NVidia has a pretty good capture on the gaming market. Especially during the 980/1080 generations. I’ve also seen a ton of non media people insist on NVidia cuz of shadowplay.

This is speculation, but I don’t think most new Linux users are building computers specifically for Linux. They’re letting their computers age, then considering Linux when they see the cost of the new generation of NVidia hardware.

Let us not overestimate the general publics knowledge of hardware compatibility and operating systems in general. I think they conceptualize it like replacing a brick in a Lego wall. They’d have no reason to suspect it wouldn’t work.