I built a Mini-ITX PC that I use like a handheld/console setup connected to my TV. Right now it’s running Windows 11 with AtlasOS, but I’m looking for something lighter and more console-like with lower background resource usage.

I’m wondering if SteamOS (or a SteamOS-like distro) could realistically work as my main gaming OS.

I mostly play single-player games and some Ubisoft titles like Ghost Recon and The Division. I don’t play competitive shooters like COD, Valorant, Battlefield, etc., so anti-cheat limitations are not really a concern.

My setup:

Has anyone here been running a setup like this?

Can you recommend a distro that works well and is stable with NVIDIA GPUs?

Also, have you managed to fully replace Windows with SteamOS/Bazzite for gaming without needing to boot back into Windows for something?

Just for context: this PC is exclusively for gaming. I have a separate main PC and a MacBook for work, so this machine doesn’t need to run productivity software.

Any experiences or recommendations would be really appreciated.

I was playing just fine yesterday some online matches, until I dicided to do a full system update.

The games seems to launch and crash before getting to the main menu.

Here you can see the logs https://pastebin.com/117P1cdY

About my system:

OS: CachyOS x86_64

Host: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. B850M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E

Kernel: 6.19.8-arch1-

Uptime: 1 hour, 41 mins

Packages: 1935 (pacman), 30 (flatpak)

Shell: zsh 5.9

Resolution: 3840x2160

WM: Hyprland

Theme: Adwaita [GTK2], cachyos-nord [GTK3]

Icons: Colloid [GTK2], clarity-luteus [GTK3]

Terminal: kitty

Terminal Font: JetBrainsMono Nerd Font 18.0

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (16) @ 5.271GHz

GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 9070/9070 XT/9070

Memory: 9718MiB / 31694MiB

Any clue what can be happening?, I tried default kernel, since I am using a patched one for hdmi 2.1, all proton versions fails (CachyOS, ProtonGE, SLR, Experimental)

Cleared the game data prefix without luck, I you had an idead will apprecitate it a lot, this his my main competitive game.

I created web editor for visual scripting and scene manage jobs. It is interest webgpu engine with ai gen graphs support....

I have old comp no virtual machines options.
Current code works on windows only.

If anyone wants to collaborate is welcome.

Source of file

https://github.com/zlatnaspirala/matrix-engine-wgpu/blob/main/src/tools/editor/backend/matrix-editor.js

I just need path formats adaptive for linux users. Its nodejs

Hey all,

Recently wanted to try out watch dogs because of its mechanics. Bought both the first and second game on steam hoping I could play with no issue, but, I was forced to either create an account with ubisoft, or outright quit the game with no other alternative.

Searched around on ebay and found the cd-rom version of the games for cheap. Only requirements of the game was to be on a Windows system, which I have no issue in alternating if its the only way of playing, but, I'd ideally like to remain on my Bazzite distro. I've searched around for any guides on this game specifically on this format to little avail. The two alternatives I've found in order to make the game work is either with Lutris, which is already installed in my distro, or using this guide.

I'm still completely new to Linux so I have no idea which to follow first, so any help or guide in getting this to work is greatly appreciated!

Please help me if you can guys. I've installed bazzite on my laptop and I have an Nvidia gpu. Maybe it's the drivers but I tried every possible solution and I still have a flickering screen each time I try to play a AAA game on Steam.

I would really apreciate your help!! 🙏

Trying to configure hdr on KDE and I know that plasma 6.6.1 removed one of the calibration screens only leaving the screens for peak nit brightness and “Configure how bright 100% on the normal brightness slider should be.”

The first one is simply just my monitors peak brightness of 650. The second screen has me a bit tripped up as I’ve seen conflicting information for what it should be. Should it be:

1: Peak 100% brightness window in SDR (rtings value of 196 nits)

2: Peak 100% brightness window in HDR (rtings value of 136 nits)

3: the recommended paper white for a 650 peak nits monitor (138 nits in my case)

figured this would be useful for others in case an answer is provided which is why I included my own numbers even if they are close) thanks!

Two days ago I was able to play Diablo 4 for hours. Now every ten minutes my system shows me a lock screen. I've spent the past day trying to find an answer. So far all I've learned:

1. Some swear by GAMEMODED - Never needed it before, now suddenly perhaps I do. What changed? (Spoiler alert - it's not working.)

2, There is a discussion over whether GAMEMODE is even needed anymore.

1. Some swear by Caffiene. I installed it and activated it. It did nothing.

2. Apparently this is happening because I am using a controller, which doesn't count as activity. Two days ago, it worked, and so far the workarounds I've found are not working.

Linux Mint 22.3, home built AMD system. Everything was working up to 2 days ago. I haven't changed anything. (This is a game system, I intentionally don't change anything unless I have to. Upgrading breaks stuff.)

After beating Expedition 33, I got curious regarding how much performance I was losing out on if I played it on windows. Overall, not much, I saw ~10% loss in average FPS, 1% and 0.1% lows. This was over the first ~30 minutes of gameplay. I tried my best to make linux and windows gameplay as identical as possible for the side-by-side comparison.

