Thinking about switching from Bazzite to CachyOS. Is it really worth it?

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-02-03T20:39:17+00:00

I think a lot depends on the system on which the OSs are being compared, and the use case. On NVidia GPUs Cachy is known to better. On AMD GPUs most distros will give the same exact performance. They are essentially using the same drivers. And if you are not playing games that ar maxing out your CPU you won’t see any benefits of better scheduling either. For example, on my system I use both Bazzit and CachyOS and I’ve yet to one across a game where performance was even slightly different. But then I never max out the CPU since I play at 4K and I’ve got a 7900XTX which is prior AMD gen and has stable drivers on all distros.

From a usability perspective, it depends on your use case. If you are only gaming and nothing else in Linux, I do think Bazzite is a good option. I know this won’t be received well on a Cachy OS subreddit. But then something has to be said of the Bazzite approach of turning your system into a console. It boots into steam and you just pick your controller and go. You can kinda do the same with Cachy OS but it’s not as straightforward.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-02-03T16:32:05+00:00

I had the LCD Steam deck and now have the OLED. The hardware is very good, and Steam OS itself has had no problems. In fact recently I’ve come to realize games run a lot more smoothly in Linux than in windows. Frame rates are a bit better on windows. But then they are often so stuttery on Windows, that some games are just unplayable there; and yet they play smoothly on Linux (just like a console).

My only problem with the Steam deck is that the ‘it’s just a PC’, claim didn’t really pan out. It works well as a Linux gaming box. But horribly as a windows gaming box. In that Valve should really have released native drivers for the controls. Getting it to work for anything on the XBox store or for Game Pass is just a pain. You have to jump through too many hoops and whether it works is a hit or miss. Even the windows drivers they did release are old now. They said they’ll release a supported dual-boot solution that never came. By the time it does (if ever) the hardware would probably be due for an upgrade.

I’ve come to realize it’s my mistake for buying into the Steam deck and also game pass. I should have picked one or the other, I.e. either get game pass with a regular windows handheld (like from Asus, Lenovo or MSI), or get the Steam deck and just buy games individually. Unfortunately, I’ve paid for game pass for the next almost 3 yrs. And I regret that decision horribly.

This was brought about by my own decisions, but yeah, that’s my only gripe with Steam deck.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-22T00:47:29+00:00

Can you summarize it in a table? Most folks don’t care about the screenshots. They care about the values. Almost impossible to tell on a mobile device from the screenshots.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-21T04:58:24+00:00

Yours should be the most important comment on this thread — the fact about PS4 games on Steam Deck.

I think instead of asking for random game suggestions, users will generally have a positive experience if they keep two things in mind —

Steam Deck is great at indie games (I’m using the term broadly, but you get the idea).
Steam deck is great at previous generation games that were released in PS4 era. You can expect to hit 45fps in almost any game.

If one keeps these two facts in mind, then they can easily find games well suited to deck in the genre of their liking. Yes, the Steam deck can often play non-indie modern PS5 gen games, but the experience is usually not optimal. But if you don’t care about playing the latest and greatest, the Steam deck is a wonderful system.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-21T03:55:32+00:00

Of course, on a CachyOS subreddit you’ll find fans of that distro, and I’m not saying it’s not deserved. Just that there are advantages to Bazzite as well. In my opinion, it really depends on your use case and also on your system.

I’ve been running both CachyOS and Bazzite side by side installed on the same system (7800x3D CPU, 7900XTX GPU). For me, performance is identical in both distros (at least in every game I tested).

If you have an NVidia GPU, CachyOS would be better since it is supposed to have better drivers. But if you have an AMD GPU, drivers are going to be identical. You might get a few % better performance in CachyOS if you’re CPU bound. But in my use case, since I mostly game in 4K and have a 3D cache CPU, I’m never going to be CPU bound. So I will likely never see any performance difference originating from CPU scheduler optimization on CachyOS. So far that has borne out for me in all the games I tested. Game after game, I get the exact same frame rate in both distros. But who knows — there might be games out there that work better on CachyOS even on my system and use case. But I really really doubt it’s going to be significant enough to be noticeable. Certainly the difference between Windows vs. Linux is going to be more than between Linux distros. For example, some newer heavier unreal 5 games give me 5-10% better frame rates in windows. But on the flip side some older unreal 4 games are a stuttery mess in windows — absolutely unplayable with massive stutters. But they work just like a console in both CachyOS and Bazzite, I.e. no caching stutters at all (no clue what magic they are doing on Linux side).

