Graphic card to be used for computationally intense tasks under Linux

I love Linux, And, I plan on buying a powerful computer for Computationally intensive tasks (e.g. machine learning, processing of Video and images, etc.). I have seen many on the market, but I can foresee that it will include 32GB (or more) RAM, SSDs, and a GPU card (most likely NVIDIA GeForce series, but I’m open to suggestions).

I am aware that Linux doesn’t always have the drivers for some products (especially for NVIDIA), so I am concerned that I might spend a lot of money on hardware and then be unable to use its full capabilities. But at the same time, I would really like to avoid being forced to use Windows.

Thus, I would like to ask you people and experienced users about your success stories (ie., please avoid the “this-is-my-hell-with-NVIDIA-drivers” type of comments). On the contrary, I am interested in hardware combinations that work, considering the following points when possible:

  • it has to be under Linux environment only (ie no dual boot)
  • it needs to support CUDA
  • I am not interested in gaming. But I do want to see nice graphics eg. when editing video.
  • I will only use 2-3 ‘normal’ monitors and I am not interested in advanced setups like 4K, HDPI, etc. (Full HD is enough for me)

What other considerations would you advise before buying the computer?

I’m not sure what you mean here. If anything, I have come across a small number of quirks afflicting Windows installations, which aren’t apparent with Linux, Unified Memory being one.

Hardware-wise, I’m unaware of any product that won’t work under Linux.