Hey everyone! I just made the jump to Linux Mint and dove right into gaming with Steam. I installed Metal Gear Solid 5, but I’m struggling with super slow performance—I can’t even get past the loading screen! I used to play this on Windows 11 at a smooth 120 FPS. I also tried Half-Life, which ran decent aside from the startup hiccup. I really need some tips or fixes. Here’s some info: I have an AMD ATI Radeon R7 200 series GPU and I’m using Linux Mint 22.1 (64-bit with Cinnamon). Anyone got any ideas?
8 Answers
Definitely ensure you’re using the latest Mesa version and the `radeonsi` driver. You can find some good info on driver features [here](https://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature/). Sometimes a minor update can really improve things!
What results do you get from running `glxinfo -B` and `vulkaninfo –summary`? You might need to enable GCN support for older generations in the ‘amdgpu’ driver. It could unlock some performance improvements!
Welcome to Linux! ProtonDB is a great resource to check if your game has any known issues and possible fixes. Sometimes, switching Proton versions can help too, so give that a try if you haven’t already.
While Mint is known for its stability, it might not be the best choice for gaming. Some of its components could be outdated compared to other distros like Bazzite. But don’t worry, it’s still totally playable for most people! Just ensure everything is updated and check that your settings are aligned with your Windows configurations.
I get that! I am planning on checking the graphics settings in-game to match what I had on Windows. Thanks!
Do you only have a dedicated GPU, or is there an integrated one too? And make sure you’ve installed the necessary graphics drivers. If you’re using an NVIDIA card, GE-Proton9-23 might help. Also, providing more details about how you installed Steam (whether via Flatpak or a package manager) could help us troubleshoot better.
Oh, thanks for that! I just remembered I’m using only the integrated ‘AMD Radeon R7 200 Series.’ I think I installed Steam using the built-in app installer, so that’s the package manager.
You might want to enable Vulkan support by switching from the ‘radeon’ driver to ‘amdgpu’. Check out this link for the specific kernel parameters to add, then reboot your system. After that, use the command `lspci -k` to confirm that the ‘amdgpu’ driver is loaded for your GPU. It can make a big difference for gaming performance!
Yep, this is definitely a crucial step! For some RX 400 series and older GPUs, you have to manually enable ‘amdgpu’. It’s not loaded by default for those models.
I looked it up, your R7 200 might be GCN 1 or 2, which is why this could be important. Make sure you check the driver compatibility!
If it’s running poorly, consider switching to a different distro that’s more optimized for gaming, like Nobara. But honestly, Mint should be fine for most situations if everything’s configured properly!
Check your graphics settings in the game. Make sure they’re set to the same or lower than what you had on Windows. Also, running `df -h` and `free -h` in the terminal can help verify your disk space and memory before playing. Don’t forget to wait for Vulkan to compile shaders after you change settings!
Yeah, I’ve looked around ProtonDB, but everyone seems to say MGSV runs fine. I’ll still try different Proton versions just in case.