> In this open-source release, support for GeForce and Workstation GPUs is alpha quality. GeForce and Workstation users can use this driver on Turing and NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPUs to run Linux desktops and use features such as multiple displays, G-SYNC, and NVIDIA RTX ray tracing in Vulkan and NVIDIA OptiX. Users can opt in using the kernel module parameter NVreg_EnableUnsupportedGpus as highlighted in the documentation. More robust and fully featured GeForce and Workstation support will follow in subsequent releases and the NVIDIA Open Kernel Modules will eventually supplant the closed-source driver. Customers with Turing and Ampere GPUs can choose which modules to install. Pre-Turing customers will continue to run the closed source modules.
Translating & simplifying the language here: sounds like GTX 10xx GPU users (Pascal architecture, e.g. 1070/1080) will stick with closed source for now, but RTX 20xx GPU users (Turing architecture, e.g. 2080) and RTX 30xx GPU users (Ampere architecture, e.g. 3080) will have the option to opt-in to the open source kernel module. Stable open source support for GTX 10xx GPU users may come later.
The reason for this is because NVIDIA's Turing and above GPUs use a new microcontroller called the GSP, which is RISC-V based. From my understanding, NVIDIA has offloaded their proprietary IP from the closed-source driver to the GSP firmware (and not the older microcontroller present on Pascal and lower). This is why `gsp.bin` exists in `linux-firmware` now, and the FOSS driver targets the GSP (because now the proprietary stuff isn't in the kernel driver but rather a RISC-V ELF binary that runs on the GPU), not the older controller.
What about GTX 16xx users? I have a GTX 1650 which is based on Turing but doesn't have the new NVENC encoder, I wonder if the new OSS driver will support this GPU, if it has that RISCV chip that everyone's talking about.
Translating & simplifying the language here: sounds like GTX 10xx GPU users (Pascal architecture, e.g. 1070/1080) will stick with closed source for now, but RTX 20xx GPU users (Turing architecture, e.g. 2080) and RTX 30xx GPU users (Ampere architecture, e.g. 3080) will have the option to opt-in to the open source kernel module. Stable open source support for GTX 10xx GPU users may come later.