who can use Linux but not windows? Share your Linux setup

WhisperingWind

I have been trying to migraine from dual-booting MacOS + Linux to Windows 11 + Wsl.

I recommend trying Windows 10 22H2 (19045.5371). It works for me; maybe it will work for you too. But here, much also depends on the graphics card and the monitor.

jordan

WhisperingWind what graphics card are you using nowadays?

WhisperingWind

jordan

what graphics card are you using nowadays?

I have been using the AMD RX 6600 with Windows 10 22H2 for 7 months now.

I don’t use the ARC A770 anymore. After updating my motherboard’s BIOS and turning on ReBAR, it actually felt worse on my eyes, at least subjectively. The AMD RX 6600, on the other hand, feels just as comfortable with ReBAR enabled as it does without it, so I’m sticking with that for now.

jordan

WhisperingWind Thats great to hear! Was that the sapphire pulse version? I think I remember you posted about one bothering you before. Is this a different card ?

simplex

WhisperingWind

Hi! You dont have any nvidia cards… to check drivers difference?

WhisperingWind

jordan

Was that the sapphire pulse version?

https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/pulse-radeon-rx-6600-8g-gddr6

I think I remember you posted about one bothering you before. Is this a different card ?

These are two different graphics cards, but the same model. I bought the first one and sold it after a couple of months because it made my eyes hurt. Later on, after digging around in the Linux driver source code, I bought the same model again for experiments. But when I had the first card, I didn’t know that I needed to set 59.94 Hz instead of 60 Hz, so in theory, the first one might have been fine too.

jordan

WhisperingWind Did you tweak the driver or have to disable any dithering too? How did you find out about the refresh rate change? I assume thats specific to your tv? I forgot what motherboard are you running too?

WhisperingWind

jordan

Did you tweak the driver or have to disable any dithering too?

Out of the box, temporal dithering is disabled on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 24H2 when using the RX6600. I can’t say for sure about spatial dithering, but I believe it might be present in the DITHERING: DRIVER_DEFAULT mode [ColorControl], since when switching to DITHERING: DISABLED [ColorControl] , only 96.08% of the pixels remain unchanged on the test image—the rest change their color.

I don't use Windows 11 regularly, so I can't comment on how comfortable it is for the eyes when using the RX6600.

In ColorControl, I set DITHERING to DISABLED. In my graphics card settings, color depth is set to 8-bit, RGB 4:4:4. The driver version is Adrenalin 24.12.1.

How did you find out about the refresh rate change?

I stumbled upon this completely by accident while experimenting.

I assume thats specific to your tv?

yes

I forgot what motherboard are you running too?

Motherboard: Z390 AORUS MASTER G2 Edition (rev. 1.0); BIOS F20; Resizable BAR enabled; Compatibility Support Module disabled.

jordan

WhisperingWind Why did you stick to 22h2? Did you try 1809 or other builds but found 22h2 to be best? What do you mean by driver default mode? is that a setting in color control or in the driver? Did you try other driver versions too but also found 24.12.1 to be best?

Thinking of trying that card. Would prefer linux but sounds like windows is pretty safe.

WhisperingWind

simplex

No, I don't have any NVIDIA cards.

karut

I just noticed that the latest KDE Plasma Version on Wayland offers me a setting in the KDE system settings menu to limit to color depth to 8bit instead of 10bit. The screen feels calmer afterwards (placebo?). Using an Intel UHD 770.

jordan

karut Which distro

karut

jordan Cachyos but its not a distro thing

Sunspark

All.. and you can do it from the command line as an environment variable even in the 5 series.

export KWIN_DRM_PREFER_COLOR_DEPTH=24

(A value of 30 is for 10-bit.)

Save it in one of your startup files if you want the setting to stay on a reboot.

WhisperingWind

jordan

Why did you stick to 22h2? Did you try 1809 or other builds but found 22h2 to be best?

I haven’t tried any other Windows 10 versions with the RX 6600—just 22H2. 22H2 has been solid for me. If I find the time, I’ll give 1809 a shot down the line and compare a few screenshots from an HDMI capture device.

For context, my main OS is macOS. I only use Windows 10 on the TV for YouTube and gaming. So your experience with Windows 10 22H2 and an RX 6600 when you'r reading off a screen eight hours a day, five days a week might be a bit different.

What do you mean by driver default mode? is that a setting in color control or in the driver?

That’s the dithering setting in ColorControl.

Did you try other driver versions too but also found 24.12.1 to be best?

I installed 24.12.1 and I’m holding off on updates for now—I don’t want to break anything. Sticking to the old sysadmin rule: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 🙂

Thinking of trying that card. Would prefer linux but sounds like windows is pretty safe.

I’ve switched from Linux to Windows 10, since Windows 10 gives me a bit more in terms of software and gaming than Linux.

Sunspark

Linux gaming has come a long way with Proton and desktops like KDE. In some cases, it is actually more compatible with old Windows games than Windows because Windows has lost functionality for the old stuff.

Drivers are always going to be a second-class citizen, but even that is starting to change now because if all the AI people are using Linux or whatever for their modelling, Nvidia and others have no choice but to make sure the drivers aren't completely broken. e.g. AMD recently decided to end their in-house RADVLK driver and are instead putting their support behind the Mesa driver (which didn't start with AMD).

I do agree that Windows 10 is a stable platform.

« Previous Page