I’ve been working on converting my gaming PC to Linux for a few weeks, but everything is running, but it all is just a little jankier than I would like.

I have an 8th gen Intel i7 and an Rtx 2070, running Arch linux.

Sometimes I boot up and my mouse doesn’t work and I have to restart. Sometimes I launch games and they just don’t launch right.

It feels like I’m doing a lot of work for no benefit. In fact, Elden ring runs way worse on my Linux partition than my Windows partition.

I’ve tried GE proton, gamemode, steam compatibility, everything… I’m sorry but I’m going to have to stick with Windows for gaming.

152 points

somebody gave you bad advice if you chose arch for your first distro

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57 points

I wonder if the Arch bros will ever realize they’re doing more harm than good…

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32 points

Obviously NixOS is the way to go for a gaming OS, just use the right flake and you’re all set!

/s

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9 points

Nah, use Gentoo, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something simpler.

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1 point
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Honestly Arch-based is a good choice, but straight up Arch for a newbie? Nah.

I’m running EndeavorOS with KDE and it’s been solid for gaming. A few bugs, but mostly minor, like it picked the wrong default NIC driver (but still worked) and SMB shares wouldn’t auto mount recently until an update a week or two ago.

My main PC for non-gaming runs Manjaro. I know there are haters about it, but it’s been a solid distro for general use, and I’ve encountered no issues to speak of.

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5 points

Yeah, Arch is not a great choice.

I would suggest PopOS! or Nobara.

Or just good ole reliable Debian.

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6 points

No point in forcing it upon itself, you’ll just hate it Just if you are to try again, remember you can always ask about recommendations, maybe there will be a setup for you which works smoothly and out of the box

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64 points
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Linux may very well not be for you, but using Arch first is like jumping into the deep end to learn how to swim. It’s no surprise you’re drowning. I’d recommend you try a gaming-focused distro like Nobara before you go back to Windows for good.

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3 points

Yep give Nobara a shot if you’re going to reinstall anyways. Bet you’ll change your mind

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22 points

Nobara is great if you’re into Fedora. PopOS! or Linux Mint if you’re into Debian. Those will take you further way faster and with less pain than any Arch based distro.

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3 points

So for a linux virgin who is planning to jump in - what’s the difference between the two groups?

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5 points

Linux is really a superfamily of loosely-related OS’s (called distributions). Arch and Debian are 2 of the more common ones. Arch in particular has a reputation of being really beginner un-friendly, particularly in that, to my understanding, you have to build the OS yourself.

There’s also the caveat that many Linux distributions end up sharing/copying code from each other, so you end up with a kind of “OS lineage.” The most common distribution, Ubuntu, is copied from Debian. And then the most beginner-friendly distribution, Linux Mint, is copied from Ubuntu. Arch, to my knowledge, doesn’t copy code from elsewhere, so much of the advice given from users of other distributions won’t apply to Arch (hence the meme, “I use Arch btw”)

Anyways, the real advice for a Linux beginner is to stick with a beginner-friendly distribution: either Ubuntu or Linux Mint or Pop!_OS. Most or all distributions have various “flavors,” which are basically like how the OS looks. I think the real difficulty is picking a flavor that you like. I personally like the look of KDE Plasma (IMO resembles Windows 10 the most), so my personal recommendation is Kubuntu, which is the KDE Plasma flavor of Ubuntu

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1 point
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0 points
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I vouch for Bazzite OS. I have Arch on my main and Nobara on a sibling’s computer for gaming and Nobara works flawlessly with minimal setup. It pretty much works the same as my arch desktop with all the KDE stuff. Highly recommend, even if you’re new or experienced.

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6 points

Wrong distro. Start again.

Popos

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1 point

I had a lot of issues with PopOs I just use Ubuntu for now.

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7 points

Hi there, whoever suggested linux for your switch played a mean joke on you. Granted, arch works well if you know what you‘re doing, apparently. But no way it is a good starting distro.

I‘m not sure how eldenring works on linux but most games run without problems.

One little caveat is this: you need to understand that windows is a billion dollar product while linux is mostly community driven. It costs nothing, except many people donating their time. So I‘d suggest adopting a „its insane that hobbyists are able to build something like this“ view. Otherwise you‘ll get frustrated and will end up im privacy invasive windows territory again.

If you want a more gaming ready distro, try pop os or bazzite. Good luck

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5 points
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2 points

Exactly my point. I tried installing it and it was great fun but under no circumstances is that “beginner ready”.

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