this post was submitted on 08 May 2025

48 points (91.4% liked)

Linux

54100 readers

499 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Linux gaming hardware/software (lemm.ee)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

53 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Background

I use Mac as my daily driver for my work and personal machines, but for gaming I use my Playstation 5 for online or supposedly AAA games (think Call of Duty or Helldivers 2) and I use my Steam Deck for more indie titles. I've got some Linux experience, primarily via my old Mac Mini running Proxmox with mostly Debian VMs and messing around briefly with NixOS.

I love our Steam Deck, but it does feel a little underpowered, the battery isn't as strong as it once was and I don't love the docking experience with the official dock.

My wife is really into Civilization and similar games and I'd love to setup a desktop connected to our TV to use with a keyboard and mouse on our LG CX. Although I'm tech savvy, I'm not great with knowing what hardware/software to get. It's especially more complicated with the looming tariffs and trying to make sure I don't overspend on something I don't need.

Question

Looking for some guidance on hardware and software to setup for this living room gaming desktop. It's only purpose is to play games, primarily from Steam and it should have hardware which would benefit speed and performance for the type of games I'm going to list. Obviously we want the graphics to be good, but I don't need a beast RTX 5090.

What are some hardware and software recommendations in today's financial climate for playing these games on Linux?

What other accessories would you recommend for couch based keyboard and mouse gaming?

Honestly the game I'm most eager to get into is Dwarf Fortress, but for my wife it's having a smooth experience with Civ6 (she was playing the Switch version for far too long!)

Games

Civilization games
- My wife loves 6 and I'm a fan of 5, but we do want to eventually try 7, hoping it'll improve with DLC updates
Dwarf Fortress
Rimworld
Battletech
Into the Breach
Brotato
Vampire Survivors
Balatro
FTL
Caves of Qud
Persona 5 Royal (although I'm struggling to get into it, pushing through)
Blue Prince
ANIMAL WELL
Factorio
Return of the Obra Dinn
Anno 1800
Project Zomboid

This is a partial list of some of our libraries and wishlists. As you can see, some of them are more graphically, memory and processor intensive, but a lot of them are low performance indies.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

My rimworld works fine in my 10+ yrs old ddr3 desktop. Amd or Nvidia gpu are all fine. Spend more on ram for Linux built. The estimate lifespan of my new desktop is 10 yrs.

Linux gaming experience is okish. You really have to chk the compatibility because some games claim they support Linux, but not really.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

While Nvidia GPUs mostly work pretty well, that's only until they don't. I'd recommend getting an AMD one instead, to avoid any future headaches. Though, if you prefer Nvidia for some reason, the situation will likely get better when the Nova driver gets released & NVK becomes a bit more optimized.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Certainly the best choice for processor and graphics card will be AMD. I would certainly advise you to avoid Nvidia, as it is very poorly supported on Linux, and it is even worth paying extra for AMD if you use a system other than Windows.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

NVIDIA is fine.

There were real issues with NVIDIA. They have been resolved.

That said, when something is “fixed” in Linux, it comes to different distros at different times. Some distros will get the fixes almost immediately. Others will not see them for 2 - 3 years. As we are within that window, how well NVIDIA works depends on what distro you use.

If you use an up-to-date distro like something Arch based (maybe EndeavourOS), things work well. Even fairly current distros like those that are Fedora based should be fine at this point. However, if you use something that moves a little shower, like Mint or especially Debian, you may still have problems with NVIDIA today.

AMD has worked well on Linux for many years and so it is a reliable choice regardless of distro.

Don’t forget that Intel exists as well. At the low to mid-end, they represent good value. They have good Linux support.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Nvidia user here. The criticism of Nvidia support on Linux is always blown way out of proportion by AMD fanboys.

The only issue I ever have is needing to prepend prime-run to each application I want to launch with the dedicated GPU.

I've had significantly worse problems with AMD drivers, so much so that it really opened my eyes to how stable things were on the green team.

I'm not saying you should get one over the other, but you shouldn't let fanboys dictate your decision. They will try to do so without admitting they're fanboys, so we have admit it for them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Nvidia user here.

What kinds of problems did you face with AMD?

While Nvidia works pretty well now, it just doesn't compare to my laptop with an intel iGPU, with which I've had no issues. Intel & AMD should offer a better out of the box experience.