Hardware: RTX 5080, 9800x3D, 32GB System RAM.
CachyOS kernel 6.19.8-1

NVIDIA 595.45.04 officially pushed by cachyos developers.

Windows Nvidia 595.79 drivers

Interestingly, I saw ~800MB VRAM usage on linux not present on windows, which I assume is from the DX12 -> Vulkan translation?

I am attaching my screenshots summarizing the findings. I overclocked and undervolted with MSI afterburner on windows and used the nvidia-ml-py python package on CachyOS (both are screenshotted for more information).

Also GPU usage is very similar between linux and windows which is a great step in the direction for NVIDIA gpus on linux

If people are interested, here is my video for more visual information.

Steam launch options:
PROTON_DLSS_UPGRADE=1 PROTON_NVIDIA_LIBS_NO_32BIT=1 mangohud %command%

Hi! I have an old laptop with these specs:

• Intel Core i7‑4710HQ

• 16 GB DDR3 RAM

• GeForce GTX 860M

• 512 GB SSD

• Two Xbox One controllers

I use it connected to my TV as a “console,” and I'm wondering if switching to Linux would be worth it for gaming. I was thinking about Linux Mint or maybe a distro made specifically for gaming. Stability is very important to me, and since this is an Nvidia laptop, I’m not sure if I should just stay on Windows instead. RAM shouldn’t be an issue for the games I play. The next game I plan to play is Batman: Arkham Asylum, and later maybe Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, or Dark Souls 2. I’d really appreciate practical advice from people who aren’t Linux fanatics ;)

Hi everyone, earlier today I made a post asking how I would go about switching over from windows 11 to Linux. I made the decision to switch to bazzite. I thought I was done, but when trying to boot up my pc with bazzite for the first time I got this error message. Can anyone help me out please?

Hi all,

Recently back to linux (I went for straight debin) and trying to play a little WoW. Having trouble with lutris and apparently steam with proton works better with WoW anyway.

How can I change the proton install directory in steam? I've been searching for ages and can only find people saying that the directory is in ~/.steam, nothing about how to change it. (I do have a steam library on a different drive, but it's not using it to install)

my ~ drive doesnt have enough space for WoW

I'm about to switch from Windows 11 to Manjaro Linux on my main computer. I'm currently using SteelSeries GG, LG Hub and iCue on Windows, and I'm a bit afraid of breaking everything if I switch to Linux.

I know there are a few alternatives, but are they good ?

For the reference, I'm using corsair keyboard, logitech mouse + speakers, and steelseries headphones.

Sorry if it was asked before, and thanks in advance!

I'm using Windows 10 on my desktop, and Microslop won't even let me upgrade to Windows 11 (thank God). So I'm considering which Linux distribution to install.

I have some experience with Linux, mainly Ubuntu (WSL) in my laptop for work, and I once installed Linux Mint for a project, although I didn't use it for very long (and didn't do any gaming). But anyways, I'm not afraid to touch the terminal.

Right now CachyOS stands out the most for me, but I'm a little apprehensive about using a rolling release distro as my first real experience. Another option I have in mind is Bazzite, but I also feel I shouldn't chicken out on Cachy just because it's Arch based.

Any advice? These are my specs (it's an old PC, I know):
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
- AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
- 16 GB RAM

Hello

This is most likely not the widespread PCIe lane negotiation bug. That one supposedly prevents PCs from displaying anything at boot, and I have not encountered that issue.

Running 590.44.01 in Debian 13 (6.12.73) on a Ryzen 9700X (iGPU turned off), and everything is stable, fast and nice. Getting 100 fps in War Thunder @ 4K. PC has been running for days, everything is swell.

The suddenly while gaming, the screen goes black. The PC still operates - or at least the music is playing - but the monitor complains about "no DisplayPort signal".

So I cut the power and reboot, and everything is fine for another couple of weeks until it happens again.

I can't find anything in logs, temps are fine, voltages are fine - but then again my troubleshooting skills may not be up to the task.

This has only happened when I played War Thunder, but that may be because I spend most time with it. Or that it is the most graphically demanding of my games - the rest are like XCOM and Civilization. It has never happened outside of a game.

Where do I go from here?

Hello, I have a clone ps4 controller and I'm having some issues with running on cachyos like automatic connection, I've been digging for a solution for couple months, the only thing I found is to modify the hid-playstation kernel... I'll appreciate the help. Thank you.

Today is the 3rd year anniversary since I started developing The Last General!!

Here is a pretty long video compiling some of the videos I captured during those 3 years (some never seen before and some new ones from yesterday and today)

This weekend I also uploaded the first alpha build including native Linux support, to start testing it with friends and family, and works great on Ubuntu!

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2566700/The_Last_General

I have tried proton 10,9,3 wine ge thru 32 bit prefix, nothing seems to work. Even tried from heroic launcher, still no success.