I wish I could. My gaming rig has an nvidia gpu and linux support really sucks because of the proprietary driver situation…
Steams new gamepad ui is a slideshow running at 5fps and I loose HDR so I have to remain on Windows for now. Every other desktop I own is UNIX tho.
linux support really sucks because of the proprietary driver situation.
Stop listening to everyone online. The driver situation “sucks” because of ideologies (which I happen to agree with), but from a functionality perspective Nvidia’s Linux drivers are solid.
The same driver you install is the same driver they use in their half a million dollar DGX AI systems. And those systems don’t run Windows. Only Linux.
I don’t know why you’re having that issue, but I have three systems with Nvidia cards (1080ti, 2060 laptop, 1660 laptop) that I use Steam on and the new big picture mode is entirely usable. It’s not perfect, and does hiccup someone’s, but it works fine.
I’m guessing the laptops are using Optimus and are maybe running big picture using the integrated graphics, hence being smoother on them. 1080ti I don’t know, maybe it’s just in issue with RTX cards or something. iirc it was to do with HW acceleration but not sure
A few others have mentioned Pop_OS! for their Nvidia driver support which is what I’m running too. I think I’m on version 535.93 or something like that. Most of the Ubuntu downstream (Ubuntu, mint, pop_os, etc,.) already include
The proprietary drivers in their repos. Pop_OS is known for Nvidia support being a bit quicker than the others.
I’d suggest looking into dual booting (thats what I do, there are a few things that work better on windows). It’s super easy to set up, and it’s an easy low risk way to see if it works for you.
Started on Manjaro but I was annoyed when they let their SSL certificates expire several times so I moved to EndeavourOS. Now I am using NixOS, and I probably stay with it for a while.
Nix is a good tool, but don’t think I’d personally want to give up the Linux FHS for it. Manjaro’s management does indeed have a somewhat concerning track record.
I’m guessing they’re distro hopping. People often jump from Manjaro to Endeavor to get a more clean Arch experience. This is what I did too, on my laptop a couple of years ago, and I’ve stayed on EndeavourOS since.
Do you ever run into upstream bugs, or Idk, package version incompatibilities, on Endeavour? The idea that the 2-week package grouping and delay might help avoid those is one of the main things that drew me to Manjaro.
I got a RTX 3080 myself and no matter what distro I used the new gamepad UI lagged so much that it was unusable… maybe this has been fixed, I haven’t tried it in a while.
Also are you using x or wayland?
But you can Dual Boot and only use Windows for gaming. I did that initially
Sadly I wont switch until this is resolved. But I use this rig only for gaming and navigate through gamepadui so I dont have to see Windows lol.
I use UNIX (Linux / macOS) on all other hosts.
There’s probably some programs that you always want to run with the dedicated GPU, though.
Copy the launchers for those from /usr/share/applications to ~/.local/share/applications, and edit the Exec= line to include prime-run?
Or, assuming prime-run is inheritable (since otherwise apps that need renderer subprocesses wouldn’t work), run an application launcher/menu itself with prime-run?
What does “NVIDIA Control Panel” look like these days? It’s been a couple years since I’ve seen it. No options in there?
I’m assuming you still want the IGPU and not the discrete GPU for rendering the desktop/simple programs, for power consumption and performance reasons, so you’re not willing to just turn the IGPU off or stick your entire session under prime-run or export its environment variables in ~/.profile or whatever.
It looks like there are also GPU switcher taskbar applets for both KDE and GNOME. This sounds like it would be easy enough.
…I think back when I was setting up a NVIDIA laptop, I might have just put a toggle for optimus-manager somewhere, or something.
I wish I could. My gaming rig has an nvidia gpu and linux support really sucks because of the proprietary driver situation…
Steams new gamepad ui is a slideshow running at 5fps and I loose HDR so I have to remain on Windows for now. Every other desktop I own is UNIX tho.
Stop listening to everyone online. The driver situation “sucks” because of ideologies (which I happen to agree with), but from a functionality perspective Nvidia’s Linux drivers are solid.
The same driver you install is the same driver they use in their half a million dollar DGX AI systems. And those systems don’t run Windows. Only Linux.
Those drivers are stable, but older. I get errors playing new games because my drivers are always 5-10 versions older than their windows equivalents.
That could be a consequence of the distro you’re using. I’m going to guess you’re using Ubuntu and maybe an older LTS.
If that’s the case you can switch to use the Nvidia driver PPA. It’ll give you the latest drivers.
