Linux Distro for Gaming and Productivity

[GoliathsDownfall]

I'm at a point where I'm done with Windows, even just for gaming. I currently dual boot Windows with Ubuntu but I want to move to a different distro. I tried 4 via USB, Manjaro XFCE, Fedora, Pop!OS, and Manjaro Gnome. I was gonna try two more but they either were gonna take forever to download or didn't let me try it through my flash drive (Deepin and CentOS). The only one I didn't care for was Manjaro XFCE (this might be down to me not use to it, I just really like the Gnome layout). 

 

Out of the remaining ones (unless you have other suggestions) which would you recommend for Gaming and Productivity?

 

I play primarily on Steam but also use pretty much all other launchers (I grab any free game I can get no matter the launcher) including Battle.net, Epic, Ubisoft, and Bethesda.

 

I use DaVinci Resolve for video editing and I dabble in Inkscape, Gimp, and Darktable.

[Firewrath9]

For gaming, I'd strongly advise against Linux, unless you only play a couple games and they all work on linux, perhaps try a hackintosh?

[GoliathsDownfall]

3 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

For gaming, I'd strongly advise against Linux, unless you only play a couple games and they all work on linux, perhaps try a hackintosh?

My system is Ryzen based. I play games on both PC and console, and I've seen things that showing work arounds for non linux games. I only game at 1080p and don't really play much  competitve games (so I really am only shooting for 60fps). I've just heard some distros are better than others for it.

[Electronics Wizardy]

The distro doesn't really matter for most uses, pick one of the big ones(or something based off one of them) and your fine. Performance is simmilar between distros, so pick the one with the gui and mentality you like the most

 

From that list id just give popOS, ubuntu based so lots of community support.

[Talon_3361]

1 hour ago, Firewrath9 said:

For gaming, I'd strongly advise against Linux, unless you only play a couple games and they all work on linux, perhaps try a hackintosh?

Nice FUD there.

[Talon_3361]

Distro suggestions:
Fedora
Ubuntu
Pop!_OS

They are stable distros that will do the trick. Plus Ubuntu is the most widely supported Linux distro for most things including gaming via Steam and Proton. Pop OS has been working on making gaming work nicely on their system as well (which is Ubuntu based). 

[Firewrath9]

8 hours ago, Don_M said:

Nice FUD there.

?

[jpenguin]

Linux is Linux.  there is really no such thing as a gaming distro   Some distros, like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Fedora, *buntu, Mageia & Arch have newer mesa drivers if you have an AMD GPU

[GoliathsDownfall]

54 minutes ago, jpenguin said:

Linux is Linux.  there is really no such thing as a gaming distro   Some distros, like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Fedora, *buntu, Mageia & Arch have newer mesa drivers if you have an AMD GPU

That's what it seems people are saying. I've just heard some distros handle things like games or productive software better than others (like Resolve on CentOS vs Ubuntu).

[Worstcaster]

I've used Ubuntu, Manjaro, and Mint.  So far I like Mint best (I'm currently running it on my laptop now).  It updates easily and has an interface which is also easily customizable.  

[Talon_3361]

On 9/16/2019 at 5:36 AM, Firewrath9 said:

?

FUD
Fear Uncertainty Doubt.

Your post seemed to state that only a couple of games run on Linux and that the OP would be better off not bothering because gaming doesn't exist on it.

[Firewrath9]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:16 AM, Don_M said:

FUD
Fear Uncertainty Doubt.

Your post seemed to state that only a couple of games run on Linux and that the OP would be better off not bothering because gaming doesn't exist on it.

In my current game library, the only games that will run on linux is csgo and other valve games.

Metro 2033/LL, LOL, Division 1 and 2, Rise of the TR, Brawlhalla, and some others are windows/macOS only. Wine does exist, but there is overhead. Not sure if it can help with game launchers i.e Uplay that doesnt have linux support

[Terryv]

1 hour ago, Firewrath9 said:

In my current game library, the only games that will run on linux is csgo and other valve games.

Metro 2033/LL, LOL, Division 1 and 2, Rise of the TR, Brawlhalla, and some others are windows/macOS only. Wine does exist, but there is overhead. Not sure if it can help with game launchers i.e Uplay that doesnt have linux support

Wine's overhead is nowhere near what you think.

 

Proton and lutris can take care of just about any game or launcher

 

Exceptions apply for games with anti cheat, like EAC and battle eye. This might not be the case in the near future.

[Firewrath9]

22 minutes ago, Terryv said:

Wine's overhead is nowhere near what you think.

 

Proton and lutris can take care of just about any game or launcher

 

Exceptions apply for games with anti cheat, like EAC and battle eye. This might not be the case in the near future.

judging from this, wine has ~50-70% minimum fps, and around 80% avg. fps, thats a pretty decent hit, 144fps -> 115

[Terryv]

6 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

judging from this, wine has ~50-70% minimum fps, and around 80% avg. fps, thats a pretty decent hit, 144fps -> 115

That's one example and an outdated one at that.

 

The new far cry has virtually native performance.

 

Driver 396.54 was one of the first Nvidia vulkan drivers for Linux, latest is 435.xx. There's also the improvements to dxvk and wine to take into account.

[AlexOak]

On 9/16/2019 at 3:40 PM, jpenguin said:

Linux is Linux.  there is really no such thing as a gaming distro   Some distros, like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Fedora, *buntu, Mageia & Arch have newer mesa drivers if you have an AMD GPU

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/  (Gaming Distro)

I see people have forgotten this distro by STEAM

[Talon_3361]

8 hours ago, AlexOak said:

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/  (Gaming Distro)

I see people have forgotten this distro by STEAM

That's because Valve doesn't seem to be marketing it. Ever since the dedicated hardware of Steam machines failed, it has felt like the Steam OS itself has been shoved in a corner and Valve hopes everyone forgets that it exists.

[DaftBlazer]

5 hours ago, Don_M said:

That's because Valve doesn't seem to be marketing it. Ever since the dedicated hardware of Steam machines failed, it has felt like the Steam OS itself has been shoved in a corner and Valve hopes everyone forgets that it exists.

I feel like Valve may have just put SteamOS on the backburner for now. I think that once game compatibility with proton and native linux game support grows much larger, They may bring it back into focus for people wanting a console experience. I think they were too ambitious at first, hoping game devs would make linux ports because there were "game systems" running linux. I think they learned from that, So now they are focusing on bringing more games to linux first 

[Talon_3361]

13 hours ago, DaftBlazer said:

I feel like Valve may have just put SteamOS on the backburner for now. I think that once game compatibility with proton and native linux game support grows much larger, They may bring it back into focus for people wanting a console experience. I think they were too ambitious at first, hoping game devs would make linux ports because there were "game systems" running linux. I think they learned from that, So now they are focusing on bringing more games to linux first 

Hopefully.