Building a new Gaming PC

I’m planning on building a new gaming PC in the next couple of months. I haven’t done so in about 7 years, so I’m a bit behind the times on hardware. Is there any special considerations you all would recommend when it comes to gaming on Linux? I already run Linux as my daily driver and have a home server, etc, so I’m mainly looking for suggestions regarding current hardware that I would want to consider for my new build.

I haven’t done so before, but I’m interested in running Windows in a QEMU VM to avoid some of the pitfalls for certain multiplayer experiences in certain titles. If anybody has any experience with this also, I’d love to hear about it!

Thanks for any input you all have!

d3Xt3r,

I’m interested in running Windows in a QEMU VM to avoid some of the pitfalls for certain multiplayer experiences in certain titles.

This may not be such a good idea. Many multiplayer games detect VMs and can ban your account. It’d best to keep Windows around in a dual-boot setup if you’re intending to play online games. In saying that, are you up-to-speed with the current developments in Proton? If not, you should check ProtonDB to see if the games you’re playing is supported now or not. Proton receives updates quite regularly, and more and more games are becoming compatible with every new release.

Beyond that, you can’t really go wrong with an all-AMD build: AMD CPUs are better for gaming in general, and AMD GPUs have excellent support in Linux (you only need the opensource drivers btw, so you don’t need to install anything special or proprietary).

dark_stang,

I’d suggest Intel for networking and an AMD graphics card if you want things to work out if the box.

Urist,
@Urist@lemmy.ml avatar

Having OS-agnostic options for BIOS updates is also kind of nice. I don’t know if this is the norm, but I can do it painless on my Asus motherboard.

dark_stang,

For most “enthusiast” boards, you can update the uefi/bios without an OS. I’ve even seen some that will do it without needing to use the CPU, so that you can update to support a newer (currently unsupported) processor.

sugar_in_your_tea,

If you are going to get WiFi, try to get Intel Wi-Fi, it’s usually pretty solid.

Outside of that, AMD is generally better for graphics (esp. if you’re interested in messing with Wayland) and CPU is fine with both. I don’t think RTX or DLSS really works on Linux, but I could be wrong there.

But honestly, pretty much everything works fine. I used NVIDIA and a ghetto WiFi chip set for years and it was fine. I couldn’t use Wayland and variable refresh didn’t work properly with my dual monitor setup, but eveningy else worked fine.

So I wouldn’t put a ton of energy into Linux compatibility, unless there’s something that you really need to ensure stays compatible.

hallettj,

I think one of the most impactful choices in my last build was choosing a fast SSD. Not all SSDs are the same! Nowadays you can get NVMe drives that operate over PCIe instead of SATA which provide much higher throughput.

You can either get an M.2 form factor that plugs into a special socket on the motherboard and takes up minimal space, or a PCI card that plugs into the same type of slot as a graphics card. (Note that some M.2 drives / sockets are SATA, not NVMe, so watch out for that distinction.)

There is also some difference between NVMe implementations depending on which PCIe version they support. And you’ll want a motherboard that implements the same PCIe version. This applies to both M.2 and PCIe SSDs.

This stuff might be old enough that you’ve already encountered it. But it was new to me when I built my last PC in 2020. Other than that building was pretty much as I remembered from previous decades.

colebrodine,

My existing PC is old enough, it only has the SSD. I’m really looking forward to the NVMe drive after all the comments!

poVoq,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

GPUs got a lot bigger and more power-hungry. So you need to check the PSU and it’s 8/16 pin GPU connector as well as space in the case.

colebrodine,

I always tend to over size my power supplies. I ran my own wiring in my house, so I actually have access to 220V power there! I bought a LR-30 to C13 power cord a while back (www.amazon.com/…/B004WODG6A/) so I could run my PC on 220V. I’m not sure it actually saves me anything, but I like the idea of having my electrical panel balanced a little better.

poVoq,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

I was a bit confused reading your comment, given that the vast majority of the world has 220V everywhere 😅

But actually a ATX PSU steps down the the power to 12V anyway, so I doubt 110V or 220V makes much of a difference.

colebrodine,

Supposedly 220V is a little more efficient to step down than 110V? I’ve read a lot of articles about data mining where they run the mining rigs off of 220V in the USA instead of 110V and they gain something like 5% efficiency. They’re doing it with entire shipping containers full of PCs though. On my single PC, I’m not sure I can tell the difference at all. But I’m an Electrical Engineer by trade, so it makes me feel better that I’m more power efficient and have my panel balanced. I was running the 220V for my server rack anyway, so it wasn’t a lot of effort to pull one more circuit for my Desktop PC.

ennemi,

I’d still recommend getting an AMD graphics card and generally prioritizing hardware with upstream drivers. As in, drivers that are included with the kernel itself. The experience is always better. Overall it’s still a good habit to look up how any hardware runs on Linux before buying it.

