So i have a gaming desktop that not the best or the newest. What takes up most of my drive space is games, updates, and software’s. Im wondering if i should switch to linux and if linux will improve any performance for my main machine? If you believe i should switch what os should i go with or why or why not should i switch?

I mostly game and do mess with ollama/ai tools because i think that’s cool. I want to do more things in the future but that might beyond my drive space?

What would you advise?

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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    14 hours ago

    Linux probably wouldn’t make your games any faster, but it could make the OS feel snappier.

    Reasons to switch:

    • you hate Windows
    • you like to customize stuff
    • you’re curious about Linux
    • you don’t play many MP games
    • you tend to leave a ton of stuff open, which makes things run slowly
    • saving 40GB or so of space means the world to you (Linux is pretty lean)

    Reasons not to switch:

    • you need Windows-specific software, like Adobe stuff or games w/ anti-cheat
    • you’re not interested in tinkering at all, and having any minor issue would frustrate you
    • you want the best possible performance for games

    Linux is better at memory and task management, generally speaking, but performance in specific apps depends a ton on the specific app, from being slightly better to being noticeable worse.

    As for which Linux distro to go with, I hear good things about Linux Mint, though I don’t use it myself. But honestly, look at the most popular distros and find one that looks cool to you, they’re all pretty good. Ones to check out are:

    • Debian (or Linux Mint Debian Edition) - ol’ reliable, may have some issues on newer games
    • Fedora - tries to be close to bleeding edge, without as many sharp edges
    • Bazzite - gaming focus, tries to imitate Steam OS
    • openSUSE Tumbleweed - my personal daily driver, though I generally don’t recommend it for new users since there’s not a huge community to find help

    There are tons more great ones. If you list your must-have apps/games, maybe someone can give a better recommendation, though honestly most distros are similar enough that if it works on one, it’ll work anywhere.

    • ticho@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Debian (or Linux Mint Debian Edition) - ol’ reliable, may have some issues on newer games

      Used to, in the first year after Steam Linux client released, because of old libc. But since then, I’ve had only one or two games not work because of nvidia drivers not being new enough.

    • Benaaasaaas@group.lt
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      13 hours ago

      Just a point about phrasing but pretty much all MP games work flawlessly, just not the esports titles with draconian anticheats.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        3 hours ago

        Sure, my point is anti-cheat, which is a pretty common feature of MP games, at least the popular ones. But yeah, I could’ve been more clear, thanks for the correction.