diff --git a/docs/envvars.rst b/docs/envvars.rst
index beec1a7ceb7..a88574b9ce0 100644
--- a/docs/envvars.rst
+++ b/docs/envvars.rst
@@ -1548,6 +1548,8 @@ RADV driver environment variables
       enable wave64 for ray tracing shaders (GFX10-10.3)
    ``sam``
       enable optimizations to move more driver internal objects to VRAM.
+   ``sparse``
+      enable experimental sparse binding and sparse residency on GPUs where we don't support it by default (pre Polaris)
    ``transfer_queue``
       enable experimental transfer queue support (GFX9+, not yet spec compliant)
    ``video_decode``
diff --git a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_debug.h b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_debug.h
index cd0c95c7b3e..bf235e4d076 100644
--- a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_debug.h
+++ b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_debug.h
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ enum {
    RADV_PERFTEST_VIDEO_ENCODE = 1u << 15,
    RADV_PERFTEST_NO_GTT_SPILL = 1u << 16,
    RADV_PERFTEST_HIC = 1u << 17,
+   RADV_PERFTEST_SPARSE = 1u << 18,
 };
 
 enum {
diff --git a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_formats.c b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_formats.c
index dd6985365ee..eb3f92790f3 100644
--- a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_formats.c
+++ b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_formats.c
@@ -1072,8 +1072,7 @@ radv_get_image_format_properties(struct radv_physical_device *pdev, const VkPhys
    }
 
    if (info->flags & VK_IMAGE_CREATE_SPARSE_RESIDENCY_BIT) {
-      /* Sparse textures are only supported on GFX8+. */
-      if (pdev->info.gfx_level < GFX8)
+      if (info->type == VK_IMAGE_TYPE_3D && !pdev->info.has_sparse_image_3d)
          goto unsupported;
 
       if (vk_format_get_plane_count(format) > 1 || info->type == VK_IMAGE_TYPE_1D ||
diff --git a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_instance.c b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_instance.c
index a7671487fcc..f889f4dd4df 100644
--- a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_instance.c
+++ b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_instance.c
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ static const struct debug_control radv_perftest_options[] = {
    {"video_encode", RADV_PERFTEST_VIDEO_ENCODE},
    {"nogttspill", RADV_PERFTEST_NO_GTT_SPILL},
    {"hic", RADV_PERFTEST_HIC},
+   {"sparse", RADV_PERFTEST_SPARSE},
    {NULL, 0},
 };
 
diff --git a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_physical_device.c b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_physical_device.c
index 02c4b4513b7..d7dde4d2634 100644
--- a/src/amd/vulkan/radv_physical_device.c
+++ b/src/amd/vulkan/radv_physical_device.c
@@ -75,6 +75,15 @@ radv_taskmesh_enabled(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
           pdev->info.has_gang_submit;
 }
 
+static bool
+radv_sparse_enabled(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
+{
+   const struct radv_instance *instance = radv_physical_device_instance(pdev);
+
+   return pdev->info.has_sparse ||
+          (instance->perftest_flags & RADV_PERFTEST_SPARSE);
+}
+
 bool
 radv_transfer_queue_enabled(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
 {
@@ -854,6 +863,7 @@ radv_physical_device_get_features(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev, struc
    bool has_shader_image_float_minmax = pdev->info.gfx_level != GFX8 && pdev->info.gfx_level != GFX9 &&
                                         pdev->info.gfx_level != GFX11 && pdev->info.gfx_level != GFX11_5;
    bool has_fragment_shader_interlock = radv_has_pops(pdev);
+   const bool enable_sparse = radv_sparse_enabled(pdev);
 
    *features = (struct vk_features){
       /* Vulkan 1.0 */
@@ -899,14 +909,14 @@ radv_physical_device_get_features(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev, struc
       .shaderFloat64 = true,
       .shaderInt64 = true,
       .shaderInt16 = true,
-      .sparseBinding = pdev->info.has_sparse,
-      .sparseResidencyBuffer = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
-      .sparseResidencyImage2D = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
-      .sparseResidencyImage3D = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
-      .sparseResidencyAliased = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
+      .sparseBinding = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseResidencyBuffer = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseResidencyImage2D = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseResidencyImage3D = enable_sparse && pdev->info.has_sparse_image_3d,
+      .sparseResidencyAliased = enable_sparse,
       .variableMultisampleRate = true,
-      .shaderResourceMinLod = true,
-      .shaderResourceResidency = true,
+      .shaderResourceMinLod = enable_sparse,
+      .shaderResourceResidency = enable_sparse,
       .inheritedQueries = true,
 