It does depend on your GPU, distro & use, but in the best case scenario Nvidia will only match the alternatives and in the worst case you'll have to tinker a bit, which new Linux users may not be comfortable with.

I haven't had any new Nvidia-related issues in about a year, but I spent more time than I would've liked fixing those issues a year ago. I'm really curious about your experience with AMD if it was so horrible and left you longing for "how stable things were on the green team".

I'm not saying OP should get one over the other, but OP shouldn't let fanboys dictate their decision. They will try to do so without admitting that they're fanboys, so we have to admit it for them.

TL;DR: Nvidia works well for most people, but can cause headaches for others.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago

Found the nvidia shill, I guess.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Check ProtonDB, e.g. https://www.protondb.com/search?q=Civilization and that, even though very useful ~~initially started~~ for the SteamDeck it is also a very reliable source to know if a game will work well on Linux. Overall the vast VAST majority of games do work unless there is a kernel level anti-cheat which is mostly for competitive online games only.

Now in terms of performances, get the GPU you can afford but overall its comparable with other OSes (not to name them) and sometimes even better, so on average, you can trust whatever the publisher is recommending.

Source : been gaming on Linux, in VR and on "flat" 3D for years now, pretty much daily.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

ProtonDB is older then the steamdeck my dude, protonb was released alongside proton, which released on 2018, while the deck is from 2022.

In any case, I agree with you, it's a very reliable source of game support. Mainly because it's user reported haha.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Indeed, my bad, what I was trying to say is that I believe most of the efforts put into Proton stems from the SteamDeck, namely that Valve invested resources in the compatibility layer before the console but it really started to gear up then in order to bring value to players.

Edit: post amended.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

... so they all look quite promising.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Woah, thanks for doing the searching leg work here.

I've been using ProtonDB pretty heavily for Steam Deck research and I think most of the games on the list have good Proton support or even native Linux functionality. I doubt I'll play many kernel level anti-cheat games on it, I tend to go to the console for those types of games.

Based on the limited research I've done in the past, generally AMD is recommended for Linux, so I'd probably go that route. I don't have a firm budget, happy to save up and attempt to future proof or go with an older/used model for less cost.

Am I right in thinking CPU/RAM are more critical for games like Civ or Dwarf Fortress? More simulation than graphics intensive tasks?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I have a i9-9900K with a 2080ti and 32GB of RAM (I had to check because it's so "old" I didn't remember) and honestly, until I buy the ONE game that needs better specs, not just for ever so slightly better graphics but because it wouldn't run properly without, I'm holding on to this rig.

I don't have AMD vs NVIDIA recommendation. I use both (as I also have a SteamDeck) and have no big problem with either, I just work and play, no worries. For CPU/RAM I don't think it matters much, what does though is making sure the hardware is compatible, e.g. if you have a top of the line CPU with a low-end GPU or vice versa, you will have a bottleneck and won't use one fully. So just be coherent with your purchase and again check what are the recommended spec for your favorite games.

Regarding the distribution, I'm on Debian stable so if you are familiar with that and have no need for anything specific, I don't recommend changing, stick to what you know.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

When choosing a graphics card, I've generally found AMD/Radeon to be a reliable option. I’ve used several different Radeon GPUs in various builds, and they’ve consistently performed well. Nvidia users sometimes encounter compatibility issues, though that isn't universally the case. Vulkan is a strong API and provides a good experience.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

If you were planning to buy parts new and build the computer yourself, I threw together a parts list for an all-AMD system that's appropriate for Linux (I recommend Bazzite) and has a good price-to-performance ratio; $1200 to beat the pants off a Steam Deck and be very future-proof in terms of hardware features, platform support, and general performance.

If you're thinking about buying used older-gen parts or a prebuilt system, compare gaming benchmarks of the GPU or CPU you're looking at to the components in this build to see if it's an upgrade or downgrade. This is probably the best price-to-performance prebuilt I've found in a few minutes on Amazon, couple hundred less than the parts list above, but it's on the older AM4 platform (5000-series Ryzen), an older generation GPU (6600), and much less storage.

Lastly, obligatory mention of the last PC build guide you'll ever need. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Bazzite is probably the best Linux distribution for this purpose. It's practically made for it. In terms of hardware, get an AMD GPU. Intel might also be ok, but they are pretty new so might have hidden caveats.

