nvcontrol

What nvcontrol is

nvcontrol is a free, MIT-licensed NVIDIA GPU settings manager for Linux designed for Wayland. It includes a GUI and terminal dashboard, with controls for digital vibrance, display color, VRR/G-SYNC, HDR, overclocking, fan control, and power management. The project lists KDE Plasma, GNOME, Hyprland, Sway, and Pop!_OS COSMIC as supported compositors.

Listed GPU families include RTX 50, 40, 30, and 20 series, plus GTX 16 and 10 series, with support dependent on driver and hardware. Matching NVIDIA open modules and userland are required, and Linux kernel 6.6 or later is recommended. The driver guide identifies open driver 610 as its primary target and points users on 590 and earlier to an older vibrance-compatible build. Read-only diagnostics cover CUDA, Ollama, local AI/ML workload fit, and environment setup. CLI workflows can produce diagnostics and support bundles, with options to redact paths and identifiers. Installation instructions cover Arch Linux, Fedora/Nobara, Pop!_OS, Debian/Ubuntu, and building from source. The project warns that experimental overclocking and voltage modification may cause instability or hardware damage; the MIT license supplies the software without warranty.

Who it suits

nvcontrol suits Linux users managing NVIDIA GPUs in Wayland setups, particularly on the compositors and GPU families it lists. Users should check driver compatibility and the warning about experimental tuning before using those controls.

Limits

The free software requires matching NVIDIA open modules and userland, and GPU support varies by driver and hardware. Overclocking and voltage modification are experimental and may cause instability or hardware damage.

Getting started

1. Review the project's driver guide for compatibility with your NVIDIA driver.
2. Check that matching NVIDIA open modules and userland are available; Linux kernel 6.6 or later is recommended.
3. Follow the installation instructions for Arch Linux, Fedora/Nobara, Pop!_OS, Debian/Ubuntu, or build from source.
4. Launch the GUI application or terminal dashboard.
5. Use CLI diagnostics or support bundle workflows if needed, with options to redact paths and identifiers.

Verdict

nvcontrol brings GPU controls and read-only diagnostics to supported Linux setups, with both graphical and terminal interfaces. Check the driver guide and hardware compatibility, and treat experimental tuning as a risk.