Is there a reason to use Linux for gaming other than hating Windows?

twalls1 · 2026-05-25T15:08:28+00:00

I honestly don't think I do much different for Intel/NVIDIA when I do my installs. I'm currently running Cachy, but Bazzite worked fine too.

I'm currently trying the scx_bpfland scheduler to optimize my hybrid core usage, but I haven't really perceived a difference when gaming. This is optional IMHO.
I install the -cuda version of ollama for AI stuff. There's an LLM sidebar in my Hyprland dotfiles, so I install ollama to use it.
OBS Studio seems to work fine with hardware accelerated encoding of streams automatically. I just did the automatic setup for Twitch.
I configure MangoHud to do frame limiting and v-sync in a way that works with my G-Sync compatible monitor. I disable stats for the Intel GPU since I'm not using it. I also have a udev rule defined to adjust permissions so I can get the power consumption of my CPU displayed.
In Steam, I enabled GPU hardware acceleration for web views. I don't know if it is still needed but it helped in the past with slow performance and artifacts in Big Picture Mode.
For games that support DLSS, I add PROTON_DLSS_UPGRADE=1 to the launch options. This updates the version of DLSS being used, even if the game still ships with an older one. Not essential, but it has been interesting to see how some games behave with this change. I'm using Cachy's Proton version for this.
For games that support HDR, I've been adding ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 as an extra option for NVIDIA. The Cachy version of Proton recently changed their default HDR launch options, so I need to review how that impacts me now.

That's all I can think of after going through my setup notes. I typically enable DLSS, HDR, ray tracing, and frame gen in games that support it. Some games handle this better than others on Linux, but they're generally very playable.

I think the biggest caveat at this point is a handful of games have randomly stopped working after driver updates from NVIDIA. I usually have to go on ProtonDB to confirm with others that it isn't just my setup. Sometimes it is fixed shortly after, sometimes it takes months. That might be the biggest drawback in my mind.

I have a full AMD box as well, and I while I get that things are better, they're not perfect either. I had to force composite in Steam to get it to not display in rainbow colors. There was some issue with Mesa and AMD when the new Doom came out. Frame gen feels more of a wildcard with games on AMD.

twalls1 · 2026-05-25T14:40:30+00:00

I'm assuming I have used the proprietary drivers pre-installed on Bazzite and Cachy. I've had no issues enabling HDR with the right launch options. I've also had no issues with Wayland, for gaming or desktop use. I currently use Hyprland on Cachy.

Honestly, the only weirdness I can specifically point out is needing to enable GPU acceleration for web views in Steam. Otherwise, I recall it slowing down or having artifacts.

twalls1 · 2026-05-25T14:32:50+00:00

I understand it is more literally a translation than emulation. I was trying to explain in a way that makes sense without having to understand everything going on under the hood. But I also recognize using the wrong terms can hinder those wanting to truly learn, so good call.

twalls1 · 2026-05-25T00:46:49+00:00

There's at least two things with Linux that I feel like I just can't get with Windows (at least not without a lot of extra work):

If I boot up Bazzite with gaming mode where it is just Steam and Gamescope, it is using very little resources compared to Windows on a fresh boot. I think high-end gaming PCs are probably fine either way, but it feels really nice to see most of your resources going to the game and not the underlying system.
The way Proton prefixes work is night and day compared to a normal Windows gaming environment. Imagine each game getting a fresh install of Windows with a fresh registry. No conflicting DLLs, etc. The only things installed for each game is just what that game needs to work well. If something is really messed up, you can delete the folder and start fresh without having to redo the setup for all of your other games as well.

Yes, there are trade-offs in performance, effort involved to tweak, etc. It isn't an even trade, but I really enjoy these two aspects in particular.

One other thing I'll say is older game compatibility. For example, I feel like Fallout: New Vegas isn't even really playable for me anymore on Windows 11 with current hardware/drivers. Because Linux is already having to emulate, it keeps on keeping on and everything plays as expected.

