you can "uncap" the fps using mangohud, make sure vsync is disabled btw.

tried that, thanks

mangohud works to uncap non-steam games and apps like vkcube, but inside steam and specifically proton it is still forced to my refresh rate

Can you try using x11, it could be a Wayland feature?

Yes, it does not happen on x11. the fps is unlocked there

It ONLY happens with proton+vulkan games on Wayland, thats whats so weird to me
What could be causing that behavior?

This might provide some help: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/14di1yt/wayland_caps_fps/?rdt=47777

By default Wayland will force vsync as part of the basic design of the Wayland protocoll to ensure that every frame is "perfect". On KDE Plasma you can enable an option to allow screentearing on Wayland. This will unlock the fps from your display refreshrate. I guess it depends on the individual Waylandcompositor (desktopenvironment) if this feature is supported or not.

yes i have that option checked, it gets even weirder

it turns out it does not happen on all Vulkan+Proton+Wayland games, just some of them

For example, Doom 64 and Hellpoint use vulkan, But my FPS is uncapped there.

But other games like Doom 2016 and Quake 2 rtx, my fps is limited to refresh rate.
If I switch to x11, the cap goes away on those games. If i switch off Vulkan, it also goes away

So it is due to some specific combination of SOME games+Vulkan+Wayland that for some weird reason restricts the framerate !

Don't use wayland on nvidia, because nvidia drivers still suck.