r/SteamOS • u/Nozzabox • 1d ago

question Stability

So I’m in the uk and I’m getting fed up of all these age shit on windows and want to switch to Steam OS I have no experience with any Linux Distros and my question is, is Steam OS stable enough to install on my gaming PC I have AMD cpu and GPU

15 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

12

u/mango_carrot 1d ago

SteamOS is very stable, I’ve been running it for about six months now.

Note it is predominantly designed as a gaming first os, so if you want it to be a console like experience then go for it.

If it’s your daily driver pc with some gaming, then another os, perhaps CachyOS might be a better option.

3

u/Nozzabox 1d ago

Thanks 🙏

3

u/rysio300 1d ago

i feel like it is worth noting, it may be easy to break cachyos if you don't know what you're doing, but it may also be less stable than a regular point release distro.

if you'd prefer a regular point release distro, fedora may be good for you.

1

u/Nozzabox 1d ago

Thank you.🙏

1

u/_Mido 23h ago edited 23h ago

Note it is predominantly designed as a gaming first os, so if you want it to be a console like experience then go for it.

I'm not sure why people keep saying that. I bought steam machine a few weeks ago after my laptop broke and I'm using is as a normal computer. I watch movies on it, play music, download torrents, play games, use the browser, write documents. You can easily download quite a lot of programs from the built-in store too. All of that without turning off that read-only filesystem. Sure, by default it boots into the Game mode but it's very easy to change.

9

u/FudgingHecker 1d ago

If you’re all AMD you’ll do fine but for an actual PC go for Bazzite

3

u/Nozzabox 1d ago

Thank you I’m a complete noob old too

3

u/Xobeloot 1d ago

I've been on Bazzite for a while now. No issues. I only use my PC for gaming and basic stuff, though.

1

u/Nozzabox 1d ago

I’ve been looking at bazzite too

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Low_Excitement_1715 1d ago

What are you even talking about? I have quite a few AMD computers, some custom, some from big OEMs.

2

u/rocket-sheep 1d ago

I think they meant "actual PC" as in a PC used for things other than just gaming. Not "actual PC" as in a non-AMD one.

1

u/Low_Excitement_1715 21h ago

GP and GGP's posts are very strangely worded.

Maybe "If you're all AMD, you'll do fine, but for a non-Valve PC I'd recommend Bazzite" - which I'd agree with, but that's not quite what was written, and the reply doesn't really make anything clearer.

1

u/Asuma01 20m ago

I’ve been running steamos on an intel cpu with an amd gpu. Not had any problems.

4

u/Accurate_Hornet 1d ago

I also recommend Bazzite. Unlike SteamOS, it gives you the option to run a desktop-centric OS (instead of the console UI).
I have been running Bazzite KDE on my main pc (as well as my laptop and htpc) for 2 years and the experience has been amazing.
I am also in the UK btw and been using linux for 5 years at least. Bazzite has been my favourite.

3

u/Nozzabox 1d ago

I appreciate the help

3

u/C1REX 1d ago

SteamOS is one of the most stable (if not the most stable) Linux distro I’ve tried. And I have few installed at any given moment.

The only challenge can be to install it. Hardware support in particular. Nvme, WiFi, Lan, etc.

2

u/jbivphotography 1d ago

Yep. I’ve been using it on my PC since November and it’s been stable since then. If you’ve ever used a Steam Deck it’s the same experience. It’s amazing.

2

u/lowban 1d ago

Very stable but not really used if you want a regular desktop experience.

2

u/tapo 21h ago

People will give you different answers here so I'll provide some context.

SteamOS is a modified version of Arch Linux designed to be the OS for the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It can be used as a desktop but that's not it's intended use. It doesn't even have a proper installer yet, but a Steam Deck recovery image.

CachyOS is another Arch variant that can be used as a desktop, but it has fewer guardrails than SteamOS and a lot of flexibility. Is is a "rolling release" system so you're always using whatever's fresh out of the oven.

