Linux for gaming?
Linux for gaming?
It's unusual, but your Intel CPU and NVIDIA GPU tend to stay cooler compared to Windows performance.
I was interested in running Fedora36 with an i5-12600 and RTX2060S. My performance was poor on Linux, especially during colder months. I checked it in both winter and summer to confirm my observations. Before giving up, I tested it on all the same hardware. People suggested Xorg’s resource-heavy design as a reason for the slowdown, which made sense. In hindsight, he might manage a bit better with Wayland and lighter setups. I still recommend trying Linux Mint, Fedora, or Manjaro in virtual machines before committing. Some folks have criticized the approach, but my experience was worse. A lot of people are recommending Nobara, but beyond package managers, Linux is packed with options. You can easily adapt a Fedora install to Nobara using flatpaks, some proprietary repos, and Nvidia drivers—it simplifies things.
I can simply set up emulators to turn it into a gaming console, but I’m not too fond of playing Windows titles there. I already have Windows installed on my second drive, so if I want to play Windows games, I’d prefer to boot from that instead. I’m not sure why I’d choose Windows over Linux in these situations. Emulating the PS2, switching systems, or running open-source games are all different experiences. They feel quite similar whether you’re using Windows or Linux, and I’d usually go with Linux whenever it’s a better option.
Building on @wasab's comments about emulators, many Nintendo, Sega, and PS2 titles run smoother on Linux than on Windows. Since most of these games were built for Linux-based versions or modifications, performance improves significantly. Another advantage is on Lutris you can easily drag and drop your game ROM without needing extra setup steps that are common with Windows.