Nvidia Linux Display Driver is a proprietary OpenGL video driver that tries to bring support for the graphics cards produced by Nvidia on Linux-based operating systems. This version supports only the 32-bit architecture. For 64-bit support, see this link. Even if it provides a settings panel, the Nvidia Linux Display Driver is not an application. It is a hardware driver, which provides some instructions that tell an operating system how to use a piece of hardware.
Installing Nvidia Linux Display Driver
In order to install the Nvidia Linux Display Driver on your Linux machine, one needs to download the binary package using the “Download” button above, save the file on their Home folder and execute the sh ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-xxx.xx.run command, as root, in a Linux Terminal (where xxx.xx is the version number).
During the installation, users will be asked if they want to edit the X configuration file manually or let the installer do all the work. Alternatively, after installation, you can run the nvidia-xconfig command via a Linux Terminal to set the new driver as the default one.
Drop-in replacement for Nouveau
These days, many Linux flavors are bundled with an open source driver for Nvidia graphics cards, called Nouveau, created by a group of developers who work for the freedesktop.org project.
The good thing about the Nouveau driver is that it works pretty well by default and it is integrated into the upstream Linux kernel, so you don’t have to download or install anything on your Linux operating system.
Supports a wide range of Nvidia GPUs
In our tests, we’ve discovered that the Nvidia Linux Display Driver supports much more Nvidia graphics cards than the open source Nouveau driver. It plays well with most of the ION, ION LE, Quadro Plex, Quadro Sync, GRID, NVS, nForce Professional 3000, Quadro FX, Quadro Blade, as well as all the GeForce series.
All in all, if you have a PC or laptop equipped with an Nvidia GPU, and you have issues with the default Nouveau open source driver, you may want to install the Nvidia Linux Display Driver. It’s also the number one choice for gaming users.
