OS for gaming.

[Savagebean]

Hey guys. I keep seeing this out there, and based on what I've seen in protondb report's the top 3 I've seen is Ubuntu, Pop OS and Arch Linux. Is there any particular reason for that? I was experimenting with Solus and didn't have any issues. Just wondering if I'm missing out on something in particular.

[WereCat]

Pop_OS! because it comes with prety much everything you need installed except maybe Steam.

Basically you install the OS, install Steam and you can play.

 

You may need to install more things manually with some of the other distros. Like some GPU drivers for example. Basically, its about having less hassle.

[pythonmegapixel]

People running different games on different hardware will produce different results. . Possibly the games you're running don't rely on to many distro-specific things meaning that they run OK on whatever distro.

 

If you're running Solus and it works for you then there's probably no real reason to switch to something else.

 

  

2 minutes ago, WereCat said:

Pop_OS! because it comes with prety much everything you need installed except maybe Steam.

Basically you install the OS, install Steam and you can play.

Considering how good Proton has become over the past few years, that's basically the case for any distro now. Though you're right about GPU drivers - sometimes those can be a bit irritating to get working, sometimes they can install flawlessly. It depends on the exact hardware and software configuration.

[Savagebean]

Just now, WereCat said:

Pop_OS! because it comes with prety much everything you need installed except maybe Steam.

Basically you install the OS, install Steam and you can play.

 

You may need to install more things manually with some of the other distros. Like some GPU drivers for example. Basically, its about having less hassle.

Yeah. I did a tryout with POP, but I'm not a fan of the desktop.

[Savagebean]

2 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

People running different games on different hardware will produce different results. . Possibly the games you're running don't rely on to many distro-specific things meaning that they run OK on whatever distro.

 

If you're running Solus and it works for you then there's probably no real reason to switch to something else.

Actually, because of COVID and work, I had to go back to windows (And I wasn't thinking about dual booting at the time). Just pacing and taking in considerations with my next build. 

[Savagebean]

26 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

People running different games on different hardware will produce different results. . Possibly the games you're running don't rely on to many distro-specific things meaning that they run OK on whatever distro.

 

If you're running Solus and it works for you then there's probably no real reason to switch to something else.

 

  

Considering how good Proton has become over the past few years, that's basically the case for any distro now. Though you're right about GPU drivers - sometimes those can be a bit irritating to get working, sometimes they can install flawlessly. It depends on the exact hardware and software configuration.

Yeah. I haven't had a chance to try the new nvidia updater. Not even too sure if it auto updates. I'm shocked ATI drivers are as good as they have been reported to be on linux/ unix.

[LookingforanIDA7license]

39 minutes ago, Savagebean said:

Hey guys. I keep seeing this out there, and based on what I've seen in protondb report's the top 3 I've seen is Ubuntu, Pop OS and Arch Linux. Is there any particular reason for that? I was experimenting with Solus and didn't have any issues. Just wondering if I'm missing out on something in particular.

Is there a certain reason why you dislike windows for playing things? Sure cetain titles / genres don't require everything that windows provides and developers have created but I feel like there's no reason to use linux to play tripple-A titles just because "I dont like windows".

 

Other than that, you can use any distro to be honest, I would point to Fedora as it seems to just work right out of the box. If you want to waste your weekend for a nicer system setup go with arch and a bowl to catch your tears.

Avoid kali and any security-oriented os. Kali is not made for games or general usage for the n-th time

[Savagebean]

2 hours ago, LookingforanIDA7license said:

Is there a certain reason why you dislike windows for playing things? Sure cetain titles / genres don't require everything that windows provides and developers have created but I feel like there's no reason to use linux to play tripple-A titles just because "I dont like windows".

 

Other than that, you can use any distro to be honest, I would point to Fedora as it seems to just work right out of the box. If you want to waste your weekend for a nicer system setup go with arch and a bowl to catch your tears.

Avoid kali and any security-oriented os. Kali is not made for games or general usage for the n-th time

I don't like windows. I don't like how every time they update the build, I have to keep turning off "features" I never wanted. But that's just me and I'm wierd.

[LookingforanIDA7license]

3 minutes ago, Savagebean said:

I don't like windows. I don't like how every time they update the build, I have to keep turning off "features" I never wanted. But that's just me and I'm wierd.

I feel you. Windows is just unbeatable when it comes to gaming. Other than that its a corpse.

[wasab]

I use fedora. I had been distro hoping for years and finally settled on fedora. Ubuntu has many issues. It is not pure gnome and extensions in the tweak tool often result in bugs. Fedora is perfect, ships with vanilla gnome and support my favorite theme without issue. 

 

For gaming, fedora is bleeding age. It will have the latest driver support and newer kernel compare to others. 

[wasab]

3 hours ago, LookingforanIDA7license said:

I feel you. Windows is ju when it comes to gaming. Other than that its a corpse.

Ever try Google stadia or Amazon luna? These allow you to game on any device that can run a web browser. Operating system's game support become a total none issue. Hardware requirement also becomes total none issue. You do need a constant and reliable internet tho. No offline gaming. 

[LookingforanIDA7license]

11 hours ago, wasab said:

Ever try Google stadia or Amazon luna? These allow you to game on any device that can run a web browser. Operating system's game support become a total none issue. Hardware requirement also becomes total none issue. You do need a constant and reliable internet tho. No offline gaming. 

I despise cloud gaming in any way possible.

[Giganthrax]

For gaming, just dual boot Windows 10. Anything else is just limiting yourself for no reason.

25 minutes ago, LookingforanIDA7license said:

I despise cloud gaming in any way possible.

Why? 

[Nayr438]

Those just happen to be the three most popular Distros in the Linux Gaming Community.

 

Ubuntu has always been towards the top in popularity. Chances are that more people have heard the Word Ubuntu than the word Linux. It's large repos and long standing user base make it fairly attractive to newcomers.

 

PopOS! offers out of the box support for NVIDIA, which makes it appealing to NVIDIA users. Lutris and Steam are both included in the repos already for one click installs.

 

Arch is popular and has been gaining a lot of ground  in recent years. Its attractive to users who want more up to date packages and can pick and choose whats installed from the very start. The AUR and its large community make it appealing, many Linux projects such as Mangohud, Wine TKG (Lutris Wine is built on), Proton TKG (ProtonGE is built on), etc... start here. Part of it's recent uptick in users probably comes from the various Installers that have been popping up, though these installers are not officially supported by the Arch Community.

 

As to whether your missing out on anything, that's a fairly hard question to answer. Different distros ship different packages and package versions. Ubuntu, PopOS!, and Arch can all three offer varying differences in gaming scenarios. Sometimes it's negligible and sometimes the gap can be fairly large. Sometimes more upstream packages can provide a better experience and sometimes they can provide a worse experience. When it comes to Arch, a users experience can also vary depending on how they setup there system. If you were to ask what Distro was the best for gaming right now and you got a definitive answer, it could literally change in the next five minutes. Though considering the Linux community can never agree on anything, you'd get a hundred different answers anyways.

My advice, try not to worry about it and just pick a Distro that offers you the best overall experience based on your average usage and try to grab a fsync patched kernel.

[el_murdoque]

On 4/3/2021 at 8:38 PM, Savagebean said:

Yeah. I did a tryout with POP, but I'm not a fan of the desktop.

There is nothing binding you to use any desktop in any distro. There are those the OS comes with - I'm on Ubuntu, but could not stand the standard window manager, so I tried several before settling on a heavily modified MATE.