In the last few months, we tried multiple GNU/Linux distributions for gaming purposes, and we have arrived at the conclusion that there’s no perfect operating system out there designed for Linux gaming.
We all know that the world of gaming is split between Nvidia and AMD users. Now, if you’re using a Nvidia graphics card, even one from five years ago, chances are it’s supported on most Linux-based operating systems because Nvidia provides up-to-date video drivers for most, if not all of its GPUs.
Of course, this means that you shouldn’t have any major issues with most GNU/Linux distributions if you have a Nvidia GPU. At least not related to graphical artifacts or other performance problems when playing games, which will drastically affect your gaming experiences.
The best Linux gaming OS for AMD Radeon users
Now, things are totally different if you’re using an AMD Radeon GPU. We all know that AMD’s proprietary graphics drivers still need a lot of work to be compatible with the latest GNU/Linux distributions and all the AMD GPUs that exist out there, as well as the latest X.Org Server and Linux kernel releases.
Currently, the AMDGPU-PRO video driver works only on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, CentOS 6.8/7.3, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.8/7.3, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and Server 12 SP2. With the exception of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, we have no idea why AMD provides support for all those server-oriented and enterprise-ready operating systems.
We refuse to believe that there are Linux gamers out there who use any of these OSes for anything gaming related. The latest AMDGPU-PRO update finally brought support for AMD Radeon GPUs from the HD 7xxx and 8xxx series, but what if we don’t want to use Ubuntu 16.04 LTS?
On the other hand, we have the Mesa 3D Graphics Library, which is found on most distros out there. The Mesa graphics stack provides us with quite powerful open-source Radeon and AMDGPU drivers for our AMD GPUs, but to enjoy the best gaming experience possible, you also need to have the latest X.Org Server and Linux kernels.
Not all Linux operating systems come with the latest Mesa (13.0), X.Org Server (1.19), and Linux kernel (4.9) versions with support for older AMD GPUs. Some have only one or two of these technologies, but we need them all and the kernel needs to be compiled with AMD Radeon Southern Islands and Sea Island support for the AMDGPU driver to work.
We found the entire situation quite disheartening, at least for some AMD Radeon gamers using a bit older graphics cards. For now, we have discovered that the best gaming experience with an AMD Radeon HD 8xxx GPU can be achieved only by using Mesa 17 from Git and Linux kernel 4.10 RC.
So we’re asking you now – if you’ve found the perfect GNU/Linux distribution for gaming, no matter if your using an AMD Radeon or Nvidia GPU, but we are most interested in those who are using AMD GPUs, what distro and settings are you using and if you can play the latest games or still experiencing issues. Thank you!