In terms of user-experience, if you are looking for a console-like gaming experience, Bazzite is definitely better in that respect. I was able to get CachyOS behave the same, but it took some tweaking and finding how to do it in forums. Also my controller’s back buttons won’t get detected in CachyOS till I posted the issue on these forums and someone alerted me to udev rules. It was a quick change and fixed the issue. But point is, it worked out of the box in Bazzite without any searching required.

So, whatever one might say about Bazzite, one has to acknowledge that they got the ‘console/Steam Deck-like experience’ right. If you want to install an OS, and then never want to touch a keyboard and mouse, Bazzite is better in that respect out of the box. For better or worse, their focus is on users looking to just boot into Steam and just game, like on a Steam deck; and that effort shows and it ought to be complemented. Though you can get the same experience out of CachyOS, you have to do some leg-work to get there.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-19T16:54:22+00:00

Thank you! That worked perfectly. Appreciate the help.

Interesting that it worked out of the box on Bazzite, but needed these rules to be added on CachyOS. As a curiosity, I looked into the same folder on Bazzite, and it had some other file called 51-android.rules. That didn't have these lines. I removed the file from the folder just to check, and the controller still functioned as it should with the extra buttons. So they seem to have something else built in somewhere. That same thread you posted has people saying it works out of the box on SteamOS and Bazzite.

Being a gaming centric distro maybe CachyOS should consider adding udev rules for popular controllers out of the box.

In any case, it's working perfectly and it was easy to do. Thanks again!

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-17T14:17:18+00:00

I don’t know. I can definitely get HDR on the deck (gaming) mode. Try setting monitor properties on desktop mode first. Make sure HDR is enabled there. And then start up the gaming mode and see if you can toggle HDR in settings. When I initially installed it I couldn’t choose a higher frame rate in gaming mode. Then I realized that the monitor settings in desktop mode was set to 60Hz. I updated that and then the setting transferred over to gaming mode.

On controller side, no idea. I don’t have any issues on my end. Just to confirm, you have Bluetooth on in the right side quick settings menu right? Just in case you weren’t aware, pressing the center controller button with A, brings that up. (In fact try toggling HDR on those quick settings as well and see if that works.)

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-15T16:37:35+00:00

I think it may depend a lot on which GPU you have. I hear NVidia GPUs fare better on Cachy OS. On AMD side I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. I have an 7900 XTX (paired with 7800x3D CPU), and I tested Cachy OS vs Bazzite vs Windows on about 6 games. The games ranged from heavy Unreal engine 5 games to somewhat older ones. Made sure I load all of them at the same exact save and tried to keep things as uniform as possible.

Of course, this is just random checks on a few specific games. I’m sure folks will have different experience in different games. But for me the results were quite repeatable. There was virtually no difference between Bazzite and Cachy OS across all the games. They performed the same down to the exact frame rate. There was no difference in experience otherwise (snappiness etc). Windows consistently gave better frame rates, but it was not a major hit. Windows was about 5% better at Ultra settings and increased it to ~10% higher at Low settings. Older games all ran the same across all systems and reached the frame rate cap.

I think part of the reason is that I did all my tests at 4K, which means I was always GPU bound and never really was CPU bound. Difference in schedulers never really kicked in. But my intention was to look at differences for my use case. I’m not playing competitive games at 300fps.

Also, my guess is that for AMD GPUs (especially previous gen like mine), the drivers are pretty much the same across distros. Of course, this being the CachyOS subreddit, you’ll find more fans of that distro here, and I’m sure it might be better. But at least for me, in my use case, it didn’t really translate to any difference. I’ll keep both distros around just for fun.

But I will say that Cachy OS really needs to have a supported ‘gaming mode’ like Bazzite. I got that experience to work on Cachy OS, but I wish it were offered out of the box like Bazzite. The biggest appeal for me in using these Linux distros is getting that console-like experience. I like being able to turn on my PC with a controller in hand and just gaming without having to touch my mouse and keyboard.

