Hey everyone! I'm building a brand new PC this week with the following specs: MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi motherboard, a 9950X3D CPU, a Sapphire NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB OC GPU, and 64GB of 6400MHz RAM. Currently, I'm using Linux Mint on my old build, but I've come across some info saying the 9070 XT GPU requires at least a 6.12 kernel, while Mint is still on 6.8. I want to avoid upgrading everything manually, so I'm considering switching distros. I'm thinking about Fedora 42 since it comes with a 6.14 kernel, but I'm wondering if that's sufficient or if I should look for something even newer. I'd also prefer something user-friendly since I just switched from Windows 10 a month ago and want to avoid Arch for now. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
Consider giving Kubuntu 25.05 a shot! It's user-friendly and should support your hardware pretty well.
Check out DistroWatch.com! They rank the top 100 operating systems, and it could help you find something that fits your needs.
I always suggest test-driving distros with a Live/USB boot first. It’s a great way to see how everything runs on your new hardware without committing right away.
You definitely need at least a 6.13 kernel, but 6.14 is recommended for better bug fixes. The newer your hardware, the newer the kernel you should go for. You might want to try CachyOS; it could work really well for your setup.
If gaming is a top priority, you might want to stick with Windows for the best experience. Just a thought!
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