Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

ewaller · 2026-03-15 19:26:00

I normally avoid Nvidia as they aren't the best when it comes to FOSS. Never-the-less, I have acquired a Dell G7 with the following:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile] (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Dell Device 0825
	Kernel driver in use: nouveau

From what I understand, that is a "Pascal" series card. It is not supported by the latest driver according to the front page news.
The nouveau driver seems to be associated with that card.

The Arch Nvidia page does not address Pascal series boards directly, but I can infer that I may be able to install dkms drivers from the AUR that may, or may not be supported.

What is the best practice right now? Stay where I am at, or try to find a dkms driver.
If I stay with nouveau, am I done or is there more magic to do?? I've not installed anything that has not been pulled in my the Gnome package.

Scimmia · 2026-03-15 19:29:51

ewaller wrote:

The Arch Nvidia page does not address Pascal series boards directly,

Sure it does

Maxwell (NV110/GMXXX) through Volta (NV140/GV100)

https://nouveau.freedesktop.org/CodeNames.html#NV130

ewaller · 2026-03-15 19:36:18

Ah, I missed the 'through'.

Okay, so it is the 5800xx and it is supported. What do people suggest, nouveau, or the dkms driver? I'm not a gamer.

Last edited by ewaller (2026-03-15 19:36:54)

MAYBL8 · 2026-03-15 20:02:21

I don't have the exact same card but I have been using the 580 driver without any issues.

[demo@Manjaro ~]$ inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics] driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108M [GeForce MX250] driver: nvidia v: 580.142
  Device-3: Chicony HP Wide Vision FHD Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia dri: iris
    gpu: i915 resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,nvidia,swrast
    platforms: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 26.0.2-arch1.1
    renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.341 drivers: intel,nvidia surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

seth · 2026-03-15 21:00:38

nouveau is likely more pain-free on updates and nvidia likely more pain-free to use - pick your poison

Personally I'd likely pair nvidia 580xx w/ the LTS kernel (to avoid API breaks) and for good measure nvidia.NVreg_EnableGpuFirmware=0 (though technically the GPU doesn't support GSP anyway)
Then test nouveau on the main kernel once in a while.

I'm not a gamer.

I'd be more concerned about clock management (ie. power draw)
Also https://www.lemonamiga.com/game/aunt-arctic-adventure
(I'd also advert treasure island dizzy, but it's ported from an arcade game, there're no safe points, no levels and everything kills you and then you have to start over)

Arch Linux

#1 2026-03-15 19:26:00

Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

#2 2026-03-15 19:29:51

Re: Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

#3 2026-03-15 19:36:18

Re: Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

#4 2026-03-15 20:02:21

Re: Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

#5 2026-03-15 21:00:38

Re: Current best practice for NVIDIA Pascal Device

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