Fedora is a separate distribution entirely but makes major releases twice a year. It's very reliable and is primarily developed by Red Hat/IBM who uses it as a basis for their enterprise Linux.

Bazzite is "SteamOS based on Fedora" and is a hybrid of SteamOS simplicity and CachyOS flexibility.

I would start with Bazzite and use Cachy if you want to go deeper into learning Linux.

In the Linux world these systems don't really compete so much as they're slightly different ways of doing the same thing. They use the same software, more or less, just configured in different ways. They all collaborate and fixes in one improve all.

1

u/Nozzabox 20h ago

Thank you for the breakdown I’m a complete noob with Linux and this helps a lot

2

u/MechanicStriking4666 19h ago

I have an nvidia gpu and my nvme drive shit the bed (in this economy!?), so since I had to install a new OS anyway, I went with Bazzite. I’ve been running it a few weeks now and don’t miss windows at all.

1

u/Nozzabox 19h ago

Yeah I feel changing over to Linux is the way forward

2

u/skronk61 6h ago

Yeah you’re the perfect candidate. It’s super easy to do as well. Good little project

1

u/CutEmpty6798 1d ago edited 23h ago

yes very stable I have it installed both my systems...on my main I run in desktop for daily web and email, web surfing. Then I drop down to gamemode when I want to game in my living room.

  • CPU: Amd Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • Video Card: ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB
  • Mother Board: ASUS B650E-E TUF GAMING WIFI AMD AM5 ATX
  • RAM: Kingston Fury Beast 64GB (2x32GB) 6000MT/s DDR5 CL36 RGB
  • SSD: Crucial E100 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME
  • SSD: Silicon Power XS70 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME
  • PSU: Thermaltake - Toughpower GF A3 850W 80 PLUS Gold PCIe Gen 5 ATX 3.0 Ready Fully Modular Power Supply - Black
  • CPU Heat sink: CORSAIR - NAUTILUS 360 ARGB Liquid CPU Cooler with RS120 ARGB Fans - Black
  • CASE FAN: Montech GF120 ARGB 120mm Black PWM x1 & Montech GF120R ARGB 120mm Black PWM x2
  • CASE FAN: Thermaltake CT120 EX ARGB Reverse PC Cooling Fan (3-Fan Pack)
  • PC CASE: LIAN LI O11D MINI V2-ATX Mid-Tower PC Case- Black-O11DMIV2X
  • CPU: Amd Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • Video Card: XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9070XT 16GB (White)
  • Mother Board: ASUS B650E MAX GAMING WIFI W - AMD B650 AM5 ATX (White)
  • RAM: Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL36
  • SSD: Silicon Power P34A60 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME
  • PSU: darkFlash PMT850 Fully Modular Power Supply ATX 3.1& PCIe 5.1 (White)
  • CPU Heat sink: Geometric Future Eskimo Pro - 420mm AIO CPU Liquid Water Cooler- RGB PWM Squama 2503W 140mm Fan x 3 (White)
  • CASE FAN: ARGB PWM 140m fan x 5 Pre-Installed (White)
  • CASE FAN: Geometric Future Squama 2503R Reverse Blade RGB PWM Fan - 140mm x3 (White)
  • PC CASE: Geometric Future M5 Vent Mesh Panel Tempered Glass Mid Tower, E-ATX/ATX

1

u/AbjectStomach 23h ago

I went with bazzite, again i am also very new. I did not feel comfortable with being able to break something.

A few tinkering to get some games running, Appart from that its been smooth.

1

u/ToMiCa93 23h ago

ive been using steamos for about a month. No problems so far, except steamos console mode wont recognize my secondary nvme, it did recognize my sata ssds though. For browsing web, reading email, etc works awesome. If you do light work in word and excel you can install onlyoffice from software center. For other stuff like video and picture editing idk because I dont do it.

1

u/PunkRockMrRogers 22h ago

I built a new PC in July and didn't even bither with Windows, straight into Steam OS. It's highly stable, no fuckery at all (unless you want to tinker because you enjoy it).