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Considering a GTX 1060 or 1660
Salvatos Apr 27, 2019
I don't know much about hardware so I'd like some advice before I risk buying something that doesn't properly work with Linux and I'm not sure where to look, so hopefully some of you can guide me along :)

I've been running a GTX 560 since about 2012 and it already struggled with some of the games I was interested in, so just about anything would be an upgrade. Roughly looking to pay 250 USD to get a nice mid-range replacement for less-than-1080p gaming, and I'm used to and not much bothered by FPS's in the 20-30 range. Essentially I want current games to look good and run without stutter or overheating. There aren't too many 3D games in my wishlist at the moment so I'm not sure what to aim for, but I looked at some 1060's and 1660's on newegg and they seem to tick all the boxes regarding price and performance, while reportedly also being reasonably quiet and cool.

My main questions would be:
1. Can I expect those to be well supported on Linux (Mint for the foreseeable future)? I assume they are Vulkan-ready, unlike my current one.
2. Is there something better I should look at in that price range? I'd like to stick with what I know (nvidia), but I'm not completely closed to an open-sourced brand, as long as there are other compelling reasons to choose them and they are hassle-free and equally compatible. When it comes to GPUs, I'm willing to put usability above openness.

Thanks in advance :)
Xpander Apr 27, 2019
go for 1660 instead of 1060. if you can squeeze out a bit more money then 1660Ti is a real beast and will keep you running for a while.

from Amd camp RX 580/590 are nice, performance wise lower than 1660, but also cheaper a bit.

though nvidia is more power efficient. Vulkan support is fine on both, green and red camp.
tuubi Apr 27, 2019
I switched from a GTX960 to an RX580 a few months ago, and the only complaint I have is the increased noise under load. It's powerful enough and I'd say it's probably more future-proof than an Nvidia card due to the FOSS drivers (in case you plan to keep using it for a long time). Ease of use is about the same on Mint. It runs fine out of the box, but you'll probably want to add a PPA for more recent drivers and mesa.
Nasra Jun 14, 2019
Quoting: GuestThe incoming GNOME version (hence Ubuntu 19.10) will have big NVIDIA related performance fixes too. It's already quite acceptable ATM. Since Ubuntu 19.04 (current Gnome version) it also handles 144 Hz properly.

Just for this specific point, i think it is fixed on 18.04 : https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ubuntu-18.04-LTS-High-Refresh
:)
Salvatos Jun 14, 2019
I ended up going with a 1050 Ti since with my current CPU, my uncle warned me that anything higher would likely be wasted, and I'd rather not upgrade my CPU just yet. It was also selling for cheaper than I expected to pay, so I'm happy with it so far. Now there's actual grass in Rocket League ^_^

I've been having quite a bit of screen tearing in Cinnamon as well, so a fix for that would be great, but I haven't noticed it in games, mostly when scrolling in Firefox.
Shmerl Jun 14, 2019
I'd recommend AMD today. There is no need to get Nvidia anymore, and with progress of Linux desktop in general (while slow, it's moving), amount of issues with Nvidia will increase.
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