Hey everyone! I have an older HP gaming laptop that I've been using both for gaming and school work. The specs are decent: an i7 8750H at 2.20GHz, an Nvidia GTX 1050 (not the mobile version), and 16GB of RAM. However, Windows 11 runs terribly on it despite the good specs. Right now, I only have about 7GB of free memory with just 3 Firefox tabs open. I'm considering switching to Linux since my last attempt 6 years ago was a disaster because of screen tearing from the Nvidia drivers. I'm not sure if things have improved since then, so I'm asking: Should I install Linux on this laptop and will it handle the Nvidia GPU properly?
4 Answers
The Nvidia drivers have definitely improved over the years, so you might have better luck now. Distros like Mint and Ubuntu have built-in options to help you install the best drivers. Just a heads up though, many kernel-level anti-cheat games don’t work on Linux, so back up your important files before you commit to a full install. If you decide to stick with Windows, there are tools like Win10Debloater that can help free up some resources.
If you want to try Linux, I suggest installing Kubuntu 25.04. Make sure to enable the Wayland session after you install the recommended Nvidia driver; that could help with your screen tearing issue. But remember, always check if your favorite games run on Linux before switching!
Installing Linux is totally up to you! I have an older i7 laptop with 16GB RAM and Nvidia graphics, and it runs Ubuntu like a dream. A great option is to try out different distros from a USB drive using Ventoy; it's super easy! Just drag and drop some ISO files and boot from it. Don’t worry about what everyone says about which distro is best—just find what works for you.
I’ve been gaming on Arch Linux and love it! If you're adventurous, consider dual-booting. You can shrink your Windows partition and give Arch a shot. Just be ready—it's more advanced, but tools like 'archinstall' can simplify the install process. And don’t forget to set up ZRAM if you do—about 20% of your RAM is a good start for it!
Yeah, and don’t skip setting up at least 8GB of regular swap for better performance. Feel free to ask if you have any questions during the setup!