Fed up with Windows blue screen, which Linux system is best for gaming?

Over the past few months, we have tried multiple GNU/Linux distributions for gaming purposes, and we have come to the conclusion that there is no perfect operating system designed specifically for Linux gaming.

We all know that the gaming world is divided into two camps: Nvidia and AMD. Now, if you are using an Nvidia graphics card, even one from five years ago, it will work on most Linux-based operating systems because Nvidia provides the latest video drivers for almost all its GPUs.

Of course, this means that if you have an Nvidia GPU, you won't have any major problems on most GNU/Linux distributions. At least not with regard to graphics or other performance issues in games that will seriously affect your gaming experience.

The best gaming distributions for AMD Radeon users

If you use an AMD Radeon GPU, things are completely different. As we all know, AMD's proprietary graphics drivers still need a lot of work to be compatible with the latest GNU/Linux distributions. This is true for all AMD GPUs, even on the latest X.Org server and Linux kernel versions.

Currently, the AMDGPU-PRO video driver only works on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, CentOS 6.8/7.3, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.8/7.3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, and Server 12 SP2. We don't know why AMD provides support for all these server- and enterprise-oriented operating systems except Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

We don't believe any Linux gamer will play games on these systems. The latest AMDGPU-PRO update finally supports the HD 7xxx and 8xxx series of AMD Radeon GPUs, but what if we don't want to use Ubuntu 16.04 LTS?

Additionally, we have the Mesa 3D graphics library, which is available on most distributions. The Mesa graphics stack provides powerful open source Radeon and AMD GPU drivers for our AMD GPUs, but in order to enjoy the best gaming experience, you also need to have the latest X.Org server and Linux kernel.

Not all Linux operating systems come with the latest Mesa (13.0), X.Org server (1.19) and Linux kernel (4.9) versions that support older AMD GPUs. Some systems only have one or two of these technologies, but we need all of them, and the kernel needs to be compiled with the AMD Radeon Southern Islands and Sea Island drivers to support AMDGPUs.

We find the whole situation quite frustrating, at least for some gamers with older AMD Radeon graphics cards. Right now, we find that the best gaming experience with AMD Radeon HD 8xxx GPUs can only be achieved using Mesa 17 pulled from Git with the Linux kernel 4.10 RC.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.