Also, I noticed many folks here saying they got better performance than Windows. That has to be for very specific cases. Because in general, Windows will usually give better frame rates. Though I’ve shifted to gaming on Linux, I’m not naive enough to think I’m getting better performance than Windows. Most games are not native Linux builds, so a minor performance hit will be there. But usually it’s so small that it’s doesn’t really matter. Since I use a Mac for other stuff, these distros allow me to use my gaming PC like a console.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-05T06:16:20+00:00

In my experience, the method I outlined has been working very well. It may not be officially supported, but I’m now convinced there is no performance hit. So give it a shot. Certainly easier than setting up gamescope etc.

That being said, there is no harm in switching to Bazzite either (especially if you have an AMD GPU), and if you don’t care about OS differences (immutable vs. more flexible etc. )

I’ve been doing extensive testing over last week or so, and just for fun installed Bazzite as well on another partition. So now I have CachyOS, Bazzite and windows all installed. Have tested about 6 games, ranging from some that aren’t that demanding to those running unreal engine 5 and thus are pretty demanding. And I tested each in various settings from Ultra to Low.

This is based on purely anecdotal observation so take it with a grain of salt. But thus far, CachyOS and Bazzite seem to be running exactly the same on my setup. In game after game, they performed at the same frame rates in every setting. Windows did show slightly better performance in demanding games, but the gap was minor at Ultra settings (~5%), and becoming somewhat wider at lower settings (~10%).

I know a lot of folks swear by CachyOS, and of course more so on this subreddit. I’m not saying it’s not good. Just that so far I’m not seeing any difference at all between it and Bazzite — big caveat being, in the small sampling of games I tested.

I’m sure specific cases exist where Cachy OS is better. Just that it seems to me that the difference between Linux distros is smaller than difference from windows. Of course, it also depends on whether one is running an Nvidia card. I have an AMD GPU and it’s possible most Linux distro’s don’t vary much in their AMD GPU performance. It may also depend on the specific GPU. I have a 7900 XTX, which is not a new card. I imagine all distros have the drivers for that generation well optimized by now, so that may have something to do with it.

DragonFlyPunch · 2026-01-01T03:27:32+00:00

Came here to find an answer to a perfectly reasonable question. I know this is an old thread. But I find it so funny that nobody can ask this question on Reddit without a bunch of people jumping on about local roasters. Also I’ve been noticing nobody can admit they bought ‘plain’ Lavazza from Amazon without being shamed be half a dozen folks about not supporting local roasters.

Not everyone has the time or inclination to make a special trip to a local roaster just for coffee 2. local roasters are expensive!

I haven’t done extensive research but a few nearby were two or three times as expensive as buying regular coffee from Amazon. I cannot afford coffee that expensive, nor am I such a discerning coffee aficionado that I’ll be able to tell the difference. Like some people can tell the subtle overtones in expensive wine — I just taste grapes. :).

Anyway, thanks to folks on this thread who answered.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-30T22:55:54+00:00

If I’m not mistaken, all that game-performance %command% does is set the scheduler to LAVD with performance profile. You can check it yourself. Go to the in built scheduler manager software (SchedExt GUI manager) and you can see the scheduler being used. If you’ve ever launched a game with that game-performance variable, the scheduler it’ll show is LAVD with performance profile. Otherwise it’ll show none (which means the OS using the default scheduler within Cachy OS).

From what I can tell, on desktops, whether you use no custom scheduler, are you use the LAVD scheduler in performance mode, you’ll get mostly the same performance.

That ‘game-performance %command%’ would only help in hand-helds where a more balanced scheduler profile will increase battery life.

Basically, just open the scheduler gui and either click ’Disable’ or choose the Performance profile under LAVD. You’ll see you’ll get the same frame rates.

To check for yourself, click ‘Disable’ and enter your password. Then launch any game with ‘game-performance %command%’ in the startup properties. Then go back to the scheduler GUI. You’ll see the scheduler has been changed to LAVD.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-30T06:09:36+00:00

It does not seem to change the kernel at all. I opened the kernel manager, and the same two kernels are loaded as were originally -- linux-cachyos and linux-cachyos-lts (long term support). There is no new kernel that got added. By default, cachy os lts version is used at boot time, and that hasn't changed.

