[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-intel-wants-faster-xess-upscaling-in-valves-proton":10,"sections":35},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":30,"feedback":34,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":34,"total_tokens":34},11874,"intel-wants-faster-xess-upscaling-in-valves-proton","Intel Wants Faster XeSS Upscaling in Valve's Proton","An Intel engineer's proposed Proton change would let Linux games use the company's dedicated GPU cores for XeSS instead of the slower fallback path.","Intel has asked Valve to add XeSS, its upscaling technology, to Proton in a form that uses the dedicated XMX cores on Intel GPUs. If accepted, Linux games could use the faster of XeSS's two modes instead of a slower fallback.\n\nUpscaling means rendering a game at a lower resolution and scaling it up, which buys frame rate. XeSS can do that one of two ways: DP4a, which works across many vendors' GPUs, or XMX, which runs only on Intel's own GPUs and is the preferred option. Until now, Proton has effectively been stuck with the first.\n\nIntel opened pull requests (proposed code changes awaiting review) for Proton, the compatibility layer that runs Windows games on Linux and has been central to the Steam Deck and SteamOS. Intel engineer Damian Tomczak wrote that the change \"adds a builtin libxess.dll which forwards the XeSS D3D12 calls to the Linux XeSS library (libxess.so), so XeSS can use XMX (the fast upscaler) under Proton instead of the slower fallback path.\" He added that D3D12 objects are converted to Vulkan through vkd3d-proton's interop interface. In plain terms, the game believes it is talking to the Windows XeSS library, and Proton quietly hands the work to Intel's Linux one.\n\nThe timing fits a pattern. Valve has historically supported only AMD chips with SteamOS, but it has \"improved compatibility\" with both AMD and Intel platforms in recent releases. Intel's Arc G3 Extreme, found in the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, is one of the stronger handheld chips, yet that machine runs Windows. Without an XMX path, moving it to Linux would mean giving up part of what the chip is good at.\n\nThat the code comes from Intel, not Valve, is the telling detail. A chipmaker writing its own integration reads as a sign that it wants Linux handhelds to run its silicon properly. Nothing here is merged, though, and a pull request is a proposal. Whether Valve accepts it, and whether an Intel handheld ever ships with SteamOS, are separate questions.","[\"intel\",\"xess\",\"proton\",\"steamos\"]","2026-10-20T09:57:43.000Z","2026-10-20T11:10:39.640Z","2026-10-20T11:10:42.220Z","published",null,[],"hardware",[26,27,28,29],"intel","xess","proton","steamos",[31],{"name":32,"url":33},"PCGamer","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.pcgamer.com\u002Fhardware\u002Fhandheld-gaming-pcs\u002Fintel-bringing-faster-upscaler-to-valves-proton-xmx-accelerated-xess-could-come-to-steamos-in-boost-to-future-intel-powered-handheld-gaming-pcs\u002F",0,{"sections":36},[37,42,47,52,57,61,66,71,76,81,86,91,96,100],{"name":38,"slug":39,"count":40,"latest_published_at":41},"AI","ai",7042,"2026-10-20T16:00:00.000Z",{"name":43,"slug":44,"count":45,"latest_published_at":46},"Security","security",1015,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":48,"slug":49,"count":50,"latest_published_at":51},"Policy","policy",546,"2026-10-20T13:11:23.000Z",{"name":53,"slug":54,"count":55,"latest_published_at":56},"Deals","deals",536,"2026-10-20T15:55:20.000Z",{"name":58,"slug":24,"count":59,"latest_published_at":60},"Hardware",271,"2026-10-20T15:25:03.000Z",{"name":62,"slug":63,"count":64,"latest_published_at":65},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",252,"2026-10-20T16:04:13.000Z",{"name":67,"slug":68,"count":69,"latest_published_at":70},"Science","science",207,"2026-10-20T12:50:00.000Z",{"name":72,"slug":73,"count":74,"latest_published_at":75},"Startups","startups",135,"2026-10-20T11:00:00.000Z",{"name":77,"slug":78,"count":79,"latest_published_at":80},"Software","software",134,"2026-10-20T14:57:15.000Z",{"name":82,"slug":83,"count":84,"latest_published_at":85},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",119,"2026-10-20T13:00:00.000Z",{"name":87,"slug":88,"count":89,"latest_published_at":90},"General","general",88,"2026-10-20T09:36:16.000Z",{"name":92,"slug":93,"count":94,"latest_published_at":95},"Gaming","gaming",80,"2026-10-20T13:24:49.000Z",{"name":97,"slug":98,"count":99,"latest_published_at":46},"Reviews","reviews",38,{"name":101,"slug":102,"count":103,"latest_published_at":104},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]