# NVIDIA open GPU kernel modules (tinygrad fork)

5 Hacker News commenters recommended NVIDIA open GPU kernel modules (tinygrad fork) and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for unlocking peer-to-peer transfers and about 20% faster card-to-card speed on consumer GPUs. Caveat: some VR hardware needed patching.

## Why people recommend it

- Unlocks P2P on consumer GPUs (4 comments): "If you're running 3090's or other cards that are P2P capable that were hobbled by NV then look at this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50222695)) "You can unlock around 20% increased card to card speed on consumer GPUs using this library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223788)) "unlock around 20% increased card to card speed on consumer GPUs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541990))
- About 20% faster card-to-card speed (2 comments): "You can unlock around 20% increased card to card speed on consumer GPUs using this library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223788)) "unlock around 20% increased card to card speed on consumer GPUs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541990))
- Nvidia's open-source kernel driver (2 comments): "Nvidia capitulated in the EGLStream war and released open kernel modules." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49458734)) "Nvidia’s Open Kernel Modules are good so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46095288))
- Works well so far (2 comments): "it seems to work well although I had to patch it to fix support for some VR hardware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48433878)) "Nvidia’s Open Kernel Modules are good so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46095288))

## What people warn about

- Needed patches for some VR hardware (1 comments): "it seems to work well although I had to patch it to fix support for some VR hardware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48433878))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [NVIDIA proprietary Linux drivers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-proprietary-linux-drivers.md): 40 recommend
- [Mesa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mesa.md): 30 recommend
- [Nvidia drivers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nvidia-drivers.md): 25 recommend
- [amdgpu driver](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amdgpu.md): 15 recommend
- [AMD graphics drivers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amd-graphics-drivers.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "NVIDIA open GPU kernel modules (tinygrad fork)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/aikitoria-open-gpu-kernel-modules/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).