What is the best OS for gaming?

Question

29

Options
Considered

969

User
Recs.

Sep 24, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The 1 must play gameWhy?

Best OS for gaming	Price	Based On	Package Manager
91 Gentoo Linux	-	-	-
86 SteamOS	0	Debian	Debian Package Manager, Steam
78 Manjaro Linux	-	-	-
-- Arch Linux	Free	Independent	Pacman
-- Recalbox	-	NA	Kodi

See Full List

24 Other Games Considered

SteamOS

Top Pro

For entertainment, it just works

What media center software do for videos, it does for games (and later videos). See More

Top Con

Hard to Using at Windows Users

If you are using macOS, this SteamOS is familiar with certain systems and shell systems. However, Linux (macOS Modify Version) and Windows are completely wrong. You will also face difficult situations. If this happens, you need enough knowledge of Linux that you can fix it yourself. So I would not recommend this if you have never touched Linux. See More

Top Pro

Stable and consistently up to date

Manjaro receives regular updates, but more importantly these updates are stable. The updates are rolled out, which means you can easily update the software without needing to re-install. See More

Top Con

Bad way of handling dependencies

Top Con

Instability can be an issue

Sometimes you can have a surprise, but in most cases it can be fixed quickly. See More

Top Pro

Flexible upgrades

Upgrade once a day, once a week, once a month,... three times a day... automate it, upgrade manually, add packages to the ignore list. See More

FriendlyVili's Experience

Most games get first-class support for Ubuntu, not Arch. See More

Specs

Top Con

Needs the whole disk

There is no option to install the system in dual-boot with another OS on one hard disk drive. See More

Top Pro

Easy user interface

It has a simple and easy to use UI. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Con

Toxic community

If you're not French, they will make zero effort to help you. Switch to Batocera, their community is miles ahead from Recalbox. See More

Top Pro

Easy to configure

Almost all configuration are done via user interface. See More

Top Con

Performance

Average performance. See More

Top Pro

Custom Emulationstation built for recalbox

EmulationStation is customized to fit recalbox features, making the configuration a lot easier. See More

Top Con

Slow development

Development is slow and stability focused. See More

Top Pro

Stable

Focuses stability over performance/latest software versions. See More

See All

Debian GNU/Linux

Top Pro

A lot of ways to install software

You can either use aptitude, apt or apt-build to install software from the Debian package archives. See More

Top Con

Ridiculous package splitting

Even though it makes sense to split devel and the actual binary of an application, the splitting has become as mess in debian and its derivates: for example the nvidia driver is splitted into over 40 different packages: https://packages.debian.org/en/source/sid/nvidia-graphics-drivers See More

Specs

Top Pro

Supports all major Game APIs

DirectX, OpenGL, Vulkan, PhysX and OpenCL everything is available if your Hardware supports it. See More

Top Con

Comes with bloatware preinstalled

It has many MS Store apps installed by default. See More

CommunicativeFuxi's Experience

Cons

1

Top Con

Not an OS!

Question was what is the best OS not Linux Distribution for gaming. See More

Solus

Top Pro

Fast Dev Response

The Solus team has great customer service and will create rapid solutions. See More

HumbleSors's Experience

Specs

Top Pro

A separate NVIDIA version

Most linux distros seem to hate Nvidia's graphics cards e.g. Fedora and OpenSUSE. System76 have decided to be kind. They have decided to form a good relationship with Nvidia fans and Nvidia itself. By creating a separate installation media that is dedicated for providing support to Nvidia's graphics cards. Even going as far as putting Nvidia's driver updates on Pop!_Shop for users to easily access and install. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Excellent apps

Having Deepin installed also means you have thousands of quality apps to choose from. The apps which come with installation will suit your needs to browse the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, talk with friends, editing documents or simply any task you want to do at home or in your office. See More

Top Con

Made for the desktop

It is made to showcase the deepin desktop and not for gaming or customization. See More

PrudentHarmonia's Experience

im a very big fan of linux distros like debian(normally based on the gnome interface) or ubuntu(based on the kde interface i think), but the best that i know about is deepin, the ui design, excellent gpu support+drivers, the apps avalible and a lot more (ive been using deepin for 4 years) See More

Specs

Top Con

Fragmentation and security flaws due to negligence.

