I’m new to Linux and currently dual booting with Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon while planning to ditch Windows once Windows 10 support ends. My setup includes a Ryzen 5 7600, 32GB DDR5, and a GTX 1650. I’ve noticed that games like Hogwart’s Legacy and Cyberpunk run noticeably slower on Linux, and CS2 in particular shows a significant input delay (about 80-100ms) when shooting. I’m wondering if this is due to issues with Mint’s X11 setup, my wireless mouse, or possibly drivers and shader compilation routines. Also, how exactly does Vulkan shader pre-compilation work for Steam games?
5 Answers
There’s some chatter that CS2 might be a bit broken on Linux sometimes, though not everyone faces this. While some of the lag might be due to your specific setup like X11 compositing or even issues with Steam’s integration tools (like the still-developing NTsync for Proton), it’s hard to say for sure. Ideally, once Valve rolls out more fixes, these issues should diminish.
From what I’ve seen, some of the input lag and FPS issues might be tied to your desktop environment and compositor settings, especially under Cinnamon on Mint. A lot of folks have had success by switching to KDE Plasma and turning off the compositor altogether. Give that a shot and see if disabling effects or trying a pure X11 session makes a difference.
Regarding the FPS dips you mentioned, sometimes the low starting FPS is all about Vulkan shader compilation. When you launch a game, shaders are compiled on the fly the first time they’re needed, which slows things down temporarily. Once they’re cached or pre-compiled by Steam (if you enable that option), the game should run smoother in subsequent sessions.
One thing to watch out for: make sure you’re not running CS2 with Proton if there’s a native Linux version available. Using the native version can help cut down on latency and performance problems. Also, check that you’re on the latest proprietary NVIDIA drivers, because the open-source ones might not be optimized for gaming, and that could be part of the issue.
If Mint is giving you a hard time with these issues, you might want to try a rolling release distro like EndeavourOS or even CachyOS. Stable distros like Mint, Ubuntu, or Debian often lag behind in updates that can affect gaming performance, especially for NVIDIA users.
