1y ago

Best distro for gaming in 2023?

I’ve used Arch, Pop_OS for gaming in the past, was looking for a distro that just works and doesn’t have any extra fluff or do anything nonstandard. (For example I don’t like that some programs will only update through the pop shop on pop os and not through the terminal.)

27 comments

Literally any of them.
All you do is install your drivers if using Nvidia, then just install your games, whether native packages, flatpak, Steam, Lutris, or whatever.
I just run Debian 12 and everything through Lutris or native. Used to run Steam through Flatpak which also worked perfectly, but don't play any games on Steam anymore.

Any of them.
Usually, we tend to pick a rolling or semi-rolling releases like Fedora to have newest drivers.

Nobara
- The good thing about Nobara is, should it ever be discontinued, it's easy to convert it to regular Fedora.

There's not a "best" distro for gaming, it very much depends on what games you play.
If you want to play latest releases, a rolling release is most probably the best option for you, I hear Suse Tumbleweed is very good if you don't like Arch.
If you want less "aggressive" updates but not exactly a stable, you can try Solus, it's a sort of middle-ground between the 2.
If your games are not the latest ones, a Debian-based distro is a very good option, rock-solid, updated enough and without any "extra fluff".
I personally use Linux MX XFCE and I'm very happy about it.
- With Mesa compatible GPUs it's objectively better to get Mesa updates ASAP and not wait for 6 or so months. The constant feature and performance improvements are especially crucial for gaming.
  
  That's if you use opensource drivers, good for AMD but not so much for NVIDIA.

I've been using arch with gnome for ages, it doesn't have anything non standard.. Lutris and steam 'just work'..
- OP may want to look at Garuda's gaming edition. It seems to have a lot of good gaming packages I usually end up installing myself and it's based in Arch Linux

flatpak update is all you need to do for terminal.
- I agree, I've always used sudo apt update, sudo apt upgrade and flatpak update on Pop OS and never used the pop shop.

Right now most likely Steam OS (which is an Arch derivate). But it's quite specific to the SteamDeck.
- SteamOS is a Debian derivative, and has existed long before the steam Deck was a thing.
  Nvm looks like they switched to Arch for v3.
  
  Technically correct, but the new version is so much better. It leaves the old one in the dust. I wish they'd make an official release for PC, though. I'd like to try it out.

I'm running Arch with dual Nvidia cards. It's nice to have a distro that actually updates it's Nvidia driver on a regular basis without having to manually do it and breaking things. Any rolling release should work just fine.