CPU, whatever you can afford I guess.

Do you have a budget?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Thank you for the reply!

Yeah I've seen Bazzite come up frequently and it sounds promising, essentially it's Steam OS. I was also leaning towards AMD GPU due to the compatibility, heard the NVIDIA drivers aren't the best.

I'm going to be irritating and say "I don't really know" as far as budget, I'd like to avoid spending $2-3k on something to play Indies. But I'm also ok with under $2k or even less for something that is fairly future proof.

Am I right in thinking CPU/RAM are more critical for games like Civ or Dwarf Fortress? More simulation than graphics intensive tasks?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (7 children)

Just FYI: I've never had an AMD Gpu (thanks to Blender's support seeming poor) and while it j5as been spotty in the past, I've used Fedora, PopOS and Bazzite with zero Problems on NVIDIA. Drivers have come a long way in the last years.

load more comments (7 replies)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

I think https://lemmy.world/c/buildapc would be a good fit to crosspost or ask again

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

An AMD GPU and Bazzite would be great for you. The AMD GPU makes installing any Linux system easier, cause the drivers are already there.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If you feel most familiar with Debian, I recommend looking at Mint. It has great compatibility and is otherwise easy to use, and it handles GPUs well (including Nvidia). In terms of hardware, I'll agree with the others here--used is the way to go, you'll get a lot more for your money than buying new.

That being said, you can also look for clearance and/or refurbished PCs. This one would probably be powerful enough.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Anecdotal, but Mint stuttered in games occasionally for me and I had the odd audio blip. I switched to EndeavorOS and its been flawless.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Thanks for the advice! I feel like I will have some flexibility with distros and can switch things out as long as game data is backed up and it works with the hardware.

Unfortunately the Amazon link doesn’t seem to work for me. Can you give me a brief description of what it included?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

They were trying to send this link and I'm going to strongly disagree with them - that system is a substantial downgrade from a Steam Deck. The GPU is a GT 1030; on top of being Nvidia, it's 8 years and 4 generations old and was bottom-tier when it was new.

That said, the idea is sound. Buying an actual gaming desktop PC from a few generations ago can be a very budget-friendly option, but shipping an assembled PC is a nightmare for multiple reasons, and even more risky secondhand. If you're going to buy a used prebuilt PC, find one locally and pick it up yourself, don't have it shipped to you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Considering you play a lot of simulation and strategy games, the CPU you pick will probably influence your experience a lot more than usual. This chart can give you an idea of how they stack.

I will say, other than Civ7, you'll probably have a good time with whatever build people have linked here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I highly recommend getting a gaming laptop. You can buy a 4070 lenovo laptop at Walmart for $1k (at least in the US.)

Otherwise, check out https://old.reddit.com/r/LaptopDeals/ until you find something that fits your needs and budget. (sorry for linking to the other site)

You should use bluetooth controllers instead of ones that take a dongle simply because the dongle is unnecessary. Playstation controllers work well, but they're expensive and I haven't been able to find a 3rd party variant that works properly.

I also recommend getting a wireless keyboard + mouse combo.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Just out of curiosity, why would you recommend a gaming laptop instead of a desktop?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Portability is a much bigger benefit than people realize.

Right now I'm typing this lying down comfortably in my bed, for example.

I think being tied to a desk to use our computers is unnecessary and reinforces a culture where people stay in their rooms and don't connect with others in person as much as they otherwise would.

My computer is like my 2nd brain, so being able to have it with me just about anywhere I go is important.

I used to have a desktop mostly for gaming and a laptop for work, but managing 2 computers is more hassle than it's worth so I decided to downsize to only 1 gaming laptop. "One machine to rule them all," as I say.

My only regret is not making the decision way sooner. I genuinely believe my life would have been better off for it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I think I understand your point. Personally, I use a desktop for gaming and a laptop for a most other things, like you used to. I use tiling WMs, so not having a real mouse is not so bad, but I prefer real keyboards.

I don't think you need to move a gaming machine around that often and desktops have better thermals, are a lot more upgradeable and are easier to fix than laptops.

But sometimes portable gaming can be nice. For example, I play Mario Kart (Double Dash, of course) with my father every now and then, which wouldn't really work with a desktop. It's nice to be able to take a laptop and a few bluetooth controllers with me and be able to set up a portable retro gaming station literally anywhere.

