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#1 2022-02-23 01:41:17
- Micronaut
- Member
- Registered: 2019-07-04
- Posts: 228
Changing video cards
When removing one piece of hardware and installing another, how much do you have to do with the drivers in Linux? Of course if I switch brands, from AMD/ATI to nVidia, I have to completely uninstall the drivers and install the others for the proper brand. But it looks like the same drivers are used across wide ranges of hardware for any given brand. What if I just upgrade from a GT 1650 to a GT 1660? Do I have to completely remove and reinstall the drivers when simply upgrading in the same series? And then what about upgrading from one series to another but in the same brand, like from a 1050 to a 1650? Do all of these changes require a complete removal and reinstall like Windows?
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#2 2022-02-23 02:07:14
- GlennW
- Member
- From: Brisbane, Australia
- Registered: 2019-07-18
- Posts: 644
Re: Changing video cards
What if I just upgrade from a GT 1650 to a GT 1660? Do I have to completely remove and reinstall the drivers when simply upgrading in the same series?
It's been a while since I upgraded my video card, but...
I remember I changed the card (both nVidia) and booted to see if it broke. It didn't.
But I remember changing from a 9800 and it used an earlier driver (V340.x)
the 1060 uses 495.x
I think "you'll be right".
pic from 1993, new guitar day.
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#3 2022-02-23 04:26:16
- steve_v
- Member
- Registered: 2018-01-11
- Posts: 381
Re: Changing video cards
Do all of these changes require a complete removal and reinstall like Windows?
No, unless you're running Nvidia cards and your upgrade crosses one of their arbitrary "dropped support for xyz" boundaries, in which case you'll need to change driver version.
GNU/Linux doesn't store a bunch of driver related crap in the registry (or have a registry at all for that matter), so there's nothing to "completely remove"... And no shady "driver removers" or "registry cleaners" either.
There's also no infuriating minefield of malware and ad ridden "driver updater" scam sites to navigate, and practically no manufacturer bundled bloatware either. But I digress. 
Last edited by steve_v (2022-02-23 04:32:01)
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Four times is Official GNOME Policy.
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