Hey,
been using EOS for a few days and I’m really satisfied and amazed how good this works.
One question which came into my mind is, why did EOS install the nvidia package for my system and not nvidia-open? I am using a 1660 super and I just wonder. Do I miss some performance or features when I keep using the nvidia package?
EOS uses nvidia-dkms by default, not nvidia-open-dkms, I believe, because the proprietary kernel module driver has the most compatibility with all types of cards. To my knowledge, no, you aren’t missing any performance by going with the proprietary kernel modules, or any performance that is noticeable anyway.
I don’t think there’s any real functional difference between nvidia-open-dkms and nvidia-dkms.
tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same code under the hood and everything, the nvidia-open ones would just be compiled on and for eos; whereas the non-open version is compiled by nvidia themselves for generic linux (read:ubuntu).
I’m not even really sure why the non-open variant is still used at all.
I’m on open, and I have noticed 0 differences.
Maybe in the future they will diverge more (for instance nvidia open might eventually support mesa but the proprietary blobs probably wouldn’t ever do so).
If I remember correctly, nvidia-open does not support 1660, but only newer Nvidia GPUs. Note that I may be wrong.
But if you want to try nvidia-open, install nvidia-inst first, and use that app to change the installed Nvidia packages.
To get some more details about nvidia-inst, run
nvidia-inst --help
first.
You probably want to use nvidia-inst option --open, and maybe --no-dkms.
Note that nvidia-inst will show you what it is doing.
Also, nvidia-inst --test is meant for testing since it does not change anything.
Tip: Just to be on the safe side, make sure you have the USB installer available if you happen to need to arch-chroot and revert the changes.