I guess it's just up to individual preference.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It’s nice to be able to take a laptop and a few bluetooth controllers with me and be able to set up a portable retro gaming station literally anywhere.

Yep. I'm a much bigger fan of co-op games these days, so I have controllers and emulators at the ready to turn my laptop in a play station.

I guess it’s just up to individual preference.

Bingo.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How's couch co-op these days? From what I remember, it's more common in older console games.

Do you have any recommendations, retro or otherwise?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It's in a great state if you look back and play old games.

I recommend getting comfortable with emulators. Using them isn't immediately straightforward, but with a bit of experience they become easier.

Some games I'd recommend just off the top of my head are:

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga

Resident Evil 5 & 6

Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2 (1 goes up to 2 players, 2 goes up to 4)

A Way Out

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (short, but fun)

Legend of Mana is absolutely spectacular and any gaming duo would be delighted to play it.

Dynasty Warriors is good for some mindless fun, but don't be fooled by how many games they have; they're all pretty much the same thing.

I think Super Mario Wonder is actually 2-player, but I haven't tried it yet. I plan too, though.

Super Mario Bros U goes up to 4 players and you can play with the Cemu, the Wii U emulator.

Cuphead

You're right that couch co-op games are mostly on consoles. Thankfully we can play console games on PC for free.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I'm very comfortable with emulators.

A way out & Cuphead were great. Would be nice to go back to get the remaining achievements. Who won when you played A Way Out?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I have a T14 gen1 ryzen 7 (only 16G of ram for now), with integrated graphics running bazzite. Civ 5 and 6, rimworld, FTL run flawlessly. Anno 1800 is a bit laggy, but playable. I also do some sim racing and no complaints there either, if graphics are set just right, so I think that the bar for hardware is pretty low. As for hardware, not sure what I’d go with, but I’m sure there is no need to go overboard. For software bazzite is amazing if you want near hassle free gaming.

As for accessories I have a keychron keyboard which was a worthwhile investment and a Mionix 3200 mouse that’s over 10 years old, still amazed at the build quality and value for money. A good keyboard mouse combo is invaluable.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Many of those games I had been playing on a 2400g with no dedicated gpu, which is far weaker than the Steam Deck.

When you say you’ve noticed it’s underpowered, did you mean for the games on this list?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I feel like Civ6 felt a little sluggish late game, probably more processing and RAM than GPU specific. Also can hear the fans and feel the heat on the handheld, which I feel like a desktop can be configured to handle better. Otherwise the Deck is a great piece of hardware. If I’m looking at Civ 7 or any future games, I feel like the Deck might struggle a little.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

Do you have any preferences (distro, cpu/gpu manufacturer, etc) and a budget? Most of the games on your list I am familiar with and will run on damn near anything remotely modern.

Lacing direction, with the fairly low requirements (from what i recognize), and assuming you are price conscious id suggest you poke around the used gaming PC market (either gamer friends, or failing that online), which will also completely bypass the tariff issue too.

PopOS is pretty solid for linux gaming and has a distribution specifically for Nvidia too which handles most of the headache with Nvidia if you go that route.

EDIT: Poked around the requirement pages of the ones i wasn't familiar with, i didn't see a single game that had a requirement of anything newer than 10 year old hardware, depending on your friend network, you could get a computer that could play those games well for a song. Civ 7, your 'evenutally' game, is the only thing listed that has strongish requirements, and would be what i would pay attention to if you are aiming higher.

load more comments (5 replies)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

O hello, the one and only other ItB player! How was the mech chess today

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Few months ago I built a gaming PC and chose to not use Windows for multiple reasons. I would suggest sticking to AMD as it would better supported on Linux. For the OS I'm using Arch Linux which is base for a lot of gaming Linux distributions. 99% I have never felt like I was missing out by not using Windows. Wine/Proton works really well OOTB. I highly recommend it if you want to get into Linux gaming. Like others have mentioned, ProtonDB is also a great resource for finding game specific information.

Build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qzwbFs

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Thanks for the link to your build, that’s super helpful. The beauty of Linux is that I have some wiggle room as far as distro, as long as the save data is backed up, I can switch it up as long as it supports the hardware.

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments