Jump to content

linux for games

knows_something
By knows_something
in PC Gaming
 Share
Go to solution Solved by Humbug,

Linux has now become a decent OS for PC gaming. It's not as good as windows but finally there are enough games to play both indie and AAA.

 

in terms of framerate performance it's almost always slower than windows. Only a handful of games are actually faster. This is because the openGL ecosystem is not as optimized as the directX ecosystem which has better drivers and devs treat directX as the first priority on their game engines before porting to OpenGL. In AMD's case particularly they have not focused on openGL performance so you can expect a slower performance than windows. Linux is not expected to consistently perform as well in windows in games until the new Vulkan API takes off; it's been designed to directly address the short comings of openGL including the driver issues.

 

I have an R9 290. I do game on Linux as well including AAA openGL games. But the experience is not silky smooth like it is on windows. I still use it though because I like to experiment with different OS and in many games the framerate is high enough that it does not bother me. So Linux gaming has made great strides in the last 3 years. But windows remains the more mature option

 

Posted

For quite some time I've been looking into Linux (Ubuntu, Mint) for dual booting on my PC. I wouldn't use it for anything other than games and voice chatting with friends. Windows is quite resource hungry OS and even though it's improved quite a bit in W10, I still wish it'd be better. There are some articles saying lots of games run better on Linux and apparently even Gabe Newell said that about Valve games. I don't know how much of that is true, but I'm still curious. If i were to install Ubuntu or Mint or any other Linux based OS (i'm not too familiar with all Linux options), would there be much of an improvement? What would be the downside of dual booting and what the upside? It is still a thought and it may stay that way, but it'd be nice knowing if I'm missing out on something good or not. 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
Just now, knows_something said:

I don't understand why 970 and above would be a problem? I have a R9 280x so what does that mean?

Driver support and games are absolutely abhorrent. I don't like the 970 but that is pretty much the bare minimum you should consider for decent Linux gaming.

Check out my guide on how to scan cover art here!

Local asshole and 6th generation console enthusiast.

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7247838
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

Driver support and games are absolutely abhorrent. I don't like the 970 but that is pretty much the bare minimum you should consider for decent Linux gaming.

So when a new line of gpus come out, they will abandon older cards and only make drivers for newer ones?

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7247848
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
Just now, knows_something said:

So when a new line of gpus come out, they will abandon older cards and only make drivers for newer ones?

No. As in AMD cards are pretty damn bad under Linux.

Check out my guide on how to scan cover art here!

Local asshole and 6th generation console enthusiast.

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7247854
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Solution

Linux has now become a decent OS for PC gaming. It's not as good as windows but finally there are enough games to play both indie and AAA.

 

in terms of framerate performance it's almost always slower than windows. Only a handful of games are actually faster. This is because the openGL ecosystem is not as optimized as the directX ecosystem which has better drivers and devs treat directX as the first priority on their game engines before porting to OpenGL. In AMD's case particularly they have not focused on openGL performance so you can expect a slower performance than windows. Linux is not expected to consistently perform as well in windows in games until the new Vulkan API takes off; it's been designed to directly address the short comings of openGL including the driver issues.

 

I have an R9 290. I do game on Linux as well including AAA openGL games. But the experience is not silky smooth like it is on windows. I still use it though because I like to experiment with different OS and in many games the framerate is high enough that it does not bother me. So Linux gaming has made great strides in the last 3 years. But windows remains the more mature option

 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7248656
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
8 hours ago, knows_something said:

I don't understand why 970 and above would be a problem? I have a R9 280x so what does that mean?

I have a R9 280 and it works just fine in Ubuntu and Linux Mint (I can play Witcher 2 at 40-50fps at hybrid high settings). You just have to install the latest drivers manually, which is actually really easy. Some games have some really bad performance issues, others are just fine (some @ about the same performance of Windows others just below it).