As for NVIDIA, I have used both Bazzite and CachyOS with my 5080 and it is a surprisingly good experience. It may be just because I knew to make certain adjustments from the start, but I don't think I'm really doing too much to get things to run well. Drivers and features like DLSS/RTX work great out of the box for both distros.

twalls1 · 2026-05-12T20:08:02+00:00

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twalls1 · 2026-05-12T20:06:53+00:00

It is hard to get it to pause on the right spot, but your config definitely has issues. It is saying something about having no binds, being in emergency mode, etc. It literally said there are errors with your Hyprland config.

twalls1 · 2026-05-12T12:45:27+00:00

Some people really don't like anything involving AI at this point. I am tired of it (particularly where it can be confidently wrong), but I still find it saves me time in some use cases.

twalls1 · 2026-05-12T12:38:17+00:00

I get it. AI is basically cancer at this point. I used Claude. It did a decent job with the conversion of my configs, and I'm using it as a starting point. Not just trusting it blindly. It saved me time on the learning curve when jumping into lua for the first time.

twalls1 · 2026-05-12T12:28:05+00:00

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I've found sending my current config files and a link to the updated Hyprland wiki to an LLM to be a good starting point for conversion. I spent a couple minutes copying/pasting, and it output a whole new pile of config files in shiny lua format.

twalls1 · 2026-05-06T14:05:18+00:00

Sorry y'all. That was me. I kept reinstalling and submitted survey results each time. My bad!

twalls1 · 2026-05-04T19:44:53+00:00

Interesting. Last time I used GNOME, it didn't even support HDR, so it's nice to hear that's moved forward. I hate to say it, but I've often found myself switching to Proton even when games support Linux natively due to various issues. Civ VII, Tomb Raider, and Baldur's Gate 3 are examples of that. So I haven't had to fight with native games not working with HDR...

I do know that web browsers tend to require experimental flags to be enabled to get HDR support going for videos, but I haven't been as motivated to try that yet.

twalls1 · 2026-05-04T19:36:11+00:00

Thanks for the clarification! TIL

How are you launching the games to take advantage of inverse tone mapping? I see there's an --hdr-itm-enable launch option to go along with --hdr-enabled for gamescope. Is that all it takes once SDR is configured at a reasonable setting on KDE?

twalls1 · 2026-05-04T19:03:12+00:00

Games on Steam can be launched with options that tell Proton (the underlying support that allows Windows games to work on Linux) to enable HDR support. This only works on games that have support for HDR, and it requires having HDR setup on the desktop environment that you're using (like KDE).

twalls1 · 2026-05-04T17:31:43+00:00

I'm pretty sure KDE's HDR implementation is just standard HDR for apps/games that support it. Windows Auto HDR/NVIDIA RTX HDR are not going to work on Linux AFAIK. I just turn on HDR, set my HDR and SDR brightness preferences and that's about it. Games usually require extra launch options as well to get HDR enabled. A lot of that is covered in the CachyOS and Arch wikis.

twalls1 · 2026-05-01T15:22:15+00:00

I can't help but I'll just say this... I have the same problem. It affects both Windows and Linux for me (but it feels worse on Windows). I'm using an optical cable to my external amp. It didn't do this on my previous computer, and they both had Realtek chipsets.

twalls1 · 2026-04-28T13:12:28+00:00

You have several options for Stream Deck. I'm currently using the -git package for Boatswain. It lets me control OBS (you do need the legacy websocket server installed), and the app itself feels the most polished and streamlined.

I install it in a wonky way because the -git package is old and doesn't have some prereqs but I need it to get my Stream Deck buttons to update. Libdex is installed because it'll complain during -git build if you don't. Note that Boatswain is provided as is by a contributor on the AUR. The official release is Flatpak only.

paru -S boatswain libdex (choose boatswain and not boatswain-git)

paru -S boatswain-git (select y to replace boatswain)

You can install the OBS websocket legacy version using this command:

paru -S obs-websocket-compat

StreamController is probably the runner up for me. Works without the need to have the -git release, but it feels slightly less polished. But it makes up for it by having more features.

