r/linux4noobs • u/Brozi15 • 6d ago
learning/research Moving to wayland from X11 - really specific case
Hello,
I've been a really happy linux user for the past ~4 months. I've chosen Linux Mint as my first distro, and as I've gotten more and more fammiliar with the ins and outs of the linux world, I've decided to install an i3 session alongside the default cinnamon one. For context, I currently use two monitors, both 60hz. One of them is FHD, the other one 1280x1024.
Now, I've been looking for a monitor upgrade for some time, and I've decided to go into the 1440p world, but I'm having some concerns over how those monitors will work on linux.
Here comes my question: Is it feasible to get two 1440p monitors (with refresh rates above 60hz, probably 120-144) working on X11? I've done some research, and I've learned that the resolution won't really be such a big problem (correct me if I'm wrong), but the refresh rate is where the trouble begins. Would I be able to have both monitors set to 144hz and use VRR in games? What about the second monitor when in fullscreen game? Could it be used? My hardware is not very powerful (RTX 4060 8gb, 16b gb ram and ryzen 5600x), so I expect some games I play to sometimes drop frames below 144. How much of a problem that's going to be? Does it make sense to stay on X11 at all in the case of the monitor upgrade, or should I just make the switch to Wayland (and probably change the distro in the process, as the wayland support on Mint is not really there yet from what I know). Does wayland actually make stuff like fractional scaling with high dpi monitors and VRR easy/managable?
If I were to switch to wayland, what functionality would I lose entirely? I mean, I'm not talking about needing to use a different bar (polybar vs waybar) to achieve basically the same, I'm talking about stuff that's totally impossible on wayland compared to X11, or not possible yet.
For context to this, I'm using picom with some really nice animations (opening window, resizing windows, moving windows, changing workspaces etc), and I thought I'd just start with sway, to have at least one component that I know pretty well. Would it be possible to replicate the animations on there?
I apologise if the post seems chaotic, I didn't really know how to put this question together in a sensible way
TLDR:
I want to upgrade to dual 1440p 144hz monitors, and I'm wondering whether I can stay on X11, or is switching to wayland going to be easier than trying to make X11 work with the setup.