He’s right about the new gamepad UI for steam though… it’s completely unusable in Linux from my experience (the old big picture UI worked fine)
I don’t know why you’re having that issue, but I have three systems with Nvidia cards (1080ti, 2060 laptop, 1660 laptop) that I use Steam on and the new big picture mode is entirely usable. It’s not perfect, and does hiccup someone’s, but it works fine.
I’m guessing the laptops are using Optimus and are maybe running big picture using the integrated graphics, hence being smoother on them. 1080ti I don’t know, maybe it’s just in issue with RTX cards or something. iirc it was to do with HW acceleration but not sure
Nope. I made sure the Nvidia card is used for everything.
A few others have mentioned Pop_OS! for their Nvidia driver support which is what I’m running too. I think I’m on version 535.93 or something like that. Most of the Ubuntu downstream (Ubuntu, mint, pop_os, etc,.) already include The proprietary drivers in their repos. Pop_OS is known for Nvidia support being a bit quicker than the others.
I’d suggest looking into dual booting (thats what I do, there are a few things that work better on windows). It’s super easy to set up, and it’s an easy low risk way to see if it works for you.
My gaming rig has an Nvidia GPU as well, and it runs mostly without any problems (I’ve had to manually update drivers a couple of times) on POP!_OS
Can you try to run the big picture/ gamepad UI and see if it lag? This my only real issue blocking me from switching back
I have a RTX3070 and I never felt any lag using big picture/gamepad UI in Ubuntu/Manjaro/Endeavour.
But you can Dual Boot and only use Windows for gaming. I did that initially
Curious about why both?
Started on Manjaro but I was annoyed when they let their SSL certificates expire several times so I moved to EndeavourOS. Now I am using NixOS, and I probably stay with it for a while.
Nix is a good tool, but don’t think I’d personally want to give up the Linux FHS for it. Manjaro’s management does indeed have a somewhat concerning track record.
I’m guessing they’re distro hopping. People often jump from Manjaro to Endeavor to get a more clean Arch experience. This is what I did too, on my laptop a couple of years ago, and I’ve stayed on EndeavourOS since.
Do you ever run into upstream bugs, or Idk, package version incompatibilities, on Endeavour? The idea that the 2-week package grouping and delay might help avoid those is one of the main things that drew me to Manjaro.
I did run into a few package version incompatibilities 1 or 2 times, but it was rare to have issues. I think I had more issues on Manjaro tbh.
No, I personally haven’t had any problems with package incompatibility on Endeavour. Anecdotally; on Manjaro I had two system breaking updates.
Well, nuts.
I got a RTX 3080 myself and no matter what distro I used the new gamepad UI lagged so much that it was unusable… maybe this has been fixed, I haven’t tried it in a while.
Also are you using x or wayland?
Sadly I wont switch until this is resolved. But I use this rig only for gaming and navigate through gamepadui so I dont have to see Windows lol.
I use UNIX (Linux / macOS) on all other hosts.
Use X not Wayland on NVIDIA GPUs. I’m running nixos on my laptop / desktop and big picture works without issues on both hosts.
4800hs + 1650m / 13900kf + 3070
I was using X in all of those. Now I am on NixOS and Wayland, but haven’t tried steam/big picture yet.
I don’t currently own a gamepad, so I can’t help you. I hope somebody else can help.
I use a gaming laptop with an Nvidia GPU and linux support does not ‘really suck.’
The only downside I have is one you wouldn’t experience because you’re not using a laptop.
Optimus/Bumblebee/IGPU switching/whatever?
It’s just optimus now.
The issue is that in order for a program to use the dedicated GPU, I need to launch it with
prime-runprepended to it.There’s probably some programs that you always want to run with the dedicated GPU, though.
Copy the launchers for those from
/usr/share/applicationsto~/.local/share/applications, and edit theExec=line to includeprime-run?Or, assuming
prime-runis inheritable (since otherwise apps that need renderer subprocesses wouldn’t work), run an application launcher/menu itself withprime-run?Actually, it looks like
prime-runjust sets a couple environment variables anyway. So set those however you want for each program.What does “NVIDIA Control Panel” look like these days? It’s been a couple years since I’ve seen it. No options in there?
I’m assuming you still want the IGPU and not the discrete GPU for rendering the desktop/simple programs, for power consumption and performance reasons, so you’re not willing to just turn the IGPU off or stick your entire session under
prime-runor export its environment variables in~/.profileor whatever.It looks like there are also GPU switcher taskbar applets for both KDE and GNOME. This sounds like it would be easy enough.
…I think back when I was setting up a NVIDIA laptop, I might have just put a toggle for
optimus-managersomewhere, or something.