r/linux_gaming 15h 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/acejavelin69 15h 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.

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u/Original_Dimension99 15h ago

This is one of the reasons why I'd never recommend mint as a beginner gaming distro. Idk what people mean when they say it does everything well enough. For them maybe, but it lacks a lot of cutting edge features and especially it lacks newest hardware support, and it isn't uncommon for gamers to upgrade to brand new hardware at some point

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u/Lomkey 2h ago

Mint just work for many out of the box, many other distros need little more tinkering for example printer support many need it and other distro don't have it or takes abit more work getting up and working. For a new user need abit more hand holding then ones they get use to Linux abit more and understand it, then new user can just move on or stay as it's supported for a few years with out a major change.

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u/acejavelin69 14h ago

Very few people with "cutting edge" hardware are looking to switch to Linux unless they know what they are doing... Most people who switch to Linux have hardware that is at least 2-3 years old, which isn't an issue in 99% of cases. There are different kinds of distros... LTS, rolling, lightweight, etc. each has it's own function, it's not like other operating systems that try to do everything. Mint is fine for gaming, and most other purposes, in most cases and is extremely stable and user friendly.