Linux 7.3: Threadripper Storage Gains, Windows NTFS Compression Support and Valve Gaming Updates

For Windows power users, dual-booters, WSL2 enthusiasts, and systems administrators managing mixed OS fleets, Linux 7.3 is worth examining on two fronts. First, pre-release "Linux 7.3 Git" benchmarks on AMD's 96-core, 192-thread Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9995WX demonstrate how kernel-level storage and scheduling tweaks translate into faster database and compilation workloads compared to Linux 7.2. Second, the broader Linux 7.3 feature set includes extensive gaming and graphics contributions from Valve, early architectural plumbing for AMD Zen 6, faster Btrfs and NVMe storage handling, and even cross-platform file-system updates that make reading compressed Windows drives much easier.

Putting 96 Zen 5 Cores on the Clock: The Threadripper PRO 9995WX Benchmarks​

When you are working with an AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9995WX—a 96-core, 192-thread Zen 5 high-end desktop (HEDT) workstation processor—hardware bottlenecks look very different than they do on a standard eight-core desktop PC. At this scale, contention over memory locks, io_uring queues, and process creation can either choke a system or let it fly.

In benchmark testing published by Michael Larabel at Phoronix comparing Linux 7.2 against the pre-release Linux 7.3 Git tree on a Threadripper PRO 9995WX workstation, the newer kernel delivered evolutionary, incremental improvements across a wide spectrum of workstation and server workloads. While the testing represents pre-release code on a single flagship Zen 5 platform rather than a guaranteed percentage uplift for every PC on the market, the breadth of the gains shows where kernel developers have been focusing their optimization efforts.

Storage I/O and Database Throughput​

The standout theme in Linux 7.3 is storage input/output performance, particularly when paired with high-speed PCIe Gen 4 and PCIe Gen 5 NVMe solid-state drives. Under the hood, Linux 7.3 specifically addresses a small-I/O bottleneck on PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs and introduces RWF_DONTCACHE support for block devices—a feature tailored for database servers and user-space applications that interact directly with raw block devices without wanting to pollute the page cache.

In Phoronix's Threadripper PRO 9995WX testing, those low-level storage improvements showed up immediately in both synthetic and real-world database benchmarks:

• Synthetic Storage Benchmarks: Using the Flexible I/O Tester (fio) configured for 4 KB random reads with io_uring and a single job, Linux 7.3 Git outpaced Linux 7.2 both with direct I/O disabled and with direct I/O enabled.
• PostgreSQL: In read-write database testing at a scaling factor of 100 across heavy concurrency loads (500 and 800 clients), Linux 7.3 Git posted the fastest transaction rates and improved average latency compared to the prior kernel.
• MariaDB: Running the oltp_read_only workload across 128 threads, the MySQL fork ran faster on the Linux 7.3 Git kernel.
• TigerBeetle: The specialized financial-transactions database also favored Linux 7.3 Git in tests running at both one and eight clients.

Networking, Kernel Micro-Benchmarks, and Code Compilation​

When a 192-thread workstation is not hammering an NVMe array, it is usually compiling massive codebases or pushing packets across a high-speed network interface. Here, too, Phoronix's testing on the 9995WX recorded consistent forward progress:

• Networking: Network throughput moved higher in Linux 7.3 across xfr server tests (using TCP with 128 threads and QUIC with a single thread) as well as single-threaded Ethr UDP bandwidth testing.
• Kernel Micro-Benchmarks: Stress-NG workloads targeting core operating system primitives—specifically process forking, io_uring operations, and mutex locking—all clocked faster results on Linux 7.3 Git.
• Code Compilation: Building the Linux kernel itself (using both defconfig and allmodconfig targets) and compiling the Godot game engine were described as subtly but consistently faster on the new kernel.
• CPU-Based AI Workloads: Testing with OpenVINO and Lemonade showed small gains in CPU-driven AI tasks, though the results were mixed depending on the specific sub-test, with Linux 7.2 and Linux 7.3 Git trading wins across different OpenVINO charts.

