Nvidia GeForce GPUs now work on SteamOS, says Valve
Achieving proper hardware support for "Nvidia" GPUs in SteamOS would represent a major milestone, potentially positioning Linux as a genuine alternative to Windows for gaming. According to Valve software developer Pierre-Loup Griffais, some generations of GeForce graphics cards can now run on the operating system, though performance is not yet at its peak.
Current status and technical hurdles
Historically, AMD hardware has been the preferred choice for Linux users due to seamless out-of-the-box hardware acceleration in major distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, or Arch. While Nvidia has been making strides—including contributions to the Mesa NVK project—their proprietary Linux drivers often lag behind Windows versions regarding feature parity and bug fixes for specific titles.
Speaking to IGN, Pierre-Loup Griffais noted that Valve has successfully enabled drivers in the main SteamOS development tree. "You can get things to light up on certain generations, but in terms of the performance difference between that driver and where the state of the art is, there’s definitely still a little bit of a rift that we’re trying to work on, but it’s getting better day-to-day," Griffais explained.
Impact on SteamOS adoption
Because SteamOS is built on Arch Linux, its rolling release model allows Valve to push critical driver updates and game optimizations rapidly. This capability is vital for market expansion: Nvidia GPUs are present in 72% of systems according to Steam surveys. While driver support is a massive step forward, the ultimate goal of making SteamOS a primary gaming OS will also depend on convincing anti-cheat developers to support the Linux environment more broadly.
Гика