Most Android phones seem to be released on a "Let's release a few software updates until we release the next phone, and never push out an update again." For example, In May 2014, 8.5% of phones were Kitkat, 60.8% were spread out between three versions of jellybean (with bias towards older versions), and the another 20% spread out over ICS, Honeycomb, Gingerbread, and Froyo. Google no longer maintains Android 4.3 or prior and serious security exploits remain in those versions. Device manufacturers are also taking no action, which leaves almost a billion Android users exposed. You may also encounter lingering and unfixed bugs, glitches, etc. as a result of the manufacturer's and Google's lack of interest in older versions. Some flagship phones are well supported into the future, but the fact that your phone won't be supported by its manufacturer and/or Google is a consideration you must make when purchasing an Android phone. See More

Top Pro

Open source

macOS

Top Con

Closed source

Mac OS is closed source itself, which means that it is developed more slowly and has more problems. See More

Top Pro

Based on Unix

macOS being a UNIX certified system means that you can install a lot more stuff with a lot fewer headaches than if you were on Windows. See More

Specs

Top Pro

virtualization and emulation combined in this OS

I'd recommend this to intermediate Linux users. See More

Top Con

Needs the whole disk

There is no option to install the system in dual-boot with another OS on one hard disk drive. See More

TactfulRaetTawy's Experience

Retro gaming with emulation perfect for old pc or old laptops Love to be able to play the Super Mario I used to play on tv with a console. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Wide array of features

Batocera supports more features (like nVidia streaming) that competitors do not. See More

Top Con

Not for customizers

You can mess with the underlying software and code, but it's not so easily accessed. Since it's designed for user friendliness and ease of use, the software is not easy to change based on configuration options. See More

Top Pro

User-friendly

All options are right there in the EmulationStation menu and ready to be changed at the click of a button. No distorted configuration files all over the place, no permissions to mess with. See More

Top Con

Buggy

There are still many bugs. See More

See All

Arch Linux Testing

Top Pro

Bleeding Edge support

Despite the negative connotations that come with bleeding edge software, Arch is quite stable, and new updates allow for some of the best support for game compatibility, notable when using Wine, and Steam Play/Proton. See More

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score 65 · Accepted Answer

Gentoo Linux

Top Pro

Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags

Since everything is being built on your PC you can fine-tune the code to make use of your CPU. And all it requires is two lines of string variables in a global config. See More

Top Con

Since everything must be compiled it takes a lot longer to update

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features. See More

Top Pro

Portability

There are many architectures available for Gentoo : i386, x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, sparc, DEC Alpha, ARM, MIPS, PA-RISC, S390, IA-64, sh, m68k. See More

See All

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What is the best OS for gaming?

The 1 must play gameWhy?

Gentoo Linux

My Recommendation for Gentoo Linux

My Recommendation for Gentoo Linux

Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags

Since everything must be compiled it takes a lot longer to update

Full control of the software

Not beginner-friendly

Fully customizable

Will not work with every game

Doesn't need a USB ISO for installation

Too hard

A very large collection of software is available

No default installer

Documentation and community are second to none

Somewhat outdated solutions

Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux

Customized package installation can take a long time and cause installation failures

Can be officially systemd-free

Freedom

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portability

24 Other Games Considered

SteamOS

My Recommendation for SteamOS

My Recommendation for SteamOS

For entertainment, it just works

Hard to Using at Windows Users

Free

Not universal

Gamer-oriented development model

Old base

Linux Powered

Closed Source

Native graphics processor support

Not built around the desktop experience

Can now run some Windows Games

Still in beta

Linux Powered

Extensive use of shared libraries

Vulkan oriented instead of DX12

Still lacking many AAA games

Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

Stable and consistently up to date

Bad way of handling dependencies

Steam installed by default

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Bad Dependencies

Based on Arch and user friendly

Slightly bloated

Installation is a breeze

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

Arch User Repository access

Weekly manual updates

Good documentation and forum

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week

Friendly community

Installation is extremely buggy

Very good looking desktops

Redundant

Deepin desktop environment is a worthy attraction

It's Archbuntu

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)

Imcompatible with Arch User Repository and archlinuxcn

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

Calls itself "stable," but actually just holds Arch Linux repositories back for a week

Uses low memory

Bad dependencies

All major desktops and even less common ones like Budgie, Lumina, LXQT, Deepin, Enlightenment, etc. can be directly installed from official repositories

Nothing new

A rolling-release distribution

Can still be unstable

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

Arch Linux

My Recommendation for Arch Linux