Linux Mint does not use very recent versions of the gfx drivers for that card (IIRC from last time I checked). My RX6600 therefore had some performance hit when I ran Mint (compared to Windows or other Linux distros). Arguably one could bump the installed versions of xserver-xorg-drivers-amdgpu and mesa-vulkan-drivers to more recent versions. You could have a look into the repo with Synaptic Package Manager and see whether there is a more recent version of the relevant stuff available (perhaps you need to allow for “testing” software source.
Thanks. Following some snooping around the amd site, I’ve run ’amdgpu -install’ and a few additional drivers were installed. Along with some bios power changes I made (enabling asus EZ tune), I am getting above 150 on average now, so suspect this may have had some improvement.
Welcome, I was very excited to make a full switch and ditch windows from my life 2 years ago, It makes me love to use my PC again. First, distro, I suggest 2 Mint and EndevourOS, I suggest this two because they are community driven with a great user base and are very user-friendly.
Why Mint? Mint has specific versions, you will update similarly to windows from time to time, you sometimes will not have the latest version of a package but is not that stale as a distro like Debian that aims for maximum stability and is sometimes too old for some normal desktop stuff.
Why endevourOS? EndevourOS is probably the well-rounded, user-friendly rolling release distro out there, you will always have the latest versions of your packages. It is based on arch, that is the fact the best rolling release distro, but have a more normal installation, Arch is just unbearable to install for any non-experienced user, you have to learn so many things that I feel is a waste of time of a new user that want to touch the buttons, but I do recommend to you if you want to understand your system in the future.
Now about the desktop environment, I suggest you take some time choosing and even hoping between them, it would be your daily workflow, and it is more important than distro. Here is a great video talking about the major ones, you can have multiple DEs at the same time, if you install a new DE you can switch between them in your login screen, do not be afraid to test.
About games:
If you use steam, always check games compatibility here. It is a community resource to talk about how you run your games.
If you use GoG or Epic, Heroic is a great launcher that aggregates both.
About wine, wine is a program that translate windows programs to linux, every non-native game on linux run through wine (even valve proton is just a product on top of wine with some additional sauce). Wine has the concept of wineprefix that is the folder that contains your Windows driver (C: disk and configuration about this wineprefix), if you just run a program with wine it will default to the folder ~/.wine on your personal desktop. I took some time to get it, and I believe it would have helped me to understand earlier.
Both steam and heroic uses different wineprefixes to manage your games, but if your game is not from these 3 stores? (you can manage it by hand but… you know, I’m lazy)
There is Lutris, Lutris help you to manage games in different wineprefixes and have an amazing interface to configure a lot of stuff, there is also a repository of installer scripts that you can click and run, I feel lutris a little more complicated cause usually I had to do tinkering (older scripts and things like that). You can also install your games directly or even other programs if you want to keep your wineprefixes organized.
Idk if I would suggest Endeavour to a first time user. In my experience it has been perfectly stable and simple, except for some random boot time kernel panics, but the potential for an inexperienced user to break an install without at least some core concepts of a package manager, especially with the AUR, is certainly there.
My example is just me, but I started with Ubuntu 10 years ago, and I broke that shit all the time. I had a not so good internet connection and half of the issues were related to dpkg not committing the installation.
I also think that AUR have the opposite effect comparing with PPAs, that I found much more error prone.
I used Windows since the late 90’s during the DOS days. I switched to Mac last year with a Mac M1 Mini for $700 and never looked back. The Apple ecosystem works great if you have an iPhone. And the updates they make actually make sense. I lost it when Microsoft wanted me to buy new hardware that I don’t need to run Windows 11 which I don’t want.
I‘m just getting really triggered when anyone tries to convert people to the apple ecosystem.
They‘re the worst. Microsoft is half as bad.
I‘m sitting at home with a 500€ ipad which still works wonderfully but apple killed support and made installing something else impossible. Even jailbreaking doesn’t really work well. The device can literally not even open a website anymore because apple needs to sell.
Sounds like you’re about where I was at the beginning of my Linux journey. I was a Windows user from birth (well okay, my very first computer was dual-booted with OS/2) because that’s what computers came with, etc. I started playing with Raspberry Pis as a hobby, I learned a little Linux, and at the time you HAD to do a lot of stuff in Raspberry Pi OS through the terminal; it didn’t have a GUI package manager yet, so I learned some bash.
Then my laptop died, I got a new one, and Windows 8.1 was inflicted upon me. I decided to try desktop Linux.
I did decide to keep Windows 8.1 around because I still sorta knew how to use it and that’s where all the software I knew how to use ran, so I dual booted. I tried out a few distros in VirtualBox, and Linux Mint just felt like home and it’s been my preferred daily driver ever since.
