Games Visually Stuck at Low Refresh Rate on 240Hz External Monitor (Wayland + NVIDIA Hybrid GPU)
System Information
- OS: CachyOS (latest)
- Desktop Environment: KDE Plasma (Wayland)
- Session Type: Wayland
- CPU: Intel i7-13650HX
- GPU (Integrated): Intel UHD Graphics (RPL-S)
- GPU (Discrete): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
- NVIDIA Driver: 590.48.01
- CUDA: 13.1
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: SSD
- Proton: GE-Proton (latest)
- Monitors:
- Internal laptop display: 1080p @ 144Hz (eDP-1)
- External monitor: AOC Q27G42ZE 1440p @ 240Hz (DP-3, connected via USB-C to DisplayPort)
Problem Description
Games visually appear to run at ~60-80Hz despite reporting 200+ FPS. With VSync enabled, games cap at 80fps (240÷3) instead of 240fps. The internal 144Hz monitor works perfectly — games run smooth at 144Hz. Issue is isolated to the external 240Hz monitor.
What works correctly:
- Desktop mouse cursor is smooth at 240Hz
kscreen-doctor --outputsshows DP-3 at 2560x1440@240.00* (asterisk = active)DISPLAY=:0 xrandrshows 239.88Hz for DP-3glxgearswith NVIDIA + VSync caps at ~233fps (correct!)- Games on internal 144Hz display work perfectly
- Same cable/monitor works correctly in Windows
What doesn’t work:
- Games on external monitor appear choppy regardless of reported FPS
- VSync caps games at 80fps instead of 240fps
- Multiple games affected (Arc Raiders, Marvel Rivals, others)
Diagnostic Output
nvidia-smi shows games running on NVIDIA GPU:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
Driver: 590.48.01 | CUDA: 13.1
GPU Util: 49% | VRAM: 2862MiB / 8188MiB
Processes: kwin_wayland, Steam, PioneerGame.exe (2693MiB)
glxgears on NVIDIA (works correctly!):
__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia vblank_mode=0 glxgears -info
GL_RENDERER = NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2
1168 frames in 5.0 seconds = 233.297 FPS (synced to 240Hz correctly)
glxgears without NVIDIA flag (shows Intel):
GL_RENDERER = Mesa Intel(R) Graphics (RPL-S)
kscreen-doctor output:
DP-3: 2560x1440@240.00* (asterisk = active mode)
eDP-1: 1920x1080@144.00*
XWayland sees correct refresh:
DISPLAY=:0 xrandr
DP-3 connected primary 2560x1440+0+0 ... 239.88*+
EDID decode confirms monitor capabilities:
AOC Q27G42ZE
2560x1440 @ 240Hz supported (992.260 MHz pixel clock)
FreeSync range: 48-240Hz
DXVK log shows NVIDIA GPU detected:
Found device: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (NVIDIA 590.48.1)
What I’ve Tried
- Confirmed 240Hz selected in KDE Display Settings
- Disabled internal monitor (still stuck at 80fps VSync)
- Various Steam launch options (PRIME offload flags made it worse — 60fps)
- Created ~/.config/dxvk.conf with syncInterval=0
- Tried Proton Experimental and Proton-GE
- Reinstalled game on main drive
- Game settings adjusted
Conclusion
The system correctly reports 240Hz at every level (KDE, kscreen-doctor, XWayland, xrandr). glxgears proves VSync works correctly at 240Hz when using NVIDIA directly. But games through Proton/Wine don’t receive the correct refresh rate for frame timing.
This appears to be a Wayland + NVIDIA + Proton frame delivery issue specific to hybrid GPU laptops with external high-refresh displays.
Questions
- Has anyone with a similar setup (NVIDIA hybrid + Wayland + 240Hz external) gotten games to sync correctly?
- Are there KWin Wayland compositor settings that affect frame delivery to games?
- Is there a way to force Wine/Proton to use the correct refresh rate?
- Should I try specific NVIDIA driver versions?
Happy to provide any additional diagnostic output.
Thanks for any help!