While some Linux users find great satisfaction installing a distro on a handheld device to satisfy their gaming pleasure, others would rather build or buy a gaming rig with more capable hardware. If you’re in that group and your gaming rig has an Nvidia GPU, this post lists 5 Linux distros optimized for gaming on Nvidia GPUs you can use to power that gaming rig.
So without wasting too much of your time on an introduction, here are the 5 Linux distros (in alphabetical order) that are optimized for gaming on Nvidia graphic cards in 2025 . . .
1. Bazzite
Bazzite is a Linux distro based on Fedora Atomic that is built for gaming on both regular personal computers and handheld devices. On personal computers (desktops, laptops, and Home Theater PCs), it works out of the box not just on Nvidia GPUs, but also with AMD GPUs and integrated graphics. Bazzite will work with any GPU with Vulkan 1.3+ support.
KDE Plasma and GNOME are the supported desktop environments (DEs). Regardless of which DE you opt for, an installation of Bazzite comes pre-installed with Steam, so you can play all your favorite Steam games (Steam Gaming Mode is supported). It can also play games from non-Steam stores, like from EA App, Epic Games Store, GOG.com, itch.io, Rockstar Games Launcher, and Ubisoft Connect.
You may down a Bazzite installation image for your gaming rig from https://bazzite.gg.
2. Drauger OS
This is a Ubuntu-based distro optimized for gaming using KDE Plasma. Though the official docs state that you’ll get the best performance on a computer with at least an AMD Radeon RX 6800 GPU and 8 GB of RAM, a PC with GTX 1050 Nvidia GPU with 8 GB of RAM will do just fine too.
Visit https://draugeros.org to download the latest Drauger OS release.
3. Nobara
Like Bazzite, Nobara is also based on Fedora, though on standard Fedora, not Fedora Atomic. Though it is compatible with the major GPUs, there are installation images that come with Nvidia drivers pre-installed, so you can be condifident an installation of Nobara using one of those installation images will work with your Nvidia GPU, if it is a newer Nvidia GPU (Nobara does not support older Nvidia hardware).
Nobara-customized KDE Plasma, standard KDE Plasma, standard GNOME, and Steam-HTPC (a KDE decked out to look like Steam Deck, but built for HTPCs are your choice of graphical interfaces.
You may find a suitable Nobara installation image for your Nvidia hardware at the project’s download page.
4. Pop!_OS
While Pop!_OS is a popular general-purpose Linux distro based on Ubuntu, the developers also publish an ISO image optimized for gaming on Nvidia GPUs (Nvidia proprietary GPU drivers come pre-installed). You may download it by clicking the download button at https://pop.system76.com.
5. Regata OS
Regata OS is general-purpose Linux distro based on openSUSE, but optimized for gaming on a wide variety of devices. It is Brazilian in origin, with KDE Plasma as the DE. It is said to have solid support for AMD and Nvidia GPUs and on computers with hybrid graphics. Vulkan graphics API and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology come built in. And Regata OS Game Access makes it easy to play games from several game publishers, like Steam Store, Origin, Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store.
More info and how to download it are available at https://get.regataos.com.br.