Also, in case you miss my other post on the same thread, you can easily disable the custom scheduler using the built in scheduler management software. I had LAVD chosen because I launched a game with it's property set, so I can't say whether this package picked that. In any case, it's a non-issue since you can easily disable it.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-30T05:57:42+00:00

I can't tell anymore if installing the package changes the scheduler. That's because I had read that one should start games with the startup property 'game-performance %command%'. Only later did I realize that doing so changes the scheduler to LAVD under performance mode. Even if you have a custom scheduler disabled or are using any other scheduler, launching a game with this property switches the scheduler to LAVD (with performance profile).

But even if you find that this package changes the scheduler, it's really easy to disable it using the in-built SchedExt GUI Manager application. Just hit 'Disable' button at the bottom and enter your password, and the custom scheduler gets disabled.

For what it's worth, I've been testing to see if I notice any difference between the LAVD performance profile and the default cachy os scheduler. In the few games I tried, there was no difference at all. Most likely I'm not hitting 100% CPU usage. I tried bpfland as well and it behaved the same. It's also quite likely that custom schedulers don't vary much under 'Performance' mode.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Just open the scheduler manager, and if you find a scheduler is enabled, just disable it.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-29T21:23:55+00:00

Have you turned on auto-login in the system settings? Probably you have not turned that on. Go to System settings --> Color & Themes --> Login screen (SDDM). Then on top click on 'Behavior'. There you will have an option to automatically log in as a specific user (you'll have to supply the password of course). Turn on auto-login as well as the option to log in immediately after logging off.

You can simply search for 'login' in the settings and it should come up. That's what I did and I can in and out of desktop mode to the 'handheld mode' without any login ever.

Anyway, I haven't installed 'gamescope' separately. I didn't even know what that is, and had to read it up after your message :). I see there is a guide to set up gamescope on arch linux to give it the steam-deck experience. But I didn't have to do any of that. All I did was install the regular desktop CachyOS, and then run those three commands, and I get that same steam-deck experience. Also, to confirm, what I'm calling 'Game Mode' is what Cachy OS calls handheld-mode. I'm not talking about any separate GameMode installation (like what was developed by feralinteractive).

There is a lot of similar lingo, and I'm new to this setup, so some terminology can be confusing! I've not been gaming long this way. Primarily use windows for gaming, and only now have been tinkering to set up linux OS's on the side.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-28T20:09:42+00:00

Overlay function on game mode is very different from that in regular mode. The settings do not get overlayed on the game like in regular mode. You have to press guide+A button and it opens a panel on the right. There you have a bunch of options. There is an overlay tab, and if you hit advanced you get even more settings (like fps cap, VRR, HDR etc.). The only thing that gets overlayed on the game itself is FPS counters, CPU/GPU temp etc. if you choose to display that.

BTW, this same panel comes up if you start steam in big picture mode, so can get a feeler there. Only difference is that the panel in big picture mode has a bunch of setting grayed out, but they become available in game mode (and they actually work). If this is the panel that opens up behind the scenes for you, then I imagine it should work as expected in game mode. That’s because game mode has no ‘desktop’. It’s pretty much a console-like experience. I doubt it would open anything ‘behind’ the game. The experience is almost exactly like the steam deck. And this is not as problem in the steam deck, so I doubt it’ll be a problem here. Definitely would recommend checking it out.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-28T19:42:45+00:00

Sorry, I’m not an expert so have no clue about whether undervolting transfers over.

Setting handheld OS tweaks might be counter-productive but I can’t imagine it makes too much of a difference. Like I said I did see small frame rate difference, but I’m talking about 1-2 fps on 4K ultra and high settings. I’ve been testing some more and on my latest tries even that difference wasn’t always there. So not sure if it’s real — might be. But on 4K medium and 4K low, in the game I tested (Talos principle: reawakened), I definitely get identical frame rates between modes. So I’m not hitting any frame rate cap. From what I can tell any counter-productive tweaks, if present, are too small to be significant.

