Hi, I have on my system Kubutu 24.04. Would like to get a new graphic card, as the one currently using is very old. Any suggestions ? Currently using Kubuntu 24.04 on a MSI B550 Gaming mb, Gen3. 32 gigs of ram, 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU.
System:
Kernel: 6.8.0-62-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 13.3.0
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.12 Distro: Kubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
(Noble Numbat) base: Ubuntu
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B550 GAMING GEN3 (MS-7B86)
v: 5.0 serial: BIOS: American Megatrends LLC.
v: P.80 date: 07/16/2024
CPU:
Info: 6-core model: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Zen 3 rev: 0 cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 3 MiB L3: 16 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 832 high: 2994 min/max: 400/4267 cores: 1: 400
2: 400 3: 400 4: 2994 5: 2994 6: 400 7: 400 8: 400 9: 400 10: 400
11: 400 12: 400 bogomips: 86235
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a
ssse3 svm
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3] vendor: eVga.com.
driver: nouveau v: kernel arch: Tesla bus-ID: 10:00.0 temp: 37.0 C
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: nouveau
gpu: nouveau resolution: 1: 1920x1080~60Hz 2: 1920x1080~60Hz
API: EGL v: 1.4,1.5 drivers: nouveau,swrast platforms:
active: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: wayland
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 3.3 vendor: mesa
v: 24.2.8-1ubuntu1~24.04.1 glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes
renderer: NVA8
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.275 drivers: N/A surfaces: xcb,xlib
devices: 1
Audio:
Device-1: NVIDIA High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com.
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 10:00.1
Device-2: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus-ID: 30:00.1
Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 30:00.6
API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-62-generic status: kernel-api
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit
Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI RTL8111/8168/8411 driver: r8169
v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 2a:00.0
IF: enp42s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full
mac:
IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac:
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 4.31 TiB used: 1.08 TiB (25.1%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST3500630AS
size: 465.76 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD1600JS-00MHB0
size: 149.05 GiB
ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD20EZBX-00AYRA0
size: 1.82 TiB
ID-4: /dev/sdd vendor: Hitachi model: HDS728080PLA380
size: 76.69 GiB
ID-5: /dev/sde vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-08WN4A0
size: 931.51 GiB
ID-6: /dev/sdf vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1SB102
size: 931.51 GiB type: USB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 915.53 GiB used: 128.82 GiB (14.1%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sde2
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
file: /swapfile
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 37.1 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau
temp: 37.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.23 GiB used: 4.35 GiB (13.9%)
Processes: 348 Uptime: 1d 7h 42m Init: systemd
target: graphical (5)
Packages: 2785 Compilers: gcc: 13.3.0 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.21
inxi: 3.3.34
I am new to the forum, so I apologize if I have submitted this incorrectly.
I use an AMD Radeon RX 6400… it works with MX, Debian, Devuan, Void, Antix, Artix without having to do any configuring. The amdgpu driver installs automatically.
That is a medium capacity graphics card with a low power requirement and a small form factor.
If you do video editing or games you may want to go higher up the RX series.
I would recommend avoiding nvidia. I know lots of people get them to work on Linux and they are good quality hardware, but they have a bad reputation for withdrawing support when cards get old, and you really need to use the proprietary nvidia drivers to get the best out of them.
Intel also make graphics cards, and they are Linux compatable, but they only make expensive high end cards.
When making your choice, dont forget to consider power consumption and physical size of card.
Thank you for your suggestion ! One parameter I left out, is that I cannot afford cards that are over $150.00. I need something in around the $100.00 + or minus range. I know that limits me, but finances being what they are, will have to settle for something less pricey. Do you have any recommendations around that price range ?
My card was about 300 (Australian dollars). Would be less in US
That is $A again.
There are cheaper AMD cards
Keep an eye out for secondhand cards
I second the AMD.
Probably best value for money!
A second hand RX6400 maybe 6500 is a decent choice.
If you buy second hand card, check that the stickers on the screws that hold the heatsink are intact.
If they are removed or damaged, that means the card was once disassembled, and that’s a suspicious sign.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the tip !
One thing I forgot to ask…I have monitors that are pretty old, say @ 10 to 15 yrs old. Does anyone think that they will work with a newer card ?
My monotor was purchased in 2011, so 15 years.
I dont have dual monitors, so I cant say how the RX6400 would go supporting dual monitors. Check the specs.
Ok, thank you !
