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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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