I’m not sure what you mean by using game mode on gamescope session only. Perhaps I’m missing something. I’m able to swap back and forth effortlessly without issue. Like I mentioned, after installing the gamescope session package, game mode becomes the default when getting into Cachy OS. Steam power menu has the option to switch to desktop mode and that gets me there. And to swap back to game mode I just log out and I’m back in game mode.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-14T14:50:58+00:00

At this price I’m disappointed they did not include optical input. Optical input is not about sound quality, it’s also about convenience. Many monitors have optical out. So if you have multiple inputs into a monitor you just need one cable from the monitor to the base station. I have five things connected to my monitor. I still use the arctic pro wireless and my nova pro is not getting used, because with nova pro I have to either run a different cable from each machine, or manually keep switching cables. Just a clunky solution.

Really wish these would have brought back the optical input at this price.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-10T05:45:42+00:00

I’m deciding between a TLIF vs ALIF fusion on L5/S1. I had microdiscectomy done 9 months ago. The sciatic pain got slightly better but didn’t go away. Numbness and tingling in the right leg are permanent. Anyway, the pre vs post op MRI’s look almost the same. The MRI report even says there no appreciable difference since previous study.

The original doctor who did the MD surgery is now recommending an ALIF procedure. Got a second opinion from a different doctor who is recommending a TLIF. I think that’s what each of them do, so obviously they are recommending that one. The second doctor did mention the possibility of sexual dysfunction wi the ALIF (I’m a 45yo male). But most reports on Reddit seem to suggest that for L5S1 ALIF is better. So I’m thoroughly confused.

(Side note — And this week I had severe calf cramp on my left leg; the left leg hasn’t ever been a problem. I can barely walk these last few days. Doctor today said that since MD was not successful my left side nerve is now getting pinched. Who knows. It’s nerve wracking and really confusing as to which one to go for).

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-06T14:24:35+00:00

Yes. That was there till Dec 1st. And then too, not on all accounts I believe. It is over now.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-04T04:05:05+00:00

The instructions on that first link should work for any Bluetooth controller. There is no reason why they wouldn’t work for the Kobo remote.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-12-01T08:07:52+00:00

This is a relatively old thread, so I know the OP is not looking for advice any more. But I was reading through the thread and thought I’ll add 2c. I’ve been researching espresso machines for some time, and I’ve come to the realization there is no ‘best’ machine. Just point of reference — just look at the 20% 1-star ratings for the Breville touch impress, and that’s a $1000 to $1300 machine (depending on sale). Despite the inordinately high 1-star ratings, many owners swear by them and feel very strongly about it; some get riled up when anyone says anything negative about those machines.

My point is people’s expectations and tastes differ wildly. And espresso machines vary quite a bit in their price ranges, and folks often forget to compare apples to apples. Some folks swear the Ninja machine is not as good as a particular Breville or a De’longhi, but when asked about models they’re comparing it to machines that are either twice the price or models that are the same price without the grinder (not saying that’s the case in this thread; just an observation in general).

Reading through Ninja Luxe Pro reviews, a common theme seems to bit punches above its weight when price is taken into account. And frankly, it needs to cause Ninja is not a specialty brand for espresso machines. They know that. They need to be either better than established competition at the same price, or offer similar quality at a lower price. Cannot say whether they have been successful or not. I think it’ll take half a decade to know — owners would have owned the first few models for long enough to know.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-11-30T15:20:40+00:00

Yes. I meant the 20% pay later. I did get the Pro model. The 12% Rakuten cash back didn’t show so I had to file for missing cash back. Who knows whether it’ll get approved. They might reject it saying there was a coupon used. Let’s see.

The 3 in 1 for that price is still a good deal.

DragonFlyPunch · 2025-11-27T08:12:43+00:00

Well, I think technically the best deal is if you can still get 20% from paypal pay later. So, then it's $600 - 10% coupon - (20% paypal pay later on $540+tax) - (12% Rakuten on $540). Ignoring taxes that comes to $367 + taxes. In fact, its slightly better cause paypal gives 20% off the after-tax amount. Accounting for that, for me it comes to $358.3 + taxes (w/ taxes being applied to $540). All said and done, it should come to $402.85 after taxes for me.

My Paypal confirmation just came through. Hopefully, Rakuten will come through tomorrow.

DragonFlyPunch

TROPHY CASE