From my limited research and understanding, Nvidia makes Linux drivers, but they’re closed source. These work fine. They open sourced some stuff but not enough to really change much yet.
There are also FOSS drivers, but the performance for those vary.
Is this correct? Should I stick to proprietary drivers if I want consistent performance?
Definitely stick with the proprietary drivers. I think the other thing to check is making sure your good to go if your using some kind of WiFi adapter. Getting wifi setup can be a pain depending on what you have. It's something I discounted on the switch until I got fed up dealing with mine and got a Intel PCI-E adapter from some random Chinese company. (Which is hilariously enough is rock solid and completely plug and play with Linux).