I play a lot of games over steam, and I am coming from windows.
CachyOS or Bazzite if you play games
SteamOS if you ONLY play games…and replace your windows for general stuff with Linux Mint
Look at zorinOS or Mint. Those are good starting points
Thank you
Always remember, distrohopping is allowed. Your first distribution doesn’t have to stray with you forever. It can, but doesn’t have to. If you hear about a cool new distro, feel free to try it out.
Worth mentioning that if you’re on AMD, you’re pretty much open for choice. If you have nVidia, make sure the OS you go with calls out nVidia support as a feature. Even then, your specific config may require that you try out a couple before finding the right fit.
I personally tried Bazzite and had a rough experience with performance and haven’t had issues on EndeavorOS, but have read reports from other nVidia users that had the opposite experience. All to say, your mileage may vary, and don’t give up right away if the first one doesn’t feel right.
Sample size of one here - I am on EndeavourOS and have an Nvidia card. I had issues with KDE and with Cinnamon (weird UI hiccups). Switched over to Hyprland and haven’t had those issues since (I did have a TON of issues when Hyprland updated from .52 to .53) and also don’t recommend Hyprland setup for a new user, but just wanted to share my experience here.
I also tried Niri but had issues getting steam games to launch - I plan to revisit it in a year or so to see if anything changes. I found videos/reviews where some folks were saying they could game with no problem so it might be a skill issue on my part.
The install experience with EOS was totally painless and I’ll likely continue to use it on future PC builds (if ram prices ever come down). Looking forward to switching everything to AMD one day.
I installed Fedora on my wife’s PC and she hasn’t had any issues at all (her build is totally AMD). I hate to say it but the answer is likely “it depends” based on how you will use your machine and what hardware you’ve got). Might be easiest to go with Zorin or Mint as mentioned in one of the top comments.
If you have nVidia, make sure the OS you go with calls out nVidia support as a feature.
That makes the setup easier, but the capacity of making it work or not doesn’t actually change.
I’d say not only pick an OS that explicitly supports it, but make sure to test first as a live-image without installing and overwriting the OS that is already there working.
I wish there was an easy way to test this, but I got two weeks into my setup before I noticed performance issues because it was only affecting some of my games. This is still a good idea, just not a guarantee.
I switched to Bazzite on my gaming rig a month ago and felt great. I managed to install and mod Skyrim effortlessly and yesterday I installed Tarkov and SPT with no problem whatsoever. Highly recommend.
But check if your favorite games are compatible, mainly the multiplayer ones: Tarkov can only be single player PvE, GTA is story mode only and forget about Destiny 2. Not a problem for me, plenty of alternatives, but you should check for yourself.
Seconding bazzite here. If you want to “get to know Linux” you might want to consider something else, but if you just want a well-running system with minimal use of the command line, Bazzite is an amazing option. I’ve been using it since August last year, and have only had to use the command line once in that time. Which isn’t a problem for me, but it may be a bit daunting for others (and that is totally fine!).
I’ll throw my vote in for Bazzite. It’s best if you want to use your PC instead of tinkering with Linux. Plus it’s quite gaming focused so Steam etc will work out of the box, although each game’s compatibility will vary. Check protondb.com for compatibility reports on Steam games.
Bazzite scared me when it chose not to boot one day. I had to do some sort of command and got it working again (saved the details to my system build notes). I can’t have stuff breaking on me so I was concerned. I haven’t had an issue since, so I’m pretty stoked on Bazzite now. I will say, I couldn’t get Steam Play working (the thing that let’s you play games remotely on a tablet or phone or whatever, Steam itself works fine). I fixed the issue with Sunlight/Moonlight which does the sane thing but did it with less lag, picture degradation. Personally, I suggest you hold out on choosing and load a few different distros on USB sticks to try. I recently built a PC for a family member and did some distrohopping to find the right OS for them.
I don’t think you can install Linux on a cat. Please do not the cat
PLEASE DO NOT THE CAT
Doesn’t matter. You can install it on any other hardware because Linux includes ‘cat’ already. You will not need the old one anymore.