Gaming in a Windows VM is possible but it was a big ordeal when I did it. You have to make sure your CPU and motherboard support IOMMU for PCI passthrough. It’s less of a problem nowadays but there are still some pitfalls with PCIe lanes and whatnot. You need two video adapters, one for the host and one for the guest (because the host has no access to the passed-through GPU) and if you want to game on both Windows and Linux that can be a pain in the ass. It goes on. I personally don’t recommend it. If you have to play trashy eSports that ship with built-in anti-cheat malware then just Windows for that.

NormalC,

Since you’re also getting a desktop PC I highly recommend sticking with just ethernet and not messing with wifi firmware/wifi cards. You should also skip bluetooth as well.

If you want to play proprietary windows freeware/drmware you always have Bottles, Proton, Lutris, GOG etc. If you are forced to use a VM gpu passthrough for a game, then that game is not worth playing because the developers don’t care (why should you then?)

If you want an instant plethora of games you can always look into sophisticated emulators that allow you to insert shaders/upscale graphics rendering, always a good use of a powerful GPU to play retro games on a 8K resolution on vulkan.

ennemi,

I’ve been using this adapter for both BT and WiFi and it’s honestly pretty good. Works out of the box and I’ve experienced zero hiccups in the past 6 months. So long as you don’t mind the big ass antenna that is

colebrodine,

I am lucky enough to have wired my own house for data, so I have ethernet right at my PC Desk! (I also went a little overboard and wired for 220V power there) I’ve always preferred wired Keyboard/Mouse also, so hopefully those won’t be an issue. I have wireless headphones from my existing PC, which I’m hoping to reuse. They already work well with my existing Linux PC.

I love the idea of upscaling graphics on an emulator! Maybe I can go play through FF6/FF3 again!

colebrodine,

I don’t actually play any eSports. I should probably just try going without a Window partition. I rarely boot over to my windows 10 drive as is now. I think I almost like the idea of making the VM work more than the idea of actually using it.

robolemmy,
@robolemmy@lemmy.world avatar

I think the current received wisdom on Linux gaming boils down mainly to three letters: AMD. As a company they’re “friendlier” to Linux for drivers and such.

That said, I’m running an 11th gen intel i7 and nvidia 3080 and not having any problems. I haven’t tried starfield yet but Baldur’s Gate 3 runs like a champ.

kronarbob,

I don’t use a Nvidia card, nor play Starfield, but I’ve seen some videos explaining that Nvidia drivers 535 don’t work well with Starfield. People had to downgrad to 530 or 525 to have it work. I don’t know if nvidia released new drivers since, but if you have issues trying Starfield, you can keep an eye on that.

waz,

I’ve got an old vega56 in hand because I upgraded an old mac pro and I’m wondering whether I can build a usable Linux gaming rig with it.

boo,

In contrast I am having lot of problems with Baldurs gate 3 and new AMD 7600 card, their driver oss constantly causes kernel panic.

colebrodine,

I’ve seen some things about maybe stick to a 6000 series for now until AMD gets their 7000 series drivers worked out? Do you have any experience with a 6000 series card?

ourob,

I’ve got a 6600XT and have had zero issues with Ubuntu and Fedora.

boo,

Not really, just jumped from gtx 960 to 7600, hope they iron it out.

math1as,

Today i installed Debian with the intention to initially set up my linux gaming system. The installation was ok, but everything after that seems like a lot of effort e. g. installing Nvidia drivers, apt doesnt know steam or discord…

Do i really have to Invest that much research or so i miss Something? Is there a better distro for me?

robolemmy,
@robolemmy@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, there are a bunch of gaming-oriented ones. I’m using pop!_os (stupid name) and it took me nearly zero effort to start playing steam games. There’s also Drauger OS, Garuda, Lakka, and Bazzite, among others.

Dubious_Fart,

I’ve not got an nvidia card in this computer, but the easiest and fastest distro setup I’ve ever had was with Nobara.

Which is a game focused linux distro created by Glorious Eggroll, the guy that does the custom proton versions.

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