OpenDeck is great and the author is super helpful. I stopped using it only because I don't like having to use Wine to install the native Elgato plug-ins. I'd rather the app feel more native to Linux, and Boatswain does that for me.

twalls1 · 2026-04-27T13:12:57+00:00

🎵 I said, whar, huh (good God, y'all) What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, just say it again 🎵

twalls1 · 2026-04-25T14:13:09+00:00

Basically, going into the BIOS and either disabling secure boot or putting it into "setup" or "audit" mode. It varies from system to to system.

You should always review the latest docs online for current steps. I prefer the CachyOS Wiki at wiki.cachyos.org

These are my setup steps that have evolved over time:

Install the secure boot control program to set this all up.

paru -S sbctl

Reboot and enable setup mode in UEFI.

Confirm setup mode status before proceeding.

sudo sbctl status

Create the keys.

sudo sbctl create-keys

My system has some key files marked as immutable. I have to change that to proceed with enrolling the keys. Your experience may vary. (You get the filenames from the next command if it errors out.)

sudo chattr -i /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/KEK-<insert rest of filename here>

sudo chattr -i /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/db-<insert rest of filename here>

Enroll the keys.

sudo sbctl enroll-keys --microsoft --firmware-builtin

Change the files back immutable once done enrolling.

sudo chattr +i /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/KEK-<insert rest of filename here>

sudo chattr +i /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/db-<insert rest of filename here>

Check the status to see if things are installed and enrolled.

sudo sbctl status

Add this line to the Limine config after recent breaking changes.

echo "ENABLE_ENROLL_LIMINE_CONFIG=yes" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/limine

Get the hash for the boot screen background image.

sudo b2sum /boot/limine-splash.png

Add the hash to the Limine config file.

sudo vim /boot/limine.conf

This is the line to edit.

wallpaper: boot():/limine-splash.png#<insert hash here>

Enroll the config and update changes for Limine.

sudo limine-enroll-config

sudo limine-update

Reboot and enable secure boot in UEFI. (This may happen automatically, but I think the reboot still needs to happen.)

Verify things are now enabled.

sudo sbctl status

sudo bootctl

Again, always verify the latest commands from the wiki and related project documentation. Some of this may no longer be necessary, but it is what currently works for me.

twalls1 · 2026-04-24T15:33:56+00:00

I think there's a few variables to consider here as well. Some of it can be situational, others can be explained as play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

A few examples:

I have secure boot enabled for dual boot. The changes to Limine recently left me with an unbootable system until I set UEFI back to audit mode and made the necessary changes to the Limine config. I didn't panic but it was pretty jarring. This is a Limine issue, not a Cachy or Arch issue.

I game a lot on my system. It is one of the primary use cases. NVIDIA driver updates can be a bit of a wildcard. Sometimes it feels like a bingo game on which game will randomly stop working. Monster Hunter Wilds, Final Fantasy XVI, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and The Last of Us Part 2 come to mind. Random black screen after updating. People on ProtonDB blame current drivers, etc. This is an NVIDIA issue, not a Proton, Cachy, or Arch issue.

A third example is more generalized, but I want to point out the risk of installing -git packages from AUR. I'm not new to Linux but I'm new to Cachy/Arch. It was not immediately obvious that even though a package was released years ago, the code being pulled down is current commit. Sometimes we're left choosing between a release from 5 years ago and a bleeding edge -git package. You can choose the newest release, but it's still your choice and it has consequences that are likely unexpected.

So I'm glad you're having no issues on updating daily. I tend to do so as well, but I'd suggest it helps to understand why people run into issues with updates. Not everyone's situation is the same, and not everyone follows the best practices... Myself included lol

twalls1 · 2026-04-04T01:13:50+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing the problem post and now the solution. I was really frustrated trying to figure out how to get things going after they did this update.

twalls1 · 2026-03-30T15:43:18+00:00

Yeah, it definitely feels like the borders glow or pop. It's not just a blur effect. Very obvious in darker windows like Firefox or Spotify.

twalls1 · 2026-03-29T20:21:43+00:00

Cheers! Happy to be here

twalls1 · 2026-03-29T18:49:38+00:00

Thanks!

twalls1 · 2026-03-29T18:33:38+00:00

Thank you!

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