Stale linked-file preview persists after external edit in Illustrator

Goal: Determine why Illustrator continues to display an outdated preview of a linked raster or vector file after the source file has been modified externally, even when the Links panel shows an out‑of‑date warning.

Constraints/uncertainty: The behavior depends on the Update Links preference setting, whether GPU Performance mode is enabled, and the Illustrator version (CC 2018‑2026). It is not clear whether the stale image resides in the CPU‑side preview cache, the GPU video memory cache, or both, and whether disabling GPU mode reliably forces a refresh when updates are manual.

Which cache (CPU preview cache vs. GPU video memory) retains the stale illustration when GPU Performance mode is enabled? Does turning off GPU Performance mode guarantee that the preview updates automatically when the Update Links preference is set to manual? How does the Update Links preference interact with the Links panel’s out‑of‑date indicator to control preview refresh across Illustrator CC 2018‑2026?