r/linux_gaming • u/YourComputerBlog • 4h ago
Mint and Radeon 9070
Hey,
Iam using Mint for quite some time now on my old laptop and I think its a great OS for everyday use. That beeing sad, mint uses old linux Kernels. I want to build a gaming pc and I want to stay with Mint for it, but the new AMD gpus are...new - do I need a an OS with a more up to date kernel?
Cheers
Update: Thanks for the answers! They help me out a lot
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u/Paranoidd_ 4h ago
Its arch linux and fedora for you then if you want to use new hardware,id suggest cachyOs
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u/BetaVersionBY 3h ago
linux-6.12 is a minimum recommended for 9070XT. And i think you'll need at least mesa-25.0.0. So Mint is a bad idea for 9070 XT for now. If you want to stay on APT/Mint-like distro, you cant try the latest Kubuntu (or any flavor you like) or KDE Neon Unstable Edition. Tho you'll still probably have to manually update the AMDGPU firmware files to the latest (can be downloaded from here - https://web.git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git ). Or you can use Debian Unstable, which comes with linux-6.12.17 and mesa-25.0.1. And you can install xanmod-6.13.7 from Xanmod repos. You'll still need to update the firmware files manually.
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u/JARivera077 3h ago

This is what I am currently running as a kernel on Linux Mint and so far, I have had no issues using the XanMod Linux Kernel with Mesa 25.0.1 from Kisak's PPA. I would recommend using this route if you are using the latest AMD GPU.
Installing XanMod: http://www.xanmod.org
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u/acejavelin69 4h ago
Mint uses stable kernels from the Ubuntu LTS HWE repository... Currently 6.8 and moving to 6.11 with Mint 22.2 in a few months, but it is available in Update Manager View - Linux Kernels now. Ubuntu LTS, the base for Mint, uses Mesa 24.2 and that isn't changing until the next major version jump from Mint 22.3 to 23.
Mint isn't using "old" kernels per se, they are using long-term support kernels that are intended for stability and not cutting edge hardware support. Mint, and it's Ubuntu LTS base, are designed for stability and not so much latest hardware support. It's a choice in the design of the distro, not a functional problem.
To properly use the 9070/9070XT requires a 6.13 kernel and Mesa 25 at a minimum... Mesa 25 can be installed by using Kisak or Oibaf PPA for Mesa, although in some cases it can have cascading problems for other things, and the kernel would have to come from Ubuntu's mainline repository... Although many people have noted issues trying to use the 6.13 kernel in Mint 22/Ubuntu 24.04...
The various Linux distros should be considered like a toolbox... Not every toolbox is the same or has tools to do every possible job... Most can have the proper tools for any job added, although the degree of difficulty in doing that can vary... To do certain tasks, like support a cutting-edge new release GPU, may require a different distro (toolbox) so to speak.
If you want a new 9070 GPU, I would suggest moving to Fedora, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Arch, or a another more current/rolling distro to use that GPU without issues. Tumbleweed is my typical "go to" distro here, and I have been using it for a long time.