Depends what connectors they have… e.g. you’d be lucky to get a GPU with VGA or DVI ports on it these days… But many 10+ year old monitors have DisplayPort and some have both DisplayPort and HDMI (e.g. Dell monitors - I have one [not using] from circa 2014 with 1 x DVI, HDMI [mini] x 2 and DisplayPort x 2 )…
My AMD GPU wasn’t cheap - over $500 AUD from Amazon… But - I do game on my Desktop PC (only on Linux / Steam - I don’t dual boot)…
Radeon RX 6600/6600 XT/6600M (has 8 GB DDR5)…
It came with 3 x DisplayPort, and 1 x HDMI and NO VGA or DVI…
It replaced a NVidia GTX1650 “Super” which I got around 2020 - which had 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort and 1 x DVI (no VGA either). At one stage I had a 10-15 year old HP monitor connect to the DVI port - but it was only 1680x900 so I got fed up of it when I started WFH due to Covid in 2020 - and replaced with a Lenovo QHD 32" with HDMI and DisplayPort…
My monitor has DisplayPort and HDMI.
When I first connected it to the RX6400 it worked best on DisplayPort. Have not fiddled with it since, but I suspect HDMI had a driver issue… the amdgpu driver was very new when I first got the RX6400. … so new that some distros did not have the driver. That is not an issue now… all distros have amdgpu driver… even Debian.
The RX6400 has 1 DisplayPort and 1 HDMI connector.
Awesome ! Thanks guys for all this info !
And, if you’re really stuck, hdmi to dvi converters are cheap and work just fine… I’m using one right now.
Ok, I am stuck again. After much research, I decided on the rx 560 card, due to needing a shorter card for my atx case. It needed to be less that 9 inches long. My research showed that the rx560 should work fine with Kubuntu 24.04. But its not. I downloaded and installed drivers from AMD’s website. Then shutdown, unplugged the pc, and swapped out the card, then rebooted, and nothing but a black screen. I really dont know what to do next. Researched the issue, but the solutions I found didnt work. I guess I am confused, because everything I read says the AMD drivers should already be in the kernal, but that doesnt appear to be the case. 
You should not need to do that
Drivers can be in 3 states
- installed and loaded automatically with the kernel
- installed but not loaded into the kernel
- not installed
To find out which state you are in, try some of the following
lsmodwill list all drivers loaded into the running kernel- find out which package contains the driver and do
dpkg | grep packagenameto see if it is installed dmesg | moreand search for where the boot process detects the graphics card… to check if the kernel is detecting the card- You can also check if the card is configured properly with
lshw. You might have to install lshw.
Now , if as I suspect the driver is installed but not loaded, you can
- temporarily load it with
modprobe drivername, and if it then works you can - permanently load it at every boot by putting an entry in
/etc/modules
Or, if the driver package is not installed, you clearly have to install the package. There will be a Debian package containing the driver. Finding which package contains the driver is best done with google… provided you know the driver name… I looked it up, it is the amdgpu driver… same as my card uses… there should be no problem… all my distros have it.
Or, if the boot process is not detecting the card, you are in trouble. Make sure you have the card seated properly . The only way out of ‘not detected’ is to try another Linux distro. You can test them with a livd usb drive or DVD. No need to install to test.
And, I should warn you, your posts are being queued for human approval… that is part of our new approach to combating bots. All you will notice is a slight delay.
Thank you for your help ! I will try these suggestions, and get back to you..
In my never ending quest to find a gpu that will work on Kubuntu 24, does anyone know if the Chinese made gpu’s are any good ? As long as they have the Radeon chipset, should they still work OK, on linux ?
Hi @phlag311
Isn’t everything electronic made there nowadays? 
I just built a new AMD desktop and while I have not yet splurged on a discrete gpu (I bought the Ryzen 7 with internal Radeon graphics) I have done my homework on what will fit in my micro-ATX case and work with Feren OS (KDE desktop), which in my opinion is next-of-kin to Kubuntu.
Believe it or not, I spent an evening prepping for the build chatting with AI in Bing. It saved me a lot of time in narrowing down the options of best vs cost and what would work with all my hardware & software, motherboard, and namely, Linux.
If you have some you are looking at, ensure you use good websites with current reviews to get a feel for any issues with the particular model/version you wish to purchase. I would not be as concerned about it being made in China as its reviews. I even searched the reviews on Amazon with “linux” and found many who had installed same hardware on different distros like Arch, OpenSuse, Fedora & Ubuntu. They all said the drivers were already available, no downloading from vendors.
Hope it helps!
Sheila Flanagan
Thank you for your info ! I am curious what card you found, as I cannot have a card thats over 9 inches long…dont have the space. The length of the card is what is making so hard to find anything