Section Summary: On AMD's 96-core Threadripper PRO 9995WX, Linux 7.3 Git builds on prior Zen 5 optimizations to deliver measurable, incremental gains over Linux 7.2. The strongest wins appear in PCIe Gen 4/5 NVMe storage I/O and heavy database workloads like PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and TigerBeetle, backed by faster kernel primitives and slightly quicker code compilation.

Cross-Platform Storage and File-System Upgrades​

You do not need a six-figure server room or a 96-core Threadripper to benefit from the file-system engineering in Linux 7.3. Several of the kernel's storage updates directly impact multi-OS environments, network storage servers, and everyday desktop responsiveness.

For Windows Forum readers who maintain dual-boot Windows 11 and Linux rigs—or who keep a bootable Linux USB drive handy for disaster recovery—the update to the modern in-kernel NTFS driver is a particularly practical quality-of-life fix. Windows uses a feature called Windows Overlay Filter (WOF) to transparently compress system binaries and certain application files on disk. Previously, hitting WOF-compressed files from Linux could result in read failures or require falling back to legacy user-space tools. With Linux 7.3 adding native read support for Windows System Compression, inspecting or rescuing data from a compressed Windows installation becomes much more straightforward.

Elsewhere in the storage stack, Linux 7.3 merges FailFS (complementing the NULLFS driver merged in Linux 7.2), improves iomap handling to benefit EXT4 and XFS performance, adds FALLOC_FL_WRITE_ZEROES support to XFS, fixes long-filename behavior in the FAT driver, enables parallel multi-device flushes for F2FS, and patches long-standing security issues in eCryptfs dating back to 2006.

Valve Keeps Carrying the Torch for Linux Gaming and Older GPUs​

If enterprise database vendors drive Linux's storage improvements, Valve continues to be the primary engine pushing desktop Linux graphics and gaming forward. Because SteamOS and the Steam Deck rely on the mainline Linux kernel to compete with Windows gaming handhelds and desktops, Valve's engineering investments regularly trickle down to benefit the entire PC hardware ecosystem—especially budget and older hardware.

In Linux 7.3, Valve's fingerprints are all over the graphics and input subsystems:

• Smarter VRAM Management for 8 GB GPUs: One of the biggest headaches in modern PC gaming is video memory exhaustion on cards with 8 GB (or less) of VRAM. Linux 7.3 lands kernel-level video-memory management improvements backed by Valve that specifically bolster gaming performance on systems with limited VRAM.
• Lifelines for Older AMD GCN Graphics Cards: Timur Kristóf of Valve's Linux graphics team contributed Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) format modifier support for early-generation AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) GPUs, alongside improved GPU reset recovery when a graphics driver hang occurs.
• 2026 Steam Controller & MSI Claw Support: On the input side, Linux 7.3 introduces initial kernel driver support for the 2026 Steam Controller, as well as a dedicated gamepad driver for the MSI Claw handheld that was developed with Valve's involvement.
• Intel, Nouveau, and Retro Graphics: Beyond Valve's contributions, Intel's Xe3P Nova Lake integrated graphics are now marked stable and enabled by default. The open-source Nouveau driver for NVIDIA GPUs gains the NVDEC interface support required by the NVK Vulkan driver to enable Vulkan Video acceleration with Mesa 26.3. Even vintage hardware gets a nod, with frame-buffer (fbdev) improvements for classic Atari computers and 3dfx Voodoo 3, 4, and 5 graphics cards.

Section Summary: Linux 7.3 isn't just for brand-new hardware. Thanks largely to Valve, the kernel improves VRAM management on 8 GB graphics cards, modernizes display and crash-recovery features on older AMD GCN GPUs, and adds native controller drivers for the 2026 Steam Controller and MSI Claw handheld.

Silicon Enablement: Preparing for AMD Zen 6, Intel Starfire, and Apple M3​

Kernel development operates months—and sometimes years—ahead of retail hardware launches. In order for a processor to work smoothly on day one, the operating system has to understand its core topology, thermal sensors, and power states well in advance.

