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NVIDIA
The NVIDIA GPU is a popular graphical chipset manufacturer.
NVidia GPUs can use either open source (x11-drivers/xf86-video-nouveau) or proprietary (close source) drivers (x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers). Because it is more up-to-date and efficient, the proprietary driver is often seen as a must-have for more computationally intensive 3D applications and games.
Available software
Closed-source drivers:
- NVidia/nvidia-drivers - A guide on how to install the closed-source NVIDIA drivers as a primary display handler.
- NVIDIA Optimus - How to implement the power of NVIDIA's Optimus in hybrid graphic setups.
- NVIDIA Bumblebee - How to implement Hybrid Graphics with Bumblebee and Primus.
Open-source drivers:
- nouveau - Freedesktop.org's open-source drivers for NVIDIA graphic cards.
- nouveau & nvidia-drivers switching - An article with instructions on how to switch between closed and open source drivers.
Nvidia terminology
Explanation of terms and Nvidia technology.
Nvidia Optimus
TLDR: Notebooks with Nvidia GPU and Intel integrated GPU that is connected to the displays and data from GPU is piped through iGPU to switch between the best graphics and better battery life.
Nvidia Optimus is a computer GPU switching technology created by Nvidia which, depending on the resource load generated by client software applications, will seamlessly switch between two graphics adapters within a computer system in order to provide either maximum performance or minimum power draw from the system's graphics rendering hardware. [1]