How can I get my desktop system to use a GeForce GTX 1050 card?

fixit7 · 1 November 2025 13:09

Someone gave me a video card.

I think it is a GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050]

How can I get my desktop system to use it instead of taking away from my RAM?

sudo lshw -C display
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Kaveri [Radeon R7 Graphics]
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
version: 00
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
resources: irq:36 memory:b0000000-bfffffff memory:d2000000-d27fffff ioport:f000(size=256) memory:fe200000-fe23ffff memory:fe240000-fe25ffff
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050]
vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
logical name: /dev/fb0
version: a1
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
configuration: depth=32 driver=nouveau latency=0 resolution=1360,768
resources: irq:35 memory:fd000000-fdffffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff memory:d0000000-d1ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:c0000-dffff

redx87	
I am trying this now.

Re: Help with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050

Post by redx87 » Mon May 27, 2019 2:35 am
Hello alatrope,

I have a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 card and have it running fine in my Linux Mint 19.01 64bit cinnamon desktop pc.

The steps I used to get it running were as follows -

I first found which driver was needed for this card on the Nvidia website -

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverR ... 7582/en-us

(Note: When I did my driver search a few weeks ago it said I needed version #418, now as you can see in the link the same search shows you need version #430.14.)

Anyway, when you have that driver information, do this -

Add the graphics driver repository to system with the following command into a command Terminal (without the quotes)

“sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa”

Then update the system with -

“sudo apt update” (again without quotes)

Exit terminal when done and then open Linux Mint “Driver Manager” from the start menu, and select the Nvidia driver number you need from the list. It takes some time for the change to complete. Restart O/S when prompted.

This procedure installs a bunch of Nvidia Linux drivers from #390 upwards. I used #418 for my gtx 1050 graphics card and when I had changed to that number my problem was solved.

Hope this helps.

fixit7 · 1 November 2025 13:29

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
PPA publishes dbgsym, you may need to include 'main/debug' component
Repository: 'deb Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy main'
Description:
Fresh drivers from upstream, currently shipping Nvidia.

Current releases

Current production branch release: 570.169
Current new feature branch release: 575.64.03
Current beta release: 575.51.02

Legacy releases

470.256.02 (x86_64) - GKxxx “Kepler” GPUs
390.157 (x86 / x86_64 / ARM) - GF1xx “Fermi” GPUs (*)
340.108 (x86 / x86_64) - GeForce 8 and 9 series GPUs (*)
304.137 (x86 / x86_64) - GeForce 6 and 7 series GPUs (*)
173.14.39 (x86 / x86_64) - GeForce 5 series GPUs (*)
96.43.23 (x86 / x86_64) - GeForce 2 through GeForce 4 series GPUs (*)
71.86.15 (x86 / x86_64) - Riva TNT, TNT2, GeForce, and some GeForce 2 GPUs (*)
(*) These releases are no longer being maintained. Please see Support timeframes for Unix legacy GPU releases for more details. Support timeframes for Unix legacy GPU releases | NVIDIA

What we're working on right now:

Normal driver updates

Help Wanted: Mesa Updates for Intel/AMD users, ping us if you want to help do this work, we're shorthanded.

WARNINGS:

This PPA is currently in testing, you should be experienced with packaging before you dive in here:

Volunteers welcome!

How you can help:

Install PTS and benchmark your gear:
sudo apt-get install phoronix-test-suite
Run the benchmark:
phoronix-test-suite default-benchmark openarena xonotic tesseract gputest unigine-valley
and then say yes when it asks you to submit your results to openbenchmarking.org. Then grab a cup of coffee, it takes a bit for the benchmarks to run. Depending on the version of Ubuntu you're using it might preferable for you to grabs PTS from upstream directly: Phoronix Test Suite - Download

Share your results with the community:

Post a link to your results (or any other feedback to): Testers of the graphics-driver PPA in Launchpad

Remember to rerun and resubmit the benchmarks after driver upgrades, this will allow us to gather a bunch of data on performance that we can share with everybody.

If you run into old documentation referring to other PPAs, you can help us by consolidating references to this PPA.

If someone wants to go ahead and start prototyping on software-properties-gtk on what the GUI should look like, please start hacking!

Help us Help You!

