Wanting to give Linux another go

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to install Linux again (likely setting up a dual boot), but I want to get some opinions before I dive back in. This won’t be my first time using Linux, but my previous attempts were rough, to say the least.

In December 2025, I installed Fedora KDE Plasma. At first glance, it seemed fine, but over the weeks, I ran into a wall of issues:

1. Crackling Audio: I searched everywhere but never found a working solution. The constant popping drove me mad.
2. Gaming was a mess: About 90% of my games refused to run. I’m not talking about games with kernel-level anti-cheats like League of Legends. Standard titles like GTA 4, Assetto Corsa, and Forza Horizon 4 simply wouldn't work.
3. Login screen blackouts: 95% of the time I booted the laptop, I was greeted by a black screen instead of a login prompt. I had to drop into a TTY terminal and reboot immediately just to get into my machine.

My Hardware:

• Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 15ACH6
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (with Radeon integrated graphics)
• 16 GB RAM
• Nvidia RTX 3050 Laptop GPU

I am 99% sure the root of my problems was the dual-GPU setup. I could never get the system to properly switch to the Nvidia dedicated graphics when it was actually needed.

Eventually, I got fed up and switched to Linux Mint, hoping for a foolproof, "out of the box" experience. It was anything but. I immediately hit the infamous login loop bug. I tried every known fix, nothing worked, and I uninstalled it the exact same day.

Despite all this, I am not ready to give up on Linux. I really want a machine running it, but I’m stuck with the same Nvidia hardware for now and I am sceptical about running into the exact same array of problems.

If I proceed, I’ll be running a dual boot: a 1TB SSD dedicated to Linux and a 256GB SSD for Windows.

I’d appreciate your honest feedback on a few things:

• What did I likely do wrong the first time? (Especially regarding Nvidia Optimus/GPU switching).
• What should I absolutely avoid doing this time around?
• Which distro would you recommend for this specific hardware? I know I’ll get 20 different answers, but I want to know what makes sense for an Nvidia dGPU laptop. I’ve currently got my eye on CachyOS, but I am not committed to it.
• The ultimate question: Should I even bother right now? I am planning to buy a Thinkpad T14 Gen 2 with an AMD processor soon. Am I better off staying on Windows on this Lenovo and saving myself the headache until I get the all-AMD Thinkpad, or is the current Linux Nvidia experience actually fixable for a laptop like mine?

Thanks in advance for the help.

PS: AI helped me write this post, don't judge