       /* Vulkan 1.1 */
@@ -1086,8 +1096,8 @@ radv_physical_device_get_features(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev, struc
       .shaderSharedFloat64AtomicAdd = false,
       .shaderImageFloat32Atomics = true,
       .shaderImageFloat32AtomicAdd = pdev->info.gfx_level >= GFX12 && !pdev->use_llvm,
-      .sparseImageFloat32Atomics = true,
-      .sparseImageFloat32AtomicAdd = pdev->info.gfx_level >= GFX12 && !pdev->use_llvm,
+      .sparseImageFloat32Atomics = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseImageFloat32AtomicAdd = enable_sparse && pdev->info.gfx_level >= GFX12 && !pdev->use_llvm,
 
       /* VK_EXT_4444_formats */
       .formatA4R4G4B4 = true,
@@ -1095,7 +1105,7 @@ radv_physical_device_get_features(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev, struc
 
       /* VK_EXT_shader_image_atomic_int64 */
       .shaderImageInt64Atomics = true,
-      .sparseImageInt64Atomics = true,
+      .sparseImageInt64Atomics = enable_sparse,
 
       /* VK_EXT_mutable_descriptor_type */
       .mutableDescriptorType = true,
@@ -1159,7 +1169,7 @@ radv_physical_device_get_features(const struct radv_physical_device *pdev, struc
       .shaderSharedFloat32AtomicMinMax = true,
       .shaderSharedFloat64AtomicMinMax = true,
       .shaderImageFloat32AtomicMinMax = has_shader_image_float_minmax,
-      .sparseImageFloat32AtomicMinMax = has_shader_image_float_minmax,
+      .sparseImageFloat32AtomicMinMax = enable_sparse && has_shader_image_float_minmax,
 
 #ifdef RADV_USE_WSI_PLATFORM
       /* VK_KHR_present_id */
@@ -1565,6 +1575,7 @@ radv_get_physical_device_properties(struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
    }
 
    const bool has_fp16 = radv_shader_fp16_enabled(pdev);
+   const bool enable_sparse = radv_sparse_enabled(pdev);
 
    VkShaderStageFlags taskmesh_stages =
       radv_taskmesh_enabled(pdev) ? VK_SHADER_STAGE_MESH_BIT_EXT | VK_SHADER_STAGE_TASK_BIT_EXT : 0;
@@ -1604,7 +1615,7 @@ radv_get_physical_device_properties(struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
       .maxMemoryAllocationCount = UINT32_MAX,
       .maxSamplerAllocationCount = 64 * 1024,
       .bufferImageGranularity = 1,
-      .sparseAddressSpaceSize = pdev->info.has_sparse ? pdev->info.virtual_address_max : 0,
+      .sparseAddressSpaceSize = enable_sparse ? pdev->info.virtual_address_max : 0,
       .maxBoundDescriptorSets = MAX_SETS,
       .maxPerStageDescriptorSamplers = max_descriptor_set_size,
       .maxPerStageDescriptorUniformBuffers = max_descriptor_set_size,
@@ -1698,9 +1709,10 @@ radv_get_physical_device_properties(struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
       .optimalBufferCopyOffsetAlignment = 1,
       .optimalBufferCopyRowPitchAlignment = 1,
       .nonCoherentAtomSize = 64,
-      .sparseResidencyNonResidentStrict = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
-      .sparseResidencyStandard2DBlockShape = pdev->info.family >= CHIP_POLARIS10,
-      .sparseResidencyStandard3DBlockShape = pdev->info.gfx_level >= GFX9,
+      .sparseResidencyNonResidentStrict = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseResidencyAlignedMipSize = enable_sparse && !pdev->info.has_sparse_unaligned_mip_size,
+      .sparseResidencyStandard2DBlockShape = enable_sparse,
+      .sparseResidencyStandard3DBlockShape = enable_sparse && pdev->info.has_sparse_image_standard_3d,
 
       /* Vulkan 1.1 */
       .driverID = VK_DRIVER_ID_MESA_RADV,
@@ -2129,7 +2141,7 @@ radv_get_physical_device_properties(struct radv_physical_device *pdev)
       .deviceGeneratedCommandsMultiDrawIndirectCount = true,
 
       /* VK_KHR_maintenance9 */
-      .image2DViewOf3DSparse = pdev->info.gfx_level >= GFX8,
+      .image2DViewOf3DSparse = enable_sparse && pdev->info.has_sparse_image_3d,
       .defaultVertexAttributeValue = VK_DEFAULT_VERTEX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_ZERO_ZERO_ZERO_ZERO_KHR,
 
       /* VK_NV_cooperative_matrix2 */