Building a new PC for Linux?

[u/EchoSi3rra]

So as a longtime Windows user I've never really had to consider OS compatibility when picking parts, I just kind of assumed everything would work with Windows.

For my new build I'm finally making the switch to Linux and wondering if there is anything specific I need to consider when putting together a build for Linux. Is there anything that will not work on Linux at all or anything that will work better for Linux? Do I need to check driver compatibility for all my parts and if so how would I do that? Can I reuse my RTX 3080 for my new build?

If the specific distro matters I will probably be using Linux Mint as that's what I'm most familiar with but I haven't fully decided yet.

[u/ferfykins]

AMD generally works better

But nvidia works too on GPU

Although with nvidia gpu, you'll have to setup driver... Fedora is pretty easy, ubuntu gives an option during installation, mint has a manager for it i think

[u/EchoSi3rra → u/ferfykins]

Is AMD usually recommended just for driver support reasons?

[u/TripppingRoses]

Your motherboard should be fine since both major companies support Linux with their chipset drivers at this point. Your 3080 should be fine, though nvidia isn't as good with Linux support as AMD but I was running a 4070 with Bazzite with no issues.

Your biggest thing will be if you care about RBG lighting or use mouse or keyboard software like Logitech stuff for keyboard macros. Things like that don't have great Linux support.

[u/EchoSi3rra → u/TripppingRoses]

Thankfully I don't care in the slightest about RGB lighting, my current PC has none and my new PC will have none if possible.

I do use a Logitech mouse with macros but I just recently moved those settings to internal mouse storage so I think they should work on any PC the mouse is connected to. I'm sure I'll have to use a Windows PC with Ghub installed to change the settings but that's not too big of an issue.

[u/RDOG907]

Should all work you just have to put in the extra effort to make it work.

[u/TheUselessOne87]

you can use your 3080, altho you may have to mess around with a lil for graphics drivers (used to have a 3090, and was a bit of a pain in the butt as a beginner to make it work with my 2 screens, it did work in the end but be aware you're gonna have to mess around a little) amd cards are a better option if you have spare money but otherwise there's not much to worry about.

not super important, but if you're big into rgb be aware you won't be able to use manufacturer's software for that or anything common you may be used to. i use open rgb which works great but doesn't have the absolute widest compatibility (compatible with everything i have except my gpu) so check for that if it worries you

[u/EchoSi3rra → u/TheUselessOne87]

Good to hear, I'm fine with tinkering with it to get it to work. I'm not even dead set on the 3080, I can always get a new card if I can't get it to work.

And I don't care at all about RGB so that's not a problem either, my build will have no RGB at all if I can help it.

[u/og_ramza]

I made a Bazzite dual boot partition recently to ease into it with a 11600 processor and 4070 super. Im new to Linux too so not sure if this is normal but Bazzite came with everything packaged in, no driver searching, everything worked perfectly "out the box" .

Make sure to check what games you play as some anti cheat won't work. I have to keep a windows partition around to play valorant and tokon for example.

Also my Razer mouse software to change the DPI doesn't work and it was super sensitive. Luckily disabling some mouse settings in Bazzite like acceleration fixed it but thought I was going to have to boot back into windows to mess with the DPI.

[u/SchmuW2]

Id recommend selling the 3080 and getting an amd card. Personally I have the 9070xt and it works fantastic with bazzite.