Linux 5.5) are the GPU side changes for run-time power management improvements while also expected are the ALSA hda/hdmi driver changes. The patches were sent out on Friday and thus plenty of time for review and testing before the Linux 5.6 merge window begins in Q1 next year following Linux 5.5.0 stable.