What is the best Linux Distribution for gaming?

Question

20

Options
Considered

426

User
Recs.

May 12, 2021

Last
Updated

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19 Games Considered

Best Linux Distribution for gaming	Price	Default Desktop Environment	Based On
89 Solus	-	Budgie, GNOME, MATE, KDE Plasma	Scratch
88 Arch Linux	-	N/A	N/A
86 Manjaro	-	-	-
-- Linux Mint	Free	Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce	Debian>Ubuntu LTS
-- Gentoo Linux	-	-	-

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score 107 · Answer 1

Solus

Top Pro

Easy installation

The installation procedure for this distribution is quite simple. It's GUI based and all you have to do is follow the instructions given by the installation window itself. See More

Top Con

Not much software

There is not much software available. See More

DecorousAchuguayo's Experience

Solus is so far the most stable platform for gaming I've come into contact with. Many linux distros have weird issues running some games, but Solus appears to be running videogames buttery smooth! See More

Specs

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Top Pro

Great package management

The software center makes really easy to install the latest software, including third party software. See More

Top Con

Lack of software in repositories

There is a lack of software in the repositories. This is the only OS where I have had to build some applications from source or install from the app's site within the first month os usage. Though this is most likely because the distro is still relatively new. See More

GardenData61371's Experience

The Distro that ended my Distro hopping. See More

Top Pro

Stable

The system itself is very stable. All packages in the repository seem to be carefully picked, well prepared and run stable. See More

Top Con

Slow development

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score 43 · Answer 2

Arch Linux

Top Pro

A package for almost everything

If you need to install something, chances are someone in the Arch community has already made a package for it. This makes it incredibly easy for you to install and maintain all of the non-media content on your computer. See More

Top Con

Package manager is lacking in some areas

See All

score 29 · Answer 3

Manjaro

Top Pro

Steam installed by default

Top Con

Bad dependencies

See All

score 21 · Answer 4

Linux Mint

Top Pro

Already functional out-of-the-box

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks. See More

Top Con

Outdated software centers

Many of the offered options are older versions. See More

Specs

Gentoo Linux

Fedora

Top Pro

Always up to date Kernel

Fedora is known to be up to date, using the latest kernel in a matter of weeks after being released. It has a good balance among stability and bleeding edge. More up to date kernel = better compatibility with drivers for gaming. See More

Top Con

Too many changes to upstream packages leading to a "Fedora way" of doing things

Linux should be linux, but Fedora is constantly introducing breakage and changes which move things in the wrong direction and make things worse for everyone. See More

IngeniousEiresione's Experience

With couple offre tweaks, it's the best distribution out there See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Stable

Fedora is a very stable Linux-based OS, as the developers place a lot of value in quality engineering. See More

Top Con

Proprietary drivers are unsupported

Top Pro

Frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints

Fedora has a relatively short life cycle: version X is supported only until 1 month after version X+2 and with approximately 6 months between versions this means that a version of Fedora is supported for approximately 13 months. This promotes leading-edge software because it frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints. See More

Top Pro

Integration with GNOME

It perhaps has the best integration with GNOME (GNOME software works out of the box). See More

See All

score 33 · Answer 7

Pop!_OS

Top Pro

Ready to play games, out of the box

If you still miss how easy it was to just click-install and play games in Windows, Pop! will give you that similar expectation. See More

Top Con

64-bit only

Some older PCs still have 32-Bit processors. This limitation will be a major con for those who use an older PC since they will not be able to install, run it in a VM or live media. See More

DecisiveMerope's Experience

Never been a Gnome fan, but Pop!_OS changed that. Great distribution for work and play. The repositories have everything I need, unlike Ubuntu, and the included proprietary and Vulkan drivers make gaming excellent. See More

Specs

See All Specs

If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. I found it to be like something you'd find printed on a ringer t-shirt. See More

See All

score 29 · Answer 8

SteamOS

Top Pro

Made for gaming

SteamOS is built by Valve specifically to run on machines for gaming on Linux. See More

Top Con

Not built around the desktop experience

SteamOS is, first and foremost, meant to act as a gaming console - it doesn't ship with even some of the most basic applications, such as a file manager or image viewer. As a result, using SteamOS as your primary operating system would require a fair bit of work. See More

