Go AMD. The open-source drivers already provide the best performance compared to the closed-source ones, and are included in the kernel and Mesa, which means the cards will work out of the box. For the best performance and latest drivers and optimizations you should switch to a distro with more up to date packages than Debian if you plan on buying a current gen card tho. For example, Fedora is a very good mix between working OOTB, ease of use and bleeding-edge packages.

nVidia is... difficult. The open-source drivers are getting better but are still way behind closed-source drivers, and each closed-source drivers version only works with a single kernel version. It might work OK as long as the drivers and kernel are kept in sync (I think Pop! or Nobara have nVidia specific versions for this reason), but otherwise each kernel upgrade is a risk. Plus nVidia drivers are basically shit with Wayland and cause a ton of issues.

Intel has a good track record with iGPUs so discrete cards should be as trivial to use as AMD ones, if more at the entry-level performance-wise.

Any relatively modern AMD card should be fine. Also, protondb.com is your friend.

I like the Voodoo 2 but then again I play Quake and MDK

Even on nvidia, it’s been near perfect for me. I’ve heard that some higher-end features are missing, but with a 1080ti and the 550.78 driver, I really can’t complain for my own use

Worry less about benchmarks, and more about stability, compatibility, configurability, and sanity. Amd should be your first choice, then Intel Arc (may see some performance issues, but easier than Nvidia at this point), then Nvidia as an absolute last resort.

AMD and Intel open large parts of their drivers to be included in the mainline kernels releases and tertiary support packages which drive graphics in Linux, so any fully featured kernel will support either right out of the box, with no fiddling needed. You can tweak the drivers and overclock stuff as well if that's your jam.

Nvidia doesn't do any of this, and only allows individual installs of it's proprietary driver on a per-kernel basis. To simplify, you'll have issues getting it running under almost any conditions aside from a very Vanilla LTS install of a distro from a year ago unless you get REALLY good at doing the dance with their terrible package management issues and DKMS compilation craziness.

Have always run AMD, and I have had 0 issues, from arch to fedora to Debian. Gaming, CAD, video editing, not once have I had to use anything other than the open source drivers that are bundled with the distro. I currently have a 6700xt running Debian, and the only games I have issues with are the ones that just came out where they are squashing bugs anyway. Three weeks later, it’s running better on Linux than windows.

i like my AMD ATI Radeon RX 5600. after I figured out it has a tiny tiny TINY hidden physical overclock switch they don't ever mention for some godforsaken reason (which is put "on" by default, also for some godforsaken reason) to turn off, it's the most stable graphics card i've ever used.
...i just recommend turning off the tiny evil hidden crash switch of doom.

amd in general is pretty chill on linux for a large portion of people.

Unless it's the newest of new Nvidia GTX cards, it's generally a wash.

You tradeoff issues from one to the other.

I had a 3070ti that I "upgraded" to a 6900xt and I kind of regretted it. I fell for the AMD is king on Linux hype.

Nvidia is way better than people let on and AMD isn't nearly as great as people let on.

That's my two cents.

I had a 1080 Ti, and while my issues weren't as bad as what I see others face, my 6800XT has had absolutely zero issues whatsoever, I don't even have to think about drivers at all, ever.

Both AMD and Nvidia GPUs work well. There is mainly a philosophy difference where AMD GPUs work particularly well with open source drivers whereas Nvidia still mostly depends on its proprietary drivers (though they work fine on Linux too).

Phoronix is a reputable website when it comes to benchmarking on Linux. Here is a previous benchmark with Nvidia GPUs, as an example:

https://www.phoronix.com/review/nvidia-rtx4080-rtx4090-linux/2

Of note: when people complain about nvidia on Linux, you need to determine whether they complain about open source or proprietary drivers.

I have been running Nvidia GPUs on Linux for years and have had no issue with the proprietary drivers, both for an old and recent GPU. Of course YMMV.

Edit: my personal recommendation though would be to stick with AMD which offers more memory and bandwidth compared to similarly priced Nvidia GPUs (Nvidia uses 8GB for many of its GPUs which is quire disappointing these days). And with open source drivers it may be easier to get issues fixed and find support.

Built a new rig last Xmas. Got a 7800xt sapphire. It just works. Cyberpunk on ultra 100+ fps (no rt, only turn it on for screenshots basic).

Which GPU do you have? Which drivers are you using? are you sure you're using those drivers and they're not just installed but unused? My first guess is that you have an Nvidia and are using open source drivers (nouveau).

Some performance difference is expected, after all most games are being run through a compatibility layer, and many others were ported as a second thought so they're not optimized on the same level. Also note that lots of us don't use Windows, so we're not comparing experiences, if it runs at an acceptable frame rate with an acceptable graphics settings for what I would expect the GPU to be capable of, then I don't bother benchmarking it.

Had a few issues with high frame times and flickering on nvidia / latest 550.x driver on wayland/hyprland. No issues on x11 though. But it needed some additional configuration which is readily available in the arch forum.

Whats your rig?

I play on debian stable with steam. Its playable but debian is so far behind on packages that it makes no sense if you‘re sensitive to differences in fps or want peak performance.

Especially if you‘re using an nvidia card its definitely less fun on debian. I made good experiences with pop!os.

If you compare framerates I suggest windows though since linux users usually want a functional, privacy friendly OS which allows them to own their hardware and then comes peak game performance. If trash OS and privacy invasion is cool for you, go for it.

Not saying the performance on average isnt on par but the games are just not made for linux and its not „dead easy“ in every game yet.

Buy AMD and consider switching to ubuntu 24.04. Install steam from the website.