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A good [noob-friendly] Linux distro for Nvidia support and gaming? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 10 months ago by frippa@lemmy.ml to c/leftistunix@lemmygrad.ml
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Heyo comrades, I just bought a laptop with an Nvidia RTX 3060 (don't call me a capitalist, Italy discounts VAT on tech stuff if you're disabled) and was looking for a noob-friendly distro with a good Nvidia support (fuck those proprietary pigs)

I looked at Mint since I use it on my desktop, but it has an out of date kernel (I heard that you need 5.8 or above to game with Nvidia, once again fuck them. Never had an issue with my trusty rx580) would just updating the kernel be an option or should I be looking for a different distro?

My only 2 requirements are that:

It's noob friendly (something Debian-based maybe, with a .deb and APT based package management)

And that doesn't use a gnome DE, maybe something more like cinnamon, KDE of XFCE would be nice.

Thanks.

(sorry for long post, had to insult Nvidia)

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[-] Char@mander.xyz 8 points 10 months ago

Nobara KDE
https://nobaraproject.org/

Made by RedHat dev Glorious Eggroll who has been improving Proton and other tools for Linux gaming. Has a SteamDeck version. Welcome screen installs anything gaming you could want/need.

Tried Debian/Ubuntu distros but needed newer packages/drivers and it was time-consuming.
Tried Arch and derivatives but being that cutting edge had quirks.

Fedora-based Nobara KDE hit that just-right spot of stability vs latest.

Games run better than they ever did on w11.

[-] frippa@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

I was about to pull the trigger on nobara for my desktop, I will certainly try it on live USB after reimbursing my windows license (God bless the best 9/11, 9/11 2014,the day from which we can ask for reimbursement for windows keys) I'm used to APT but I think the switch won't be hard, thanks a lot!

[-] roguestew@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Pop_OS has NVIDIA support out of the box. I know it comes with gnome, but it's fairly simple to install another DE. That's the route I ended up going, as an apt fan

[-] frippa@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

I'll try Pop too, I've actually tried that on liveUSB on a desktop (not the best thing I know, it's a laptop distro) and I think their modified gnome isn't that bad, I think I might get used to it. The fact they use APT is a huge plus IMO, I'm used to it.

[-] Char@mander.xyz 2 points 10 months ago

You’re welcome! Hope it feels comfy for you and fits your needs.

[-] Prongle@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 10 months ago

@frippa@lemmy.ml PopOS

[-] JucheStalin@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 10 months ago

Manjaro has been surprisingly easy for me, but I'm not new to Linux so take that into account.

Socialism isn't shared poverty; who would complain about you buying that laptop?

[-] Marcuss2@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I don't have good experience with Manjaro, if you want to go Arch based, I can recommend EndeavourOS

I say this as an Arch user

[-] roux@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 10 months ago

For what it's worth, you can update the kernel in Mint pretty easily. I did it about a year ago to add support for my new WiFi card.

[-] AlbigensianGhoul@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

To add to that, if the only red line is GNOME, you can also install something you're already comfortable such as the latest Ubuntu, then install a different DE. Lightdm is very versatile and allows basically any other DE.

[-] Shinhoshi@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 10 months ago

Yep, even installed Kubuntu (KDE + Ubuntu) on my Mac :)

[-] roux@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 10 months ago

Lubuntu and Xubuntu are both great options for older hardware. Mint also has an LXDE version IIRC.

[-] hellvolution@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Debian testing (install debian stable n change the repository to testing). Upgrade to testing...

Reboot;

After it, type, as root/su:

dpkg --add-architecture i386 && apt update

*i386 for 32 bits apps like Steam

Install the Nvidia drivers packages (check debian + Nvidia official debian documentation, piece of cake)

https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

Reboot, fine tune the GPU/monitor config with: nvidia-settings

Install steam:

apt install steam

GG, happy gaming

[-] relay@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 10 months ago

I've been using novidea with debian 11 cinnamon by installing the proprietary drivers.

90 percent of the time it works every time.

The good thing with Pop OS is that you can just use the image that explicitally has the novidea drivers on it initially.

[-] lemat_87@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 9 months ago

I am very happy with MX Linux, a good starting point for new Linux users

this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
14 points (88.9% liked)

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