Hey everyone! I’m planning to build a Linux gaming PC using Bazzite, and while I keep up with current GPU specs and prices, I’m not fully in the loop on how AMD and Nvidia GPUs stack up for Linux gaming nowadays. Historically AMD was favored, but I’ve seen recent chatter that Nvidia may have caught up, especially with their newer driver updates. I heard DLSS 4 frame generation is working for Nvidia but FSR 4 frame generation isn’t yet, and that Nvidia offers some advanced driver-level motion smoothing features that AMD lacks. So overall, what are the main pros and cons of AMD vs Nvidia for Linux gaming now? Which would you recommend for a hassle-free and solid experience?
5 Answers
I’ve had a firsthand terrible time with Nvidia on Linux recently. Played games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon’s Dogma 2, and faced tons of graphical glitches and crashes. Some fixes require you to trick the game into thinking you have a generic GPU, leaving out Nvidia’s own cool features like DLSS — which kind of defeats the point of going Nvidia. Also, on Linux with Nvidia drivers, I noticed issues with Steam’s UI, Discord screen sharing glitches, and problems with system sleep wake cycles. Meanwhile, my Steam Deck with an AMD GPU runs everything super smooth without fuss. Honestly, save yourself the hassle and just go AMD if you’re on Linux.
From what I’ve seen and experienced, AMD still tends to offer the safest and most stable ride on Linux. Nvidia can work fine, but often you’ll run into weird bugs or glitches, and their Linux drivers don’t feel as polished. Plus, Nvidia generally performs about 15-20% worse on Linux compared to Windows due to ongoing driver inefficiencies, especially with DX12 titles. AMD’s drivers are open-source and get regular community updates, which usually means better compatibility and sometimes even better performance than on Windows. So if you want a less headache-prone setup, AMD is the way to go.
There’s definitely a few things to consider: Nvidia suffers from a known 20% performance hit on DX12 (vkd3d) games on Linux, and they’ve been slow to fix these driver issues. AMD’s open-source Mesa drivers tend to offer better overall stability and gaming performance on Linux, although ray tracing still lags a bit compared to Windows. AMD also provides two driver options: Mesa and AMDVLK. Mesa is more stable, while AMDVLK can give better ray tracing but sometimes has bugs. Switching between them per game is possible but can be a bit technical. Nvidia’s DLSS 4 and driver-level motion smoothing are cool features, but support on Linux is patchy so far. If stability and smooth experience matter most, AMD is a safer choice for now.
I run a mid-range rig with an Nvidia RTX 4060, Ryzen 5 5600, and have found Nvidia drivers to be decent after updating to the latest stable drivers (570 series). Some games did crash frequently before, but updating the drivers fixed those issues completely for me, including Cyberpunk 2077 and others on Lutris. That said, if you plan to use any Nvidia-specific compute features like CUDA, NVENC, or even some creative apps that rely on Nvidia hardware acceleration, it might be worth sticking with Nvidia. For gaming only, AMD is often more stable and hassle free, but Nvidia is still very viable if you keep everything updated.
Based on what I’ve tried, AMD just plain works better on Linux. Nvidia’s drivers can be a mess — problems with screen tearing, weird glitches in apps like Discord, inconsistent VSync, and lots of driver bugs. AMD cards combined with open-source drivers give fewer headaches and better compatibility. Nvidia has some cool features like DLSS and Reflex, but on Linux those features aren’t fully reliable yet. If you need Linux gaming to ‘just work’, go AMD. And yeah, the price-to-performance of AMD cards on Linux often beats Nvidia’s offerings too.
