Questions for a new PC with Pop_OS!

[SinCanDory]

Hello everyone. Last time I asked about Linux and if it fits me. Now I ordered parts for a new pc and will be moving to Pop_OS! I have several questions though:

1) Does the OS have (chipset/driver) support out of the box for Ryzen 7900 and RX 7900XT?

2) How often does the OS get updated or at least gets driver updates?

3) Do I need to format the SSDs in a specific format like Fat32 or NTFS? I heard something Linux not supporting a format but not sure.

4) I heard Freesync and ray tracing are not supported. Is this correct or do I need to do something specific to enable them?

5) I'm using Bitdefender for my and my wife's computers. Pretty happy with it as an antivirus. From what I saw, it doesn't support Linux, and I believe there is no way to install it. Is there any antivirus software that can be trusted?

Also please let me know about everything I need to once I install the OS for the first time.

Thank you in advance once again

[Omega]

Originally posted by mmstick:

*snip*

Thanks.

I wasn't aware that you actively updated the ISOs.

But since you hold package upgrades to ensure no major regressions are present is still reason for me to discourage people with the very latest hardware from opting for Pop!_OS, at least for a while. If running an AMD RX 7000 series GPU for example the latest kernel is highly desireable.

Thanks for the work on Coreboot btw, my Clevo is happily running Dasharo Coreboot in large part because of the work System76 did to make it work on these machines. system76_acpi-acpi-0 goes brrrr.

[Michael Murphy]

Originally posted by Omega:

Originally posted by mmstick:

*snip*

Thanks.

I wasn't aware that you actively updated the ISOs.

But since you hold package upgrades to ensure no major regressions are present is still reason for me to discourage people with the very latest hardware from opting for Pop!_OS, at least for a while. If running an AMD RX 7000 series GPU for example the latest kernel is highly desireable.

Thanks for the work on Coreboot btw, my Clevo is happily running Dasharo Coreboot in large part because of the work System76 did to make it work on these machines. system76_acpi-acpi-0 goes brrrr.

That's a contradictory conclusion considering Pop!_OS already supports all this hardware[system76.com]. We've been selling systems with Ryzen RX 7900 XTs for a while now. Along with RTX 4090s and the equivalent latest AMD and NVIDIA workstation graphics cards. As well as Ryzen 7000 processors and 13th gen Intel processors.

Linux 6.2.6 is a recent kernel. It released a little over a month ago... Linux 6.4.3 released end of last week so most Linux distributions don't have it as an option. I wouldn't personally be recommending people to install unstable systems that are pushing updates without QA testing them.

[Omega]

Originally posted by mmstick:

Originally posted by Omega:

Thanks.

I wasn't aware that you actively updated the ISOs.

But since you hold package upgrades to ensure no major regressions are present is still reason for me to discourage people with the very latest hardware from opting for Pop!_OS, at least for a while. If running an AMD RX 7000 series GPU for example the latest kernel is highly desireable.

Thanks for the work on Coreboot btw, my Clevo is happily running Dasharo Coreboot in large part because of the work System76 did to make it work on these machines. system76_acpi-acpi-0 goes brrrr.

That's a contradictory conclusion considering Pop!_OS already supports all this hardware[system76.com]. We've been selling systems with Ryzen RX 7900 XTs for a while now. Along with RTX 4090s and the equivalent latest AMD and NVIDIA workstation graphics cards. As well as Ryzen 7000 processors and 13th gen Intel processors.

Linux 6.2.6 is a recent kernel. It released a little over a month ago... Linux 6.4.3 released end of last week so most Linux distributions don't have it as an option. I wouldn't personally be recommending people to install unstable systems that are pushing updates without QA testing them.

6.2.6 is from all the way back in March, and the 6.2 base from February, so 6 months ago. 6.2 has been EOL since May after the 6.2.16 point release.

I am refering to stability, not functionality. 6.2 indeed has support for RX 7000, but from my experience, and that of others, it is far from stable. GPU locks are common. So unless you are backporting patches from newer 6.2.x/6.3/6.4, this kernel will sadly not provide a stable experience on RX 7000.


Most Linux distros indeed do not ship these super new kernels, but when opting for the very latest hardware then you will be forced to opt for a (more) agressive (semi) rolling release distro (OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Arch, Endevour, Fedora Workstation etc..) until stable distros do start shipping this software. That is the core of what I am trying to convey.

[Michael Murphy]

As I mentioned earlier, every version of Linux 6.3 and 6.4 has been affected by a regression causing some current gen Intel graphics to crash. Arch currently suffers from Intel GPU lockups[bbs.archlinux.org] since they started shipping Linux 6.3. The most recent version of linux-firmware that Arch and others packaged caused AMD Ryzen 7000 integrated graphics to also crash.

So be very cautious with recommending a platform that's too aggressive with their updates. Without thorough hardware review, you're always one update away from something breaking. Updates might fix an issue for some hardware, but then break other hardware in the process. It's a difficult balance that we're making when we evaluate new kernels and drivers.

We do actively test RX 7000 and other hardware in the lab with Pop!_OS, so issues like GPU lockups would prohibit releasing an update if found during testing. Testing often involves long benchmarks and repeated suspend-resume cycles, as well as many different kinds of multi-monitor configurations with docks or otherwise.

And regardless, you can install newer kernels on Pop fairly easily. same with unreleased drivers and Mesa. We often have development branches that can be opted into. People reporting issues may be asked to try out updates from a staging branch to verify that it fixes their issues.

[MechThumbs]

Please don't listen to most Linux people, they all just try to trash other Linux distros. I've been using PopOS for 4 years now as my main os. I have had no issues with new hardware, PopOS does update their OS with new features, its just staying on 22.04 because they are working on their Cosmic desktop.

System 76 the creators of PopOS sell their own desktops and laptops with brand new hardware.
Don't be discouraged to giving it a try.

PopOS has been a dream to use, easy of use, and the perfect OS to start your Linux journey. plus i am unable to live with out their window tiling built in.

1. Yes

2. almost every week

3. no it does it for you

4. yes it is supported FSR and DLSS as well as ray tracing does work.

5. you can run a anti virus software, but it takes too much performance from your system. Just know that you shouldn't download everything you see online and click every link and you should be ok. if it looks sketchy don't even chance a website. RUN AD BLOCKER ON YOUR WEB BROWSER.

6. If you have a feature you need in the OS they will eventually support it. just give it a couple of months.

[MechThumbs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye4sNKgd_Ag&t=138s

[Adam]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.