I’ve recently enabled compatibility mode for running games on Linux, and it auto-selected “Proton Hotfix.” However, I keep seeing people recommend using Proton 8.0.3 or other versions. There seem to be quite a few Proton modes available, including official releases and custom forks. Can someone explain the differences between these Proton versions and share advice on which one is best to use? I’d love to understand how to choose the right Proton mode for better game stability and performance.
3 Answers
From my experience, using GE’s Proton builds tends to give better stability and performance. The developer adds tweaks and fixes that sometimes aren’t in the official releases yet, which helps especially with certain games that might have issues otherwise.
A good rule of thumb is to check when a recommendation was made. Often people suggest a certain Proton version based on what was current at the time. Generally, the latest stable Proton release is your best bet for most games. Proton Experimental is great for trying the newest fixes but can be less stable. Proton Hotfix builds are usually temporary quick patches for recent issues. Besides Valve’s official versions, there are community forks like GE-Proton, Sarek for older GPUs, as well as Kron4rek and Tkg, each adding different fixes or extras. Managing these versions is easier with GUI tools like ProtonUp-Qt or ProtonPlus.
I usually just stick with Proton Experimental until I hit a problem. Out of dozens of games, I only had to switch to something else a few times, usually GE-Proton, especially when cutscenes or specific features broke. Also, if you want an easy way to manage GE-Proton versions, tools like ProtonUp-Qt or ProtonPlus provide a nice graphical interface to do that.