Can’tbelieve no one’s said this yet, but first you should check protondb.com for all the games you play a lot. It will show you how well they work in Linux. The biggest issue are competitive/esports titles because of their anticheat systems. Most other games run fine out of the box, but some run better with some tweaking.
This! Some games won’t work with all the tinkering in the world so ProtonDB is a Linux gamer’s best friend
I recommend Mint for a beginner friendly stepping stone. Works right out of the box and is really easy to jump to from windows.
My experience is that Linux Mint is the closest we have to a “it just works”-distro that is also decently up to date. Try that first.
I was in the same situation a few months ago. I wanted to try Linux but had no real experience with it. To experiment safely, I built a computer from old parts and installed Linux Mint. I then swapped it with my Windows machine and committed to using Mint exclusively for a month. That hands-on approach helped far more than reading guides. I now use Mint on my primary system.
Here is what I learned along the way. Mint has excellent documentation because it is one of the most popular Linux distributions. When I ran into problems, I could generally find reliable answers through the official forums, community wikis, or by asking ChatGPT for step-by-step instructions. So far, there has not been a single issue I could not eventually fix with some experimentation.
If you are coming from Windows and want to game, there are several points worth knowing upfront:
1. Steam on Linux is straightforward
Steam has a native Linux client. Most Windows games work through Proton, which Steam handles automatically. For many titles, you simply install the game and press play. Performance can be very close to Windows.
2. Expect some trial and error
Although many games work out of the box, some require you to switch Proton versions or install small compatibility tools. It is usually not difficult, but it is different enough from Windows that patience helps.
3. Modding takes more effort
My most recent challenge involved getting game mods working. Tools like Proton, Wine, and mod installers sometimes interact in unexpected ways. It took me a few hours of reading and experimenting, but I eventually got everything running. Once you understand where games store their files and how Proton prefixes work, modding becomes much more manageable.
4. Linux teaches you how your system works
If you are willing to tinker, Linux rewards you. You learn how your files are organized, how applications install dependencies, and how to fix problems yourself. That knowledge makes troubleshooting less intimidating over time.
5. You can always dual-boot
If you are nervous about switching completely, you can dual-boot Windows and Mint. That way you can learn Linux without losing access to anything critical.
If you are starting from zero, the biggest advantage is the size and friendliness of the Linux Mint community. You do not have to figure everything out alone. With a bit of persistence, you can build a fully functional gaming setup that performs well and is easier to maintain than you might expect.
Not who you were replying to, but thanks for this. I’m hoping to give Linux a go this year, on an old laptop that isn’t needed anymore, and this makes me feel more confident about it!
Great guide!
I would add that searching for a “SteamDeck” guide for a mod set tends to find a more complete guide for running that mod on Linux.
It looks like you found a cat instead. Please pet the cat.
Use Fedora. Or not, I’m not your parent.
After distro hopping for decades, I’ve ended up just running Mint for almost all desktop use cases. This includes gaming via steam.
I play a lot of games over steam
If my main concern is playing game with Steam, most mainstream Linux OSes should be fine. If I have to pick one… Linux Mint is very beginner-friendly, and I’ve heard great things about Bazzite too. SteamOS works flawlessly with Steam out of the box (owns Steam Deck, can verify), but I don’t know how easy it is to set up by yourself
If you happen to also like non-Steam games: a lot of them can be added as a custom application/game via your Steam Library, which does most of the heavy-lifting: you only have to specify which compatibility layer to use & sometimes do keymapping. Setting up
wineon its own is not for the faint-heartedI personally use Arch because AUR (a user-uploaded repository, a lot of popular Linux OSes have their own versions) makes it easy to play a lot of FOSS games… but I can’t recommend Arch Linux for beginners
Bazzite, Linux Mint, CachyOS
Try each of them out, see what you mesh best with, join their respective discord/matrix for further help and details 👍
I’d love to help you, but unfortunately I can’t think of a single distro that would run on a cat.
Well, I do know that for terminal emulators, KiTTY works pretty well :-)
Not even CATchyOS?
They only run Miaowcrosoft products.
The beauty of asking a linux advice from linux nerds is that you will get as many different advices as there are comments and then will have to do your own research anyway.
