Hey everyone, I recently got a new Mac and noticed how limited the game support is on macOS. I’m considering building or buying a new gaming PC at home and thinking about installing Linux instead of Windows as the operating system. Since I use Linux at work, I’m somewhat familiar but have never really gamed on it. My main questions are: 1) Can games actually run better on the same hardware if I switch to Linux? 2) Will choosing Linux limit my game selection compared to Windows, especially for popular Steam games? Would love to hear what people have experienced!
4 Answers
If you’re building a PC and planning to run Linux, definitely research each component’s Linux compatibility first. Things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound, or Ethernet can sometimes cause headaches if the drivers aren’t great, even though CPUs and drives usually work fine. As for graphics cards, AMD GPUs tend to give you less trouble and better performance on Linux compared to Nvidia, which can be finicky. So an AMD build might be your best bet for smooth sailing on Linux gaming.
Regarding game compatibility: Don’t worry too much about whether a game has native Linux support. Thanks to Proton, you can run a huge chunk of Windows-only Steam games on Linux pretty seamlessly. Just enable Proton in Steam and you’ll unlock a lot more titles. It’s especially good for single-player and indie games. Competitive multiplayer games can be hit-or-miss because of anti-cheat restrictions. Also, many Macs have AMD hardware which tends to be well supported under Linux, so if you go that route, you’ll likely have a smoother experience.
Honestly, just give it a shot since Linux is free! Many older DirectX 9 games run better or about the same on Linux, and Vulkan-based games might also see slight improvements. But it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Also, switching back to Windows isn’t too hard if you decide you want to. You can install Linux alongside Windows or replace it and then reinstall Windows later if needed — usually you just need a USB installer for Windows these days, no CD required.
Great to hear it’s pretty flexible! I was worried switching back might be a huge hassle, so that’s reassuring.
From what I’ve seen, the performance difference between Linux and Windows for gaming usually isn’t huge—maybe around plus or minus 10%. It really depends on the game and your hardware setup. For AMD GPUs, Linux often performs as well or sometimes a bit better than Windows, but Nvidia cards can have some quirks and sometimes worse performance. Also, many Windows games run fine on Linux thanks to Steam’s Proton compatibility layer, which has come a long way. A word of caution though: some multiplayer games with strict anti-cheat systems won’t work on Linux because those anti-cheats rely on kernel-level access that Linux doesn’t support.
Thanks a lot, that really clears things up! I’ll definitely check out ProtonDB and see what games are supported before diving in.
That’s super helpful, especially about the Mac AMD hardware angle. I’m glad there’s a decent workaround for running Windows games too.