 

Linux itself is a pretty nice gaming platform now, and gets better every year.

|  The United Empire of Earth Wants You | The Stormborn (ongoing build; 90% done)  |  Skyrim Mods Recommendations  |  LTT Blue Forum Theme! | Learning Russian! Blog |
|"They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.” ― Tupac Shakur  | "Half of writing history is hiding the truth" — Captain Malcolm Reynolds | "Museums are racist." — Michelle Obama | "Slap a word like "racist" or "nazi" on it and you'll have an army at your back." — MSM Logic | "A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" — Jesus Christ | "I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it." — Jefferson Davis |

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7249631
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
14 hours ago, knows_something said:

For quite some time I've been looking into Linux (Ubuntu, Mint) for dual booting on my PC. I wouldn't use it for anything other than games and voice chatting with friends. Windows is quite resource hungry OS and even though it's improved quite a bit in W10, I still wish it'd be better. There are some articles saying lots of games run better on Linux and apparently even Gabe Newell said that about Valve games. I don't know how much of that is true, but I'm still curious. If i were to install Ubuntu or Mint or any other Linux based OS (i'm not too familiar with all Linux options), would there be much of an improvement? What would be the downside of dual booting and what the upside? It is still a thought and it may stay that way, but it'd be nice knowing if I'm missing out on something good or not. 

@Humbug pretty much summed it up. 

 

As for a dristro, I would highly recommend Ubuntu 15.10 with Gnome desktop. It's really nicely laid out, is not resource hungry, very easily and highly customize-able using plugins via the firefox browser (can conveniently turn then on/off). Check out Tek Syndicate's (Tek Linux) videos on how they set it all up and install drivers, if you're curious. :)

 

As for the GPU and performance side, as of right now, Nvidia has the better drivers and performance. With AMD, certain cards perform better than others. Personally I found the performance of my old 7950 (R9 280) to be very lacking. I switched it with a GTX 760 and performance nearly doubled. So, IMO, I would stick with/switch to Nvidia if you want to game solely in Linux. You don't need a 970 or better like someone else claimed to have a good gaming experience in Linux.  

My Systems:

Main - Work + Gaming:

Spoiler

Woodland Raven: Ryzen 2700X // AMD Wraith RGB // Asus Prime X570-P // G.Skill 2x 8GB 3600MHz DDR4 // Radeon RX Vega 56 // Crucial P1 NVMe 1TB M.2 SSD // Deepcool DQ650-M // chassis build in progress // Windows 10 // Thrustmaster TMX + G27 pedals & shifter

F@H Rig:

Spoiler

FX-8350 // Deepcool Neptwin // MSI 970 Gaming // AData 2x 4GB 1600 DDR3 // 2x Gigabyte RX-570 4G's // Samsung 840 120GB SSD // Cooler Master V650 // Windows 10

 

HTPC:

Spoiler

SNES PC (HTPC): i3-4150 @3.5 // Gigabyte GA-H87N-Wifi // G.Skill 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 // Asus Dual GTX 1050Ti 4GB OC // AData SP600 128GB SSD // Pico 160XT PSU // Custom SNES Enclosure // 55" LG LED 1080p TV  // Logitech wireless touchpad-keyboard // Windows 10 // Build Log

Laptops:

Spoiler

MY DAILY: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 // 14" 1440x900 // i5-540M 2.5GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD iGPU + Quadro NVS 3100M 512MB dGPU // 2x4GB DDR3L 1066 // Mushkin Triactor 480GB SSD // Windows 10

 

WIFE'S: Dell Latitude E5450 // 14" 1366x768 // i5-5300U 2.3GHz Dual-Core HT // Intel HD5500 // 2x4GB RAM DDR3L 1600 // 500GB 7200 HDD // Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon

 

EXPERIMENTAL: Pinebook // 11.6" 1080p // Manjaro KDE (ARM)

NAS:

Spoiler

Home NAS: Pentium G4400 @3.3 // Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 // 2x 4GB DDR4 2400 // Intel HD Graphics // Kingston A400 120GB SSD // 3x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 HDDs in RAID-Z // Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000w PSU // Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG // FreeNAS OS

 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7251115
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
4 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

@Humbug pretty much summed it up. 

 

As for a dristro, I would highly recommend Ubuntu 15.10 with Gnome desktop. It's really nicely laid out, is not resource hungry, very easily and highly customize-able using plugins via the firefox browser (can conveniently turn then on/off). Check out Tek Syndicate's (Tek Linux) videos on how they set it all up and install drivers, if you're curious. :)

 

As for the GPU and performance side, as of right now, Nvidia has the better drivers and performance. With AMD, certain cards perform better than others. Personally I found the performance of my old 7950 (R9 280) to be very lacking. I switched it with a GTX 760 and performance nearly doubled. So, IMO, I would stick with/switch to Nvidia if you want to game solely in Linux. You don't need a 970 or better like someone else claimed to have a good gaming experience in Linux.  

Thanks. This is very useful.

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/548719-linux-for-games/#findComment-7253159
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing PC Gaming

×