Linux 7.3 lays down significant groundwork for upcoming and alternative CPU architectures:

• AMD Zen 6 Preparation: Linux 7.3 updates its CPU topology code to recognize a new AMD low-power CPU core type, which will sit alongside traditional performance and dense cores in upcoming architectures. In addition, the AMD Host System Management Port (HSMP) driver and other platform drivers have added initial support for upcoming Zen 6 client processors, while existing Zen 5 EPYC servers gain per-CCD temperature monitoring via the k10temp driver. A new Ryzen AI Halo LED/RGB driver also makes its debut.
• Intel Power Management & Starfire: The kernel adds unified Intel/AMD CPU core-type handling, Intel directed package-level thermal interrupts, hybrid CPU scheduler enhancements, and early preparations for "Intel Starfire," a Panther Lake-derived SoC designed for extreme environments.
• Apple M3 Pro, Max, and Ultra Bring-Up: Following the base Apple M3 support merged in Linux 7.2, Linux 7.3 adds initial device-tree and platform code for the Apple M3 Pro, M3 Max, and M3 Ultra chips (plus a power optimization for older M1 Pro/Max/Ultra SoCs). However, Phoronix explicitly notes that this M3 Pro/Max/Ultra code is strictly early bring-up: it lacks GPU acceleration and other vital features required for daily end-user computing.

The AI Patch Churn Reality Check​

Behind the benchmark charts and hardware support lists lies an interesting meta-story about how the Linux kernel itself is being built in 2026. As Linus Torvalds pointed out during the Linux 7.3-rc1 release announcement at the end of August, the Linux 7.3 source tree has grown to just shy of 41 million lines of code.

Part of the reason Linux 7.3 is a particularly heavy release is the growing prevalence of AI and large language model (LLM) coding agents in kernel development. According to Phoronix's feature overview, AI coding tools—including explicitly noted Device Mapper code cleanups assisted by Claude Opus—are playing a dual role: they are uncovering legitimate kernel bugs and helping generate patches, while simultaneously increasing patch churn and noise that forces maintainers to strip out obsolete, unmaintained drivers just to keep the tree manageable.

What Readers Should Expect Next​

While Linux 7.3 is scheduled to be tagged and released on Sunday, October 18, most Linux users will not be running it on Monday morning unless they compile their kernels from source or run bleeding-edge rolling-release distributions. Enterprise distributions and standard desktop releases typically hold back major kernel jumps until point releases have ironed out early quirks.

Still, whether you are running PostgreSQL on a 96-core AMD Threadripper PRO 9995WX, gaming on an 8 GB GPU under SteamOS, or mounting a compressed Windows 11 NTFS partition from a Linux environment, Linux 7.3 shows that methodical kernel engineering continues to unlock free performance and practical interoperability from the hardware we already own.

Update: Linux 7.3 adds Samsung 990 SSD reset workaround (October 17, 2026)​

According to Phoronix’s October 17 reporting, last-minute PCI fixes merged into Linux 7.3 add a workaround for Samsung 990 PRO and 990 EVO Plus SSDs ahead of the expected October 18 stable release. The kernel will reportedly ignore these drives’ advertised Immediate Readiness capability because some firmware versions cannot actually respond immediately after a reset.

Phoronix reports that affected 990 PRO firmware can leave the drive unresponsive to configuration requests for up to seven milliseconds after a function-level reset. Skipping the wait can therefore prevent configuration settings from being restored, breaking VFIO device passthrough. The report identifies older 990 PRO firmware, including 1B2QJXD7, as affected; 8B2QJXD7 responds immediately. Samsung 990 EVO Plus firmware 2B2QKXG7 reportedly exhibits the same problem.

For administrators assigning an entire SSD to a virtual machine—including a Windows guest on a Linux host—the practical significance is reset reliability rather than higher storage throughput. According to Phoronix, the workaround addresses the passthrough failure by preventing Linux from trusting the problematic readiness claim. This is a Linux-side compatibility fix, not an announced Samsung firmware update or a change to Windows’ native NVMe driver.