cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14762903
I am switching to Linux for the first time.
I heard Mint is really good but am not sure exactly which distro is best to use with Steam, as well as with newer games, as I primarily use my computer for gaming.
I generally play games like Final Fantasy XIV, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, Elder Scrolls Online, and Total War: Warhammer 3.
I have a nVidia card. Is that bad?
As a general rule for Linux; Yes, Nvidia hates linux, and the drivers cause issues in a lot of cases.
But Pop! has specifically worded to try to deal with Nvidia, so it might be smooth sailing, depending on which card you have.
Nvidia can be tough sometimes with linux, but not impossible. Seems like Linux Mint has a Driver Manager program that can install Nvidia’s proprietary drivers for you. When you first install the OS, it’ll just use the open source drivers, but those usually don’t perform as well while gaming as Nvidia’s own drivers, so you’ll have to switch them after first boot.
protondb is a website that crowdsources how well specific Steam games work, and any workarounds that may be needed, if you’d like to check game compatibility. You can set it to show only reports from PC users, rather than PC and Steam Deck users.
Or if you hate yourself:
Not at all, in Linux Mint for example I simply picked the recommended driver and I had no issues with that.
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AMD/Nvidia hybrid user here. I’ve had more breakage in the amdgpu driver than Nvidia by far. I think a more fair comment is “drivers break on Linux occasionally and it’s a good idea to learn how to roll back package versions.”