best gaming distro

C

Caffeinatedsoap

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 7, 2003
Messages
361
I'm thinking of trying out linux and gaming. Like ut2k4 and cedega (winex). Whats the best distro for gaming?
 
I don't think one distro is better than the other as far as gaming is concerned. The big question is do you have an ATI or a Nvidia card? If you have an ATI, then no distro will probably be good for gaming because the drivers are lacking on the linux side.
 
I am not saying you can't play games. I play UT2K4 and AA, but both run extremely better under Windows. What kind of games are you looking to play?
 
Well, if you're using an Ati card, you might as well dual boot Windows and Linux for the time being. ATI's drivers are only released in RPM format, and officially, I think they're targetted for Red Hat systems. Gentoo's developers have done a great job hacking around the package so it can install simply with the command "emerge ati-drivers"

You can install them on Slackware too, but I lost the link to the install procedures (from Rage3D forums, I remember).

ATi drivers are weak under Linux, since Linux supports OpenGL, an area where ATi's drivers have historically been weak with. Nvidia's drivers have no problem with this.

It's the truth for the time being - if you're considering serious gaming with modern games in Linux, either get an Nvidia card or keep windows around. Seeing as how you're using a laptop (since you use a mobile 9700), you'll have to stick to the latter.
 
You could try using your ati card with DRI. I have a number of friends that do it and their performance isn't completely terrible. Not quite a perfect solution though.
 
this is like asking what tank is best for looks/performance...

if you want to run games, run windows, if you want a stable secure platform then run linux. dont expect games to run spactacular and better than windows under wine.
 
If something was made for Windows, it will not run better in Linux...even if you think Linux is a better OS...it's as simple as that.
Just use Windows for everything you can't do in Linux, which I've discovered is pretty much just games.
 
Games are the only reason I have one XP machine in my home. I hate Windows but I can't be with out counter strike.

Its bard enough to play games on Linux when you run Nvidia but if you use an ATI card, forget - don't bother.

I have a ATI 9800XT 256 and my nVidia GeForce 3 blew that away as far as performace in Linux...that just shows you how bad the drivers are.
 
Nvidia's Linux drivers haven't exactly shined as of late either. ATI's just plain suck at this point. They virtually haven't moved since getting rid of their main developer. All they've done is added tiny bug-fixes that we already knew how to fix, and a few HW IDs, so it would install on the newer cards.

I doubt the DRI driver will work on your card. In all truth, I'm unsure if your mobile 9700 is supported in the ATI driver. They lag behind severly with this thing. I am able to play UT2K3, UT2K4, RTCW, ET, QIIIA, and even a few under winex. Most are "PALYABLE", but I get no eye-candy like in windows. I still keep windows installed for real gaming, but that is the only reason I ever use it.
 
yup - Gaming on Linux is just hard because of Open GL standards and Direct X shaders and what not being being a Microsoft exclusive. I hate having to have 2 systems and the one I use just for games has to be the most expensive. But I will never leave my love for Linux - :D
 
I would say Gentoo for two reasons, 1) because I am biased :), and 2) because it is really easy to get and install games. The latter isn't the same with all other distro's.

ATI does have some serious issues with their drivers currently, but with my nvidia card, I get comparable results between linux and windows in UT2k4, NWN, and AA. Infact on AA i can usually get around 5fps in a 20 player game more, probably do to the big difference in free memory (launching a game in windows as opposed to launching a game in twm/X). I OC my card in both Gentoo (nvclock) and Windows (Coolbits).

Gaming in linux isn't as easy as in windows, but it really isn't too tough.
 
Tweakin said:
I would say Gentoo for two reasons, 1) because I am biased :), and 2) because it is really easy to get and install games. The latter isn't the same with all other distro's.

ATI does have some serious issues with their drivers currently, but with my nvidia card, I get comparable results between linux and windows in UT2k4, NWN, and AA. Infact on AA i can usually get around 5fps in a 20 player game more, probably do to the big difference in free memory (launching a game in windows as opposed to launching a game in twm/X). I OC my card in both Gentoo (nvclock) and Windows (Coolbits).

Gaming in linux isn't as easy as in windows, but it really isn't too tough.
Click to expand...

It is true that Gentoo is definitely trying to cater to gamers, but I know that Mandrake is also fairly good in this respect. At one point, they were bundling their distro w/Wine and the Sims. ;)
 
So if I do a fresh install of Gentoo OS, I will have instaled Wine with it?
 
666 said:
So if I do a fresh install of Gentoo OS, I will have instaled Wine with it?
Click to expand...

Nope, if you do a fresh install of Gentoo you will have nothing but Gentoo, and what is required to boot into it. Gentoo is a unique distro that requires building only what you want/need (file server, web server, desktop, media station, etc (or all on the same machine)) your self. Luckily, it couldnt be easier with Portage, Gentoo's package management system. For more information on this, see http://www.gentoo.org/ .
 
Hmmm...

I just think Gentoo is too advanced for me at my [newb] level of Linux :(
 
IMO the gaming friendly distros (from newb to advanced) are:

  • Mandrake 10 SuSE 9.1. The 2.6 kernel really help here despite KDE and some other bloatware.
  • Fedora Core 2. This is an awesome distro, suited for both the advanced and newbie user. Setting it up is not that hard, granted there are glitches with the installer. The hardest part is to get the ATi drivers installed, but there are pretty good HowTos on the subject. For advanced users it offers much flexibility and the abilitiy to customize and change many aspects of the distro.
  • Slacware. Pretty much like Fedora in terms of flexibility and customizability, though a little tougher to master than the above, especially because Fedora has (as Mandrake) many configuration tools based on X, where Slackware usually relies on the actual config fies or console configuration programs.
  • Gentoo. Easy to install (when you already talk linux), tedios install process since it has to download and compile virtually all packages from source, so installing may take a while, further tweaking is possible and various optimizations set at build stages are possible, so you have one more aspect of control with it: you can choose how your software will be optimized for your hardwar (by experience I can tell you that too agressive settings may trash your installation which took you months to get right).
Xandros, Linspire (AKA Lindows), Red Hat itself may be not be that suited for Gaming, since they are aimed mainly for Office or Worksatation work (except Linspire which aims to the general home user, but has a really big flaw: it encourages to run as roo, bad idea in my book). These are not the only ones, there are many other Linux distros, but many of which are based upon the big guys, mainly Red Hat (SuSE and Mandrake are "sprouts" of Red Hat themselves :) )

My personal choice: Fedora Core. It allowsme to change what I want of the system without much trouble aftewards, has the covenience of being able to install packages from RPM or source or source RPM, getting to know the system isn't as hard and shocking as others, and once you know how, you have good tools at your disposal for configuring and further tweaking. True, Fedora is like Mandy or SuSE in many aspects, but I find it to be "friendlier"... I couldn't point exactly at which point, but I do find it friendlier.
 
In short, for my gaming box, I did a minimal install of FC2 that I further stripped down, customized, and then hardened the best I could.

I don't know if there is such a thing as the best distro for gaming, but I just couldn't see the sense in installing 650 unnecessary packages that take up 3GB of space, and have 50 unnecessary and unsecure services running in the background just to play games.
 
Mobility 9700?

You're screwed, and you can't do any real gaming in Linux other than 2d games or really really old non-3d accelerated software, or pretty much anything OGL related.

[edit]
After writing that post, it occurs to me that you should voice your opinion in the "calling for Kyle's support" thread about ATI drivers for Linux.
 
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