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The original was posted on /r/linux_gaming by /u/NihmarThrent on 2023-10-08 01:31:22.

I used windows all my life and I actually like it, never had major issues or anything. So why am I posting here? Well, the other day I read of rumors of windows going subscription model and, given that I’m going to start a mortgage in a few months, I thought “Nope, gotta find a why to use my pc and game with it, without paying”, hence, Linux.

I decided to try Pop OS because I’m a noob and because it had pre-installed Nvidia drivers.

Now, to the meat of the post: this OS is epic, or maybe proton is epic, or definitely both.

Given that I had to tinker a bit to make GOverlay work (had to build it and had to reinstall Heroic Games Launcher because I installed it as flatpak (IMHO pop store is at fault because it didn’t tell me this)) once Steam and Heroic Games Launcher are setup, it works suuuuuper smoothly.

My main benchmark for my pc and any of its hardware update in the last 8 years has been The Witcher 3, my favourite game. In the last year it has become more relevant because the next gen update broke the stability of the game inserting a lot of stutter which I couldn’t find a way to remove. But know on Linux the experience is utterly smooth, so incredible I couldn’t believe it! Same average FPS as windows but 0.1% way above what windows was able to achieve (am talking about 0.1% 60 FPS on Linux and 40 on Windows).

Also, as a bonus, my CPU is 10°C cooler while delivering the same performance. I don’t know how but I like it.

I’ll test some more games in the near future, maybe I’ll write something about those (Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk 2077 are my next targets, the first because maybe with Linux I’ll be able to not stutter around Hogsmeade, the latter because I won’t to see if there will be some improvements in the average FPS)

EDIT: System specs and some numbers

System: i3 12100F GTX 1070 16 GB DDR4 3200 MHz SATA SSD 500 GB

The Witcher 3 Complete Edition settings: TAAU HBAO+ High SSR No motion blur No Hairworks Everything else to high except grass density to low

How I tested: it is a circular path I devised in Novigrad which intersects some of the most populous places of the city

Results: Windows 11: 80 AVG, 50 1%, 40 0.1% Pop OS: 80 AVG, 65 1%, 60 0.1%