Best Linux Distros for GTX 1050 Users?

Yeah, Nvidia's drivers have a bad rap for being reverse-engineered, which can lead to all kinds of problems. I heard they've open-sourced some drivers lately, so that might help things get better in the future.

You might want to check out Bazzite; they have a version with the Nvidia drivers already included, so it should be smooth sailing! Linux Mint is another option, but just keep in mind that it doesn't come with the Nvidia drivers pre-installed. However, it does have Nouveau drivers that work right off the bat and installing the Nvidia drivers is pretty straightforward. I've used both with my GTX 970 and had no issues at all!

I recommend trying Nobara, Bazzite, or Pop!_OS. They all come with Nvidia drivers included, which makes setup a lot easier.

I doubt the GTX 1050 is causing the issues directly; it’s likely something else. Most mainstream distros should run it well. You may need to troubleshoot why things aren’t working; it could just require a kernel parameter change or something similar. Just keep in mind that Nvidia drivers can be a bit tricky sometimes.

Honestly, the distro choice shouldn't be a huge factor since all will use the same Nvidia driver. What kind of issues are you running into? Make sure you're using the appropriate driver version. I had a GTX 1050 Ti a while back, and it worked just fine on various distros.