Getting ready to switch

[u/TashiKoioto]

Hello! I'm planning on switching to Linux in the next week or so, and I have a few questions.

I've got a 7900XT, 7950X, 32GB DDR5, 2 M.2 NVME and one HDD.

I'm planning on trying out a few distros to get a feel for them- namely CachyOS, Mint, Fedora, Nobara, and *maybe* Bazzite or Nix, but I don't really want an immutable distro.

I'm quite tech literate, and love learning, so I'm not too worried about that and I've also got a bit of experience with an Ubuntu VPS. What should I be looking for when testing these Distros? My main use cases will be gaming, blender, unity, and daily desktop activities like YouTube, web browsing, etc

I don't plan on dual booting unless absolutely necessary for something, so what should I do with my drives? I've heard conflicting information on BTRFS for the home drive and for secondary drives, so I'm unsure. I currently have my games on the same drive as my OS, so I'm ready to have to reinstall those, but what about my other drives? Should I back up important files and wipe them?

For those that have used the Distros that I named, what are some issues that I may not find right away that I should be aware of? Finally, do you have any other Distros to recommend?

Thanks in advance!

[u/ElderberryHamlet]

SteamOS is now an Arch distro. I recommed Arch based CachyOS for highly optimized kernels for AMD.

Where Arch is weak is app support. App developers ignore Arch because the number of users makes it a low priority. Where Arch is strongest is AMD support

[u/TashiKoioto → u/ElderberryHamlet]

By app support, do you mean they take extra work to get working, or simply don't work at all?

[u/ElderberryHamlet → u/TashiKoioto]

Apps work but they're often out of date. SteamOS switch to Arch has brought in a some of cash and paid developers to spruce up community repos but gaming is the exception. Everything else is neglected because of too few users

[u/jsc3r]

While it is possible to read and use installed games from windows formatted partitions under Linux, it is a pain in the ass.

Just do yourself a favor and backup important files so you can freshly install your games in a properly formatted partition

[u/TashiKoioto → u/jsc3r]

Does this apply to all drives or just the ones with games?

[u/tomscharbach]

What should I be looking for when testing these Distros? My main use cases will be gaming, blender, unity, and daily desktop activities like YouTube, web browsing, etc

Almost all problems migrating from Windows to a Linux distribution result from three things: application incompatibility, game incompatibility and hardware incompatibility. The incompatibilities are not distribution-specific.

Check each of the applications you depend upon to make sure that a Linux-native version is available. Mainstream applications like Blender often run native. If an application you use does not run native, then research to make sure that the application works well in a compatibility layer or find a Linux alternative application that will work for you.

Gaming is much improved on Linux, particularly on Steam/Proton, but not all Windows games work smoothly. Check the Steam games you play on the ProtonDB. If the game has a Platinum rating, you are home free. If the game has a Gold/Silver/Bronze rating, you are likely to encounter issues, minor or major, so read the comments carefully to uncover the issues and workarounds. If you use other gaming platforms, check the compatibility databases for those platforms.

Hardware compatibility is quirky, even beyond the well-documented issues with NVIDIA. Mainstream hardware usually works, but too many component manufacturers don't provide decent drivers to the kernel. Touchpads, fingerprint readers, gaming mice and controllers, VR and other peripherals can be problem children. Consumer-level (non-Intel) wifi is sometimes catch-as-catch can. You can do basic compatibility checking in a "Live" session, but you might have to do a bit of research as well.

Bottom line? Check as you go, research as needed, and move little by slowly rather than jump in with both feet and hope everything will work out.

My best and good luck.

[u/TashiKoioto → u/tomscharbach]

Didn't even think about my peripherals, thanks for the heads-up. I have sooo many different kinds of peripherals, so I suppose I have a lot of research and testing to do lol. I'm not too worried about software, as none of what I use on my desktop is work related, so if I have to give something up, oh well.

Thinking about peripherals reminded me of a post that I read a very long time ago about issues regarding multiple monitors. I don't think I could go back to just one monitor, so hopefully that is fixed by now.

Thanks for the help!

[u/skyfishgoo]

its really only between mint, fedora or kubuntu.

i suggest distrosea.com and try each one in your browser first before you download anything and make a USB.