We use the donation funds to get the developers hardware to test and upload these drivers, please consider donating to the "community" slider on the donation page if you're loving this PPA:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/contribute
More info: Proprietary GPU Drivers : “Graphics Drivers” team
Adding repository.
Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel.
Adding deb entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-jammy.list
Adding disabled deb-src entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-jammy.list
Adding key to /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa.gpg with fingerprint 2388FF3BE10A76F638F80723FCAE110B1118213C
Hit:1 Index of /ubuntu jammy InRelease
Get:2 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease [128 kB]
Get:3 Index of /ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [129 kB]
Get:4 https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease [7,547 B]
Hit:5 https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:6 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla InRelease [1,522 B]
Err:4 https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease
The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
Get:7 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates/main amd64 c-n-f Metadata [19.0 kB]
Get:8 Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy InRelease [24.3 kB]
Get:9 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates/universe amd64 c-n-f Metadata [29.8 kB]
Get:10 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main all Packages [5,069 kB]
Get:11 Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy/main i386 Packages [13.3 kB]
Get:12 Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy/main amd64 Packages [28.9 kB]
Get:13 Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy/main Translation-en [6,112 B]
Get:14 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main i386 Packages [10.7 kB]
Get:15 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main amd64 Packages [99.3 kB]
Fetched 5,566 kB in 3s (2,119 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
W: Failed to fetch https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/dists/stable/InRelease The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
andy@7:~$ sudo apt update
Get:1 https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease [7,547 B]
Hit:2 https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu focal InRelease
Err:1 https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease
The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
Hit:3 Index of /ubuntu jammy InRelease
Hit:4 Index of /ubuntu jammy-security InRelease
Hit:5 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease
Hit:6 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla InRelease
Hit:7 Index of /graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Fetched 7,547 B in 1s (7,438 B/s)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
16 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
W: An error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used. GPG error: https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com stable InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
W: Failed to fetch https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/dists/stable/InRelease The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 0686B78420038257
W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
andy@7:~$ sudo apt install pts
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package pts
andy@7:~$ sudo apt install PTS
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package PTS
andy@7:~$ nvidia-smi
Command 'nvidia-smi' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-390 # version 390.157-0ubuntu0.22.04.2, or
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-418-server # version 418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-450-server # version 450.248.02-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-470 # version 470.256.02-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-470-server # version 470.256.02-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-535 # version 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-535-server # version 535.274.02-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-545 # version 545.29.06-0ubuntu0.22.04.2
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-565-server # version 565.57.01-0ubuntu0.22.04.4
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-570 # version 570.195.03-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-570-server # version 570.195.03-0ubuntu0.22.04.2
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-580 # version 580.95.05-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-580-server # version 580.95.05-0ubuntu0.22.04.2
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-550-server # version 550.163.01-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-510 # version 510.60.02-0ubuntu1
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-510-server # version 510.47.03-0ubuntu3
andy@7:~$ sudo apt install nvidia-utils-418-server
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 5765 (synaptic)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
ayatana-indicator-keyboard fonts-cabin libdazzle-1.0-0 libdazzle-common libflashrom1 libftdi1-2 libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-0 libllvm13
libsoup-3.0-0 libsoup-3.0-common libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 numlockx
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
libnvidia-compute-418-server
Suggested packages:
nvidia-driver-418-server
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libnvidia-compute-418-server nvidia-utils-418-server
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 16 not upgraded.
Need to get 22.3 MB of archives.
After this operation, 105 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates/restricted amd64 libnvidia-compute-418-server amd64 418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1 [22.0 MB]
Get:2 Index of /ubuntu jammy-updates/restricted amd64 nvidia-utils-418-server amd64 418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1 [367 kB]
Fetched 22.3 MB in 5s (4,583 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libnvidia-compute-418-server:amd64.
(Reading database ... 307502 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libnvidia-compute-418-server_418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libnvidia-compute-418-server:amd64 (418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package nvidia-utils-418-server.
Preparing to unpack .../nvidia-utils-418-server_418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking nvidia-utils-418-server (418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1) ...
Setting up libnvidia-compute-418-server:amd64 (418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1) ...
Setting up nvidia-utils-418-server (418.226.00-0ubuntu5~0.22.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.35-0ubuntu3.11) ...
andy@7:~$ nvidia-smi
NVIDIA-SMI has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver. Make sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed and running.

stephematician · 1 November 2025 14:43

Don't install -server drivers. Use sudo apt install nvidia-driver-470.

wally333 · 1 November 2025 16:51

I think it safest to use the System→Preferences→Hardware→AdditionalDrivers tool. I would start with the 470 driver mentioned by stephematician if they are still available for your version.

fixit7 · 1 November 2025 20:10

Thanks.

It is using 100% of my 4 cores.

fixit7 · 1 November 2025 20:12

Those fans for the nvidia card have some really quiet fans.

Could I use that type of fan to cool off my hard drives and the case ?

fixit7 · 1 November 2025 20:14

I did it.

What do I do now to get system to start using the graphics card
and not "vampire off" my RAM ?

stephematician · 2 November 2025 01:32

You've mentioned two issues which are probably separate.

CPU Usage

What is using 100% of your 4 cores? MATE System Monitor or htop are two good ways to look at what is using your cores.

A GPU will only be able to ease the load on the CPU for certain tasks. This includes things like:

video decoding (or encoding) - so watching youtube for example;
applications that do a lot of image compositing and blending (i.e. OBS Studio);
video games.

Memory usage

What applications are "vampiring" off your RAM? Again, MATE System Monitor and/or htop can guide you.

Whether a GPU is actually able to free up memory is not obvious and depends a lot on the situation (e.g. it's not always possible to free a 'buffer' on the system memory side even when the data has been copied over to the GPU memory to do some work on it).

NOTE: We've discussed elsewhere on this forum that Linux will often use a lot of RAM to ease the burden on your SSD (or HDD). See this post: What is using so much memory?