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what's a good distro for a razer blade 15? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

31 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello,

I bought a razer blade 15 laptop a while ago, and world like to install Linux on it, mostly to play games. So, ideally I'd like a distro that can make the most use of the hardware and let me play the most games, while being the easiest to use and lowest maintenance possible. Any recommendation?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

make the most use of the hardware

All distros should do this equally well, and better than Windows

let me play the most games

All distros will be more or less the same. Games generally work or they dont. Check ProtonDB to see which games work and how well.

easiest to use

lowest maintenance possible

This is how distros actually differ.

Some common suggestions:

Ubuntu LTS:

Upgrade your OS every 2 years
Proprietary drivers are there if you need them (Nvidia is the only GPU that needs them)
GNOME shell environment is very beautiful and fast, but very different from Windows

Kubuntu LTS:

Upgrade your OS every 2 years
Proprietary drivers are there if you need them (Nvidia is the only GPU that needs them)
KDE Plasma Desktop is like all the best parts of windows 95/xp/7/10/11 + os9/OSX/macOS combined, improved, and made super customizeable

Ubuntu/Kubuntu current:

Upgrade your OS every 6 months
Newer software than LTS
Otherwise same as LTS

Linux Mint:

Upgrade your OS every 2 years
Proprietary drivers are there if you need them (Nvidia is the only GPU that needs them)
Cinnamon Desktop is a better looking and faster implementation of a Windows 7 style desktop

Fedora

Upgrade your OS every 9 months (or else)
Proprietary codecs need to be added after install to play some video and music streams in your browser. It's like 3 commands copy/pasted into the terminal
Proprietary drivers are there if you need them (Nvidia is the only GPU that needs them)
Choice of several desktop environments (Fedora spins)

Pop!_OS

Fun to spell
Upgrade your OS every 2 years
Proprietary drivers are there if you need them (Nvidia is the only GPU that needs them)
Pop_shell makes you feel like a hacker from the future, but is very unlike Windows

I do not reccomend ~~Bazzite~~, Kali, Arch, Manjaro, Garuda, Debian, or Slackware. They are all great distros for specific use-cases, but they are all significantly more work to configure and/or maintain than the suggestions i've outlined.

I haven't tried Nobara so i cant recommend it, but from the outside it looks fine for a gaming desktop.

Edit: I have mixed feelings on Bazzite, but it might also be a good option for someone feeling adventurous

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

There are some other differences, for example Pop!_OS while on a LTS base still gets regular updates of kernel, Mesa and Nvidia drivers which is nice.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

As a counterpoint, I installed Bazzite on a Blade 14 for a heavy gaming friend who was leaving Windows, and they have had no issues whatsoever.

I personally use Bluefun, and again, no issues at all. Incredibly good experiences on both.

I can't imagine what you mean by needing more work to configure, they both worked out of the box with no configuration.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I just don't see the draw of immutable distros for non power users.

With traditional ubuntu/mint/fedora you have 15+ years of forum posts, tutorials, and community wisdom to help you out if you get stuck. You probably wont need to, but it's nice to be able to just google something and get a dozen good answers. If you want to use containerized apps you also have that option.

Also depending on your taste in gaming, you might need access to stuff outside of steam/lutris/heroic/flathub. In those cases getting your game working could be a bit of a hassle compared to a traditional distro.

I totally see how immutability can be a draw for tinkerers and developers, but for regular users it's solving a problem that doesn't really exist, or is pretty rare if it does.

I also think there is something to say for picking a distro that's been around a long while. Hopefully Bazzite is still around in 10 years. I feel very confident Ubuntu/Mint/Fedora/Pop! still will be.

That said, I'm glad to hear you and your friend are happy with Bazzite. It seems like a really good option if you only play games from steam/heroic/lutris/flathub. A best of both worlds between a PC and a gaming console.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

The draw is that you cannot screw them up. Non-power users are the ones who will get the most out of them!

I know that I'll never get a call from my friend saying, "I ran this command I found on an Ubuntu forum, and now my system won't boot..."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

It's certainly safer though one can probably still do some damage in /etc, if determined.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Good counterpoint

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

for me immutable makes more sense on like a web browsing basic use laptop that u plan to have for a very long time. And like very basic gaming. Cuz with immutable u never have to do a full upgrade which is nice on a laptop thats gonna last like 10+ years.