So I have a situation. I really want to switch to Linux as my main gaming/production OS but need the Adobe suite as I am a graphic designer. Adobe is the golden standard for this industry (and likely to always be) so while Gimp and Inkscape might work, they are not feasible for my career. I also know that there will be situations where games just don’t run well or at all on Linux.
Dualbooting works but is not really worth it for me as I would have to stop what I’m doing and restart my PC. I heard that you can set up a single GPU passthrough for games and software but it seems complicated. How difficult would that be to set up for a new user to Linux? I would consider myself a tech savvy person but I know very little about the ins and outs of Linux. I have a massive GPU (XFX RX 6900 XT) with a big support bracket that covers the second PCIE slot so buying another GPU isn’t really feasible either.
I do have an Unraid server with decent specs that I use for a hosting Minecraft servers and Jellyfin so setting up a VM on that might be a good option.
What would you guys recommend me to do?
What I would do in your case if you really want to use Linux, is dual boot. Put all if your professional stuff on the Windows partition, put your personal stuff on Linux. That way you can game and doomscroll from Linux and keep a separate, clean, professional environment for your Adobe needs.
GPU passthrough is not hard to set uo but requires a second GPU. If your processor has a GPU built in, you can use that as the second GPU, if not you’re out of luck. There are some very low profile cards (GTX 1030 style) that will probably still fit and do basic graphics for you, but you won’t be gaming that way.
To pass through a GPU, you set up a virtual machine in something like virt-manager, open its settings, click “add hardware”, find the pcie button and select the right pcie device to pass through. Things used to be more difficult with some cards (Nvidia mostly) but modern drivers should work fine.
You can get virtual GPU acceleration to work without passthrough if you combine very recent virtualisation software with the right drivers and a bit of luck. I tried it with Nvidia and Intel and both times weren’t a great experience, leading to hardware freezes and kernel panics when I tried to put a load on them.
After getting the pass through working, your VM will output its screen through the GPU you forwarded while your computer works through the other (integrated) GPU. You can install a program called Looking Glass that’ll copy the video signal coming from your real GPU to a window running in Linux so you don’t need to mess with display cables or KVMs. There’s a second program you need to forward keyboard and mouse events. With those two installed, you should be alright.
I don’t know your specific branch of creative work, but tons of creative people use tools like Krita and Inkscape. They’re objectively worse tools to use for an infinitely better price, which makes them very affordable alternatives for people in countries where Adobe’s subscription costs as much as a month’s wage. You’ll have to decide if training to use those tools is worth your time, though.
For most professions, I think even a day of learning to use the new programs will probably cost you more than a monthly adobe subscription in lost wages, so I don’t think it’ll be worth the switch unless you experiment in your free time.
Important note that nvidia drivers don’t like to be unloaded, so usually you have to restart and load another driver, which is annoying without a second gpu.
Nouveau usually plays a lot nicer