It is a different system, you will have to get used to doing things a little differently and thinking in Linux’s terms. If you have something you NEED to do, and you’re struggling to figure it out in Linux, go ahead and boot into Windows, get it done, turn it in, then come back to Linux and without that time pressure see if you can figure it out now. Eventually you’ll stop booting to Windows.
As for gaming: Valve has done a lot for us. It’s amazing how good it is now. Used to be there was a list of games that did work on Linux, now it’s more efficient to make a list of games that don’t. Mainly competitive multiplayer games because of EAC. Some of the high end bells and whistles don’t work as well in Linux because they don’t get as much attention as Windows does, but I’ve spent a lot of time in some very good looking games made in Unity and Unreal.
You're using an RDNA2 card so it's possible your low FPS is caused by this issue. I would try this fix that was mentioned in the comments under that issue to see if your performance improves.
Posting to say thank you to all the helpful replies here. Just skimming I see so many good resource links and tips. I am about to do the same thing OP is doing since I decided Windows 10 is the last release I’ll be using as my main PC, for many of the same reasons as OP. I have some linux server experience but have never used it as my primary desktop PC. But I am too tired of the telemetry blocking game to keep putting up with Microsoft’s bullshit. I’ll have a Windows 11 partition for gaming with things that don’t work on linux, but Microsoft can kiss access to any of my non-videogame data goodbye.
It’s a sign of the times that so many helpful replies are here instead of 10-15 years ago where mostly you’d get “RTFM” responses. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences.
I recommend Linux Mint. It’s super user friendly, and there is a lot of support out there if you run into any issues.
Now that gaming is less important for me, I feel like now is a good time to switch mainly to Linux.
Eh, gaming works just fine on Linux. The main issues are with multiplayer games, so you can still probably play most of your single player games on Linux. Steam makes it really easy, and you can play Epic and GOG with Heroic Launcher.
But as for tips:
keep a windows install as a dual boot, at least for the first few weeks, but set Linux as the default; if you can, use a separate drive for Linux; partitions work, but it’s easy to accidentally remove Linux’s boot loader when troubleshooting Windows problems
don’t get fancy with your distro, just pick a popular one
try to avoid the CLI; a lot of people will post commands to run, but if you don’t know what they’re doing, you can hose your system; instructions for GUI tools tend to be less problematic for newer users, at least from my experience
But the most important is to have fun! Solve one problem at a time, and enjoy your new system!
Coo, thanks for the info! FYI, the best place for those kind of Linux reviews is ProtonDB (here directly linked to the game). You can specify and filter for –launch-options, distro, GPU, …
Especially VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library is interesting. This means mesa 23.1 or higher on AMD GPU’s is a must. Iirc Nvidia supports vk gpl for a year or so.
True. Recently I updated my 1050ti graphics driver on my dads windows machine and it now runs valorant at 120 FPS instead of being locked to 60 to not drop frames too often
The gpu supports gpl, but it depends on yoir distro and how Steam is installed which mesa version you have. What’s you distro release? Native package manager or flatpa?
DistroChooser can help you decide which distro to try.
Personally, the most important thing to decide is the desktop environment choice (do you prefer Gnome, KDE, or something else like XFCE, Sway, etc). The other is whether you prefer more stable system or more bleeding edge system.
First off, welcome to the club! You’ve taken your first step into a larger world :) I was a Windows user most of my life. Switched 100% about 4 years ago and I’ve never looked back.
Lots of good advice here, make sure Timeshift is set up. It can save you from accidentally borking your system lol.
As for Distros, my favorites for new users are Linux Mint, Fedora, and Pop_OS. I currently use Linux Mint with their Cinnamon desktop on my laptop and it works great. Cinnamon is similar to a cross between Windows XP and Windows 7 and feels very familiar to navigate for a long time Windows user.
My favorite desktop environment is KDE Plasma, because you can customize it like crazy.
Use the live image editions to test on USB like other people suggested, it will save you lots of time deciding which distro and desktop environment to choose.
~2010 is when I gave up on dual booting and went 100% Linux. TBF I had mostly been on Linux many years before but just kept Windows “in case I needed it”
It’s a great time to take that leap, it’s getting better everyday too. The ONLY thing I wish I had was Office, but webapps and things like OnlyOffice work just as well if not better.
You can trial several distros, desktop environments, etc. on Live boot USB first, no need to rush that decision. But for no hassle configuration and day one 100% productivity, Mint or EndeavorOS. You won’t look back.
Keep your home in a separate disk altogether, or at least a different partition.
Configure Timeshift or another system backup tool as soon as possible, because as a noob you will want to do things that might inadvertently break your system.
Ignore fanboys, distro warriors and zealots in general. The magic of Linux is that it is whatever you want to make of it.
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