External monitor stuttering when scrolling

Hey all, this is my whole third day of working with bazzite trying to set it up to be my daily driver… I’ve had some years of experience with mint, than back to win 10/11 and now I’m trying to get back in the Linux gaming boat, starting with bazzite. I am very impressed how far we’ve come in the couple of years I’ve been out of the loop.

Anyways I’ve managed to set everything up to my liking, but am experiencing a critical problem… not even sure how to properly explain it - everything works as it should FPS is waaay above 200, but whenever I scroll the screen in a game like Dota od Red Solstice 2 there is micro stuttering/ ghosting (not sure how best to explain it) - the image seems like it’s doubled or blurry while scrolling. Very similar or the same thing happens while scrolling through webpages - the text becomes unreadable while it’s scrolling and it’s giving me a headache. The craziest thing I’ve discovered is that everythign works PERFECTLY on my built in monitor, but on external it’s this ghosting effect - tried both a quality HDMI and DP cable with identical results.

   %%%%%%%%    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%             󱋩  bazzite-nvidia-open:stable 
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%           󰣛  Bazzite 41 (FROM Fedora Kinoite)
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%###           Linux 6.12.12-203.bazzite.fc41.x86_64
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%%%%%%%%%%%######        󰅐  16 mins
  ==                  =======######       󰔠  Spawned on velj 12 2025
  ==                  =========##### 
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%%%%%####======#####     󰾰  XMG NEO (E23) (Standard)
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%%%#######=====#####     󰻠  13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13900HX (32) @ 5.40 GHz
  %%%%%%%%%    %%%#########=====#####     󰍛  NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Max-Q / Mobile [Discrete]
  %%%%%%%%%    %%##########=====#####     󰍛  Intel Raptor Lake-S UHD Graphics @ 1.65 GHz [Integrated]
  %%%%%%%%%====###########=====######       8.58 GiB / 31.07 GiB (28%)
   %%%%%%%%====#########======######        395.76 GiB / 1.82 TiB (21%) - btrfs [Read-only]
    %%%%%%%=====#####========######       󰍹  3440x1440 @ 240 Hz in 45" [External, HDR]
     %%%%###===============#######          100% [AC Connected]
      %#######==========#########    
        #######################           󰕮  KDE Plasma 6.2.5
          ###################               KWin (Wayland)
              ###########                   bash 5.2.32
                                            Ptyxis 47.6
                                          󰏖  2694 (rpm), 70 (flatpak)

If anyone has some idea what’s going on here please do share…

Here’s what chatgpt has to say about my issues, maybe it’s on to something?

The screen artifact you’re describing is commonly referred to as “double imaging” or “scrolling ghosting”, but it may also be related to “frame duplication” or “persistent image smearing” depending on the cause.

A more technical description could be:

“A visual artifact where the displayed content appears to be duplicated or persists in two locations simultaneously while scrolling. This effect resembles ghosting but is more pronounced, as a previous frame lingers alongside the current one, creating a double-image effect. It is often associated with slow pixel response times, refresh rate mismatches, V-Sync issues, or frame buffering problems.”

This issue can occur due to:

  • Slow pixel response time: Common in lower-quality LCD panels, especially VA panels.
  • Refresh rate mismatches: If the monitor and system are not properly synchronized (e.g., 60Hz display with a 144Hz-rendered frame rate).
  • Frame timing issues: When frames are displayed out of sync due to improper compositing or lack of vertical synchronization.
  • Overdrive artifacts: When a monitor’s overdrive settings are too aggressive, leading to image retention effects.
  • Wayland/X11 compositing issues on Linux: Some desktop environments may introduce frame duplication due to improper rendering.

If you’re experiencing this on Linux, testing different compositors (Xorg vs. Wayland), enabling/disabling V-Sync, or adjusting monitor overdrive settings might help reduce the effect.

EDIT: I’ve also tried to switch to X11 (as per this instruction Bazzite 3.0, no /etc/default/desktop-wayland to enable x11) to see if it will help, but that doesn’t seem to work. The Plasma X11 session appears on the login screen but all that happens is a blank screen and login screen reappears

After loads of reading everything and everywhere, I’ve come to think that this is a problem because there’s no VRR on my external monitor while it’s working fine for my builtin monitor.
Anyone has any advice? How to check?

I’ve tested the same situation under windows and external monitor works fine, only occasionally I see a single stutter while scrolling the screen fast, while it’s a constant under bazzite.

Further posting back on my own post, it would seem that VRR not working is the source of the problem - the built in monitor has a lower resolution and hence higher FPS so the stuttering is not so obvs.
I believe my problem is the same as posted here:

And a final addendum for anyone experiencing same issues - I finally found the explanation at

## Nvidia Exclusive Issues[¶](https://docs.bazzite.gg/Handheld_and_HTPC_edition/quirks/#nvidia-exclusive-issues)

Note

This only affects the `bazzite-deck-nvidia` images.

* "Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views (requires restart)" must be enabled in the Steam settings for better performance in the UI.
* Resolutions above 2560x1440 will cause game-breaking graphical artifacts.
* HDR can cause game-breaking graphical artifacts.
* Frame pacing is a mess due to the proprietary Nvidia drivers [shipping a broken version of the Vulkan extension that Steam Gaming Mode requires for full functionality](https://registry.khronos.org/vulkan/specs/latest/man/html/VK_KHR_present_wait.html).

I suppose this applies to my “other laptop” version as well.

This was resolved with the recent system update and I can confirm it was due to VRR not working on external monitor.