TirelessKydoimos's Experience

I am enjoying this debian based distro. I play not only linux games but also mac, windows games through streaming. What I need else ? I could not play three OS'es games in an OS without it. ☺ See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Native graphics processor support

The OS natively supports Nvidia, Intel, and AMD graphics processors. See More

Top Con

Hard to install

If you've installed Arch you're probably fine, but for those used to simple installs like (Ubuntu to name just one) you should prepare some patience, determination, and painkillers. Good news is, it's getting better (it's very young). See More

SensibleHunor's Experience

yes See More

Top Pro

Streaming service integration (under development)

Valve is in talks with streaming companies such as Spotify and Netflix to bring their features to SteamOS. See More

Top Con

Steam OS is simi-abandoned.

Valve no longer frequently updates SteamOS. See More

Top Pro

For entertainment, it just works

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

See All

score 3 · Answer 9

Garuda Linux

Top Pro

Themes

The dr460nized KDE theme is awesome. See More

Specs

See All Specs

Top Pro

Super Fast

Uses vram, and a zen kernel. See More

Top Pro

Gnome

The Gnome edition is very responsive and tastes like cow. See More

See All

score 12 · Answer 10

Zorin OS

Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More

Top Con

Limited but sufficiently 3 desktop styles in free version

All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes. See More

HappyFebris's Experience

Very charming feel using this! See More

Specs

See All

score 24 · Answer 11

Deepin

Top Pro

Steam installed by default

Deepin includes steam installed by default. See More

Top Con

Slow on some computers

Very slow - launching apps takes more time than other distros. On the other hand - booting and shutting down is very fast on SSD. See More

Specs

Xubuntu

Top Pro

Great performance

Xubuntu is very fast and makes good use of resources. See More

Top Con

Looks outdated

*If you do't customize it hard. See More

Specs

See All Specs

See All

score 7 · Answer 13

Elementary OS

Top Pro

Extremely user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More

Top Con

Old base and applications

Ubuntu

Top Pro

Solid and great driver support

Top Con

Splits the Debian community

The most packages are imported from Debian but Ubuntu uses own bug trackers and develops its own patches. See More

New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes. See More

Top Con

Canonical does not respect Ubuntu users' preferences

In 2012 it became impossible in Ubuntu to move the close-window-button back to the upper-right corner of the window, where it always was before. To the questions of their users Canonical replied that they know better than users where it would be convenient for users to have the close-window-button. See More

See All

score 3 · Answer 15

VaporOS

score 1 · Answer 16

RebornOS

score 2 · Answer 17

Ubuntu MATE

Answer 18

Ubuntu GamePack

Add Video or Image

score 2 · Answer 19

Ubuntu LTS

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What is the best Linux Distribution for gaming?

19 Games Considered

Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

My Recommendation for Solus

Easy installation

Not much software

Great package management

Lack of software in repositories

Stable

Slow development

Built from scratch

Systemd

Rolling release

The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Home of LSI (Linux Steam Integration)

It's impossible to get Radeon proprietary drivers

Optimized

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

Looks great out of the box yet customizable

Forums are not very friendly

Responsive

No USB Image writer

Modern desktop environment

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

Exclusively for desktop systems

There is often a black screen after update

Most stable Rolling Release Distro

Seamless packages

Generic pre-installed drivers work efficiently

Lightning fast boot time

Rock-solid distro

Arch Linux

My Recommendation for Arch Linux

My Recommendation for Arch Linux

A package for almost everything

Package manager is lacking in some areas

Latest drivers

Not for the faint of heart

As slim or copious as you want it

Manual install process

Fast and simple package management

Uses Systemd

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

Uses systemd

Support for a large variety of hardware

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

Cutting edge rolling release

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Intuitive and easy to use package manarer

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Excellent documentation

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed

Not ready out of the box

Helpful community

Not ready out of the box

Highly customizable

Fragile packages

Arch Linux Wiki

Not so great overall

No need for external repos

Requires expert Linux and command-line knowledge to setup

Huge Repositories

Instability can be an issue

An opportunity to improve

Pacman is a slow package manager

Excellent package management with the AUR

No Graphical Installer

Incredible educational value

Pacman is a slow package manager

It is Linux at the core

Not really for desktop

Vanilla

Lost its way

Ultimate mid-range OS for Tinkering

Occasional upstream package bugs

Highly reliable and stable build

Works only on AMD64

Low maintenance