I game on Linux every week. I switch between a desk PC, a gaming laptop, and a Steam Deck docked to my TV. I’ve had smooth runs. I’ve had weird crashes. I’ve yelled at my screen. So here’s my real take on what works best, and why I stuck with what I did.
If you’d like the full, benchmark-heavy write-up (with extra screenshots), check out the complete hands-on article over on Desktop Linux Reviews.
Independent testing backs up what I’ve seen in person—a recent benchmark roundup from Tom's Hardware found that gaming-focused distros such as Nobara and Pop!_OS can even outpace Windows 11 in raw FPS across a stack of popular titles.
You know what? It’s not just one answer. It’s a few, depending on your setup and mood.
My Gear (so you know where I’m coming from)
- Desktop: Ryzen 5 5600, AMD RX 6800 XT, 32 GB RAM, 1440p monitor
- Laptop: Intel i7 with RTX 3060 (that tricky NVIDIA Optimus thing), 1080p
- Steam Deck: 512 GB model, docked to a 4K TV
Tools I keep installed: Steam, Proton-GE (community Proton build), Lutris, Heroic (for Epic/GOG), MangoHud (FPS overlay), and Feral Gamemode. That sounds nerdy, but it’s simple once it’s set.
Quick Picks (the honest, straight-to-it version)
- Best “it just works” on a PC: Nobara
- Best for NVIDIA and beginners: Pop!_OS (NVIDIA ISO)
- Best for folks who like fresh drivers: Fedora (KDE is my pick)
- Best couch mode: SteamOS on the Steam Deck or Bazzite on a living room PC
- Best for tinker fans: EndeavourOS (Arch-based)
If you’re hungry for deeper breakdowns of other distros beyond the ones I cover here, swing by Desktop Linux Reviews for clear, distro-by-distro rundowns.
Now let me explain what I saw and felt with each.
Nobara: My Daily Driver on the Desktop
Nobara is Fedora-based, but tuned for games. It’s made by the Proton-GE dev, so it ships with a lot of game stuff ready. For the full list of tweaks—or to grab the ISO—check out the Nobara Project’s official page. On my RX 6800 XT, setup took me about twenty minutes. Steam, MangoHud, Gamemode—done. No wild hunts for drivers. No “why is audio gone?” drama.
Real numbers I saw at 1440p:
- Cyberpunk 2077 (Proton 9-GE): 80–100 FPS on High, FSR Quality on
- Elden Ring (Proton): 60–90 FPS, very steady after shader build
- Baldur’s Gate 3 (Proton): 100+ FPS on High
- CS2 (native): 250+ FPS, easy peasy
- Hades (native): 300+ FPS, no stutter at all
What I liked:
- Preinstalled codecs and fixes saved time
- Proton-GE in the repo, so updates felt simple
- AMD drivers were great out of the box
What bugged me:
- One update bumped the kernel and broke my custom MangoHud config for a day
- On the laptop with NVIDIA, I had to tweak settings for battery vs. dGPU
- A Proton-GE build once crashed Spider-Man Remastered; swapping back fixed it
Would I game on Nobara as my main? Yes. I do.
Pop!_OS: The NVIDIA Safety Net
I thought Pop!_OS would be “too plain.” It wasn’t. On my RTX 3060 laptop, I used the NVIDIA ISO. The hybrid graphics toggle saved me on trips. I could switch to the big GPU for games, and back to save power. Steam install was smooth. Heroic for Epic games also behaved.
Games I ran at 1080p:
- Monster Hunter Rise (Proton): 90–110 FPS on High
- The Witcher 3 Next-Gen (Proton): 75–95 FPS, RT off, FSR2 Quality
- No Man’s Sky (Proton): 100+ FPS, Vulkan worked great
What I liked:
- NVIDIA drivers just showed up and worked
- Good for work and play; I wrote, I gamed, I didn’t fuss
- Stable updates, not too fast, not stale
What I didn’t:
- Mesa is a bit older than Fedora, so AMD cards won’t love it as much
- Some Wayland bits still felt rough with screen capture tools
If you’re new, or you have NVIDIA, Pop!_OS keeps your blood pressure low.
Fedora (KDE): Fresh Drivers, Clean Feel
On my AMD desktop, Fedora gave me the newest Mesa and kernel fast. That helped with Proton updates and Vulkan fixes. I added RPM Fusion for codecs, then installed Steam. Ten minutes. Done.
My notes:
- Elden Ring and Cyberpunk felt a touch smoother versus Ubuntu-based stuff
- Proton Experimental often behaved best here
- KDE let me set per-game display scaling without fuss
Downsides:
- You must enable RPM Fusion (it’s easy, but still a step)
- A few Gnome-only guides don’t match KDE menus, so I had to think a bit
For a broader, distro-to-distro look at how Fedora stacks up against other popular choices, take a peek at my Fedora vs. Ubuntu vs. Linux Mint comparison.
If you care about new drivers, Fedora hits the sweet spot.
SteamOS and Bazzite: Sofa King Good
On the Steam Deck, SteamOS is great. It’s tuned for the hardware. I docked mine, grabbed a DualSense, and played like a console. The Deck UI is friendly. Shader pre-caching helps a lot.
On my living room PC, I tried Bazzite. It gives you the Deck UI on a regular rig. It pulled in my AMD drivers, set Gamemode, and just… worked with a controller. My kid launched Sonic without me touching a keyboard. Nice.
Catches:
- Non-Steam games take a bit more work in these couch setups
- If you hate the Deck UI, you won’t love this
- For deep tweaks, a standard desktop distro is easier
EndeavourOS (Arch-based): Fast and Fun, But Pay Attention
I used EndeavourOS on a spare SSD. It felt snappy. pacman is quick. Getting Proton-GE was simple. MangoHud and Gamemode worked right away.
What I saw:
- Dota 2 (native): 200–240 FPS at 1440p
- Elden Ring (Proton): 70–95 FPS, quick shader builds
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (Proton): Stable after flipping a launch flag
What to watch:
- Rolling updates mean you should read change notes
- If something breaks, you fix it yourself
- Great for learning; not great if you’re in a rush
What Actually Worked (and what didn’t), Game by Game
If you just want a curated hit-list of titles that shine on the penguin side, I keep an updated post on **great Linux games I actually play**—handy when you need weekend inspiration.
Good for me on all the above:
- Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, The Witcher 3, No Man’s Sky
- Hades, Dead Cells, Celeste, Vampire Survivors
- CS2 and Dota 2 (native), War Thunder (native)
Mixed or blocked when I tested:
- Destiny 2: no go under Wine/Proton; it warns you
- Valorant: needs a Windows kernel anti-cheat; not supported
- Fortnite: still not playable for me on Linux
- A few launchers can be fussy; Rockstar was moody until I used a known Proton build
Tip: In Steam, I usually pick Proton Experimental or Proton-GE. If a game crashes, I try another Proton version. That fixes half my issues in five minutes.
My 10-Minute Setup That I Keep Reusing
- Install the distro
- Install Steam, flip “Enable Steam Play for all titles”
- Pick Proton Experimental; install Proton-GE too
- Install MangoHud and Gamemode
- In game launch options, I add:
- gamemoderun %command%
- For stats: MANGOHUD=1 %command%
- For NVIDIA laptops: use the discrete GPU for games
- For AMD: make sure Mesa is up to date (Fedora and Nobara shine here)
And yes, I keep a small notepad of what Proton build worked for what. It saves time.
Little Things That Made Me Smile
- DualSense on USB gave me rumble in Spider-Man Remastered under Proton
- My Steam Deck handled Hades at 60 FPS