What serious Linux users buy GPUs based on raw gaming performance on release week?

I personally buy based on open-source driver support. And this includes long-term active support, AND developer approachability.

My current GPU is an AMD/Radeon one because of that. But I'm reconsidering my position when my next hardware upgrade comes.

I reported an AMD GPU driver issue to mesa once. It was tested, confirmed, and patched by a competent AMD developer within a few days. Now you have easily reproducible issues like this not even going past the testing phase after many months. And there are similar issues across all model generations.

If I were to upgrade my workstation next year, I would probably go with an AMD CPU and an Intel GPU, which is the exact opposite of my current setup 🙃. One should never rely on outdated perceptions.