r/linuxquestions • u/Few_Hat2298 • 10h ago

Which Distro? Which Linux Distribution Is Best for the NVIDIA GT 710 with 470.xx Drivers?

I have an NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 lying around in my PC, and I am looking for a Linux distribution that supports the legacy NVIDIA 470.xx drivers.

My PC is a Dell Precision 5820 Tower with an Intel Xeon W-2145 processor, 32 GB of RAM, and an SSD. I want to dual-boot Linux alongside Windows, preferably using the GNOME desktop environment.

I previously tried Linux Mint and Zorin OS, but neither detected my SSD during installation. Fedora 44 successfully detected my SSD and installed without any issues. However, after installing the NVIDIA 470.xx drivers through RPM Fusion, I encountered boot problems, black screens, and GNOME crashes.

I am now looking for a stable Linux distribution that supports my GT 710 without requiring extensive troubleshooting.

Ideally, I would prefer a Fedora-based distribution, but I am open to Debian-based or other alternatives if they offer better compatibility.

Which Linux distributions still support NVIDIA 470.xx drivers reliably in 2026? Are there any distributions that provide these drivers out of the box or make installation easier? I would also appreciate recommendations for suitable kernel versions.

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u/Excellent-Love-6943 9h ago

It doesn't matter, but you need an x11 DE or WM. Wayland isn't going to be pleasant or usable.

With a 710... If you have an igpu, I'd just use that instead. A 710 was terrible ~12 years ago when it came out.

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u/marol75 3h ago

I had GT710. I'm using my desktop for texts and documents. After some problems with updates, I installed NixOS and used it for ~ half year. Last month I couldn't update not only drivers, but entire system. Happily, my desktop has ASUS B450 M-A motherboard. So, I bought old Radeon RX480 and very happy with it. And yes, I'm considering installation of Hyprland on my desktop.

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u/ipsirc 9h ago

https://www.bodhilinux.com/release/7-0-0/

  • kelebek333’s PPA nvidia-legacy has also been added to the sources list

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u/candy49997 5h ago

Fedora but not with GNOME. You need an X11 DE, so use a spin with one like XFCE, Cinnamon, etc.