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by jcastro 903 days ago
> But I suppose there won't be optimizations for any combinations of GPU/CPU/RAM like Valve and AMD do for the Steamdeck?

I run a homegrown gaming htpc with an R5-5600, Radeon 6800XT, and then the Xbox wireless dongle and 4 Xbone controllers with Bazzite.

You'd be surprised at how much of heavy lifting is done by the kernel and mesa stacks, that's where the real work is done. Fedora does a good job pulling in kernel and mesa updates relatively quickly and the steam client handles the proton updates.

There's also great synergy between Bazzite, ChimeraOS, and Nobara, which are all gaming focused distros. Lots of code sharing and teamwork happening there, which is awesome to see. Everything is open for people to hack on.

It acts like a big steamdeck, all the performance overlays work, all the xbox controllers work ootb, fsr works, etc. - you do need to pair the controllers with each controller but that's a one time thing. I've personally completed God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Baldur's Gate 3 and other AAA campaigns in 4k. And then when I need to travel all my game progress is on my deck. It's a full multi device experience.

But to set expectations: VR and multiplayer games that don't opt into EAC or use kernel-level anti cheat are a no-op, as well as anything Epic makes. To me it's just like any console platform, you get lots of games, and some games you can't play. At this stage in the game both Windows and Linux suffer from the same UX shit show, horrible third party launchers are the worst problem with either set up.

Disclaimer: I'm involved in universal blue but don't directly contribute to bazzite.

3 comments

Interesting that you don't contribute to Bazzite - your name is the only one I associate with it, because I've seen your YouTube videos.
I've also built myself an HTPC for gaming on, and it works amazing since Valve gave us the Steam OS 3 UI.

However I did it a while ago and went down the HoloISO route. Would you recommend that I switch out for something like Bazzite, or are the benefits good but not *that* good that I'd have to spend a day reinstalling all my games?

I ran chimeraOS for years and it worked fine, I switched to dogfood more than anything else. If your system is working there's no reason to mess with it.
Awesome, cheers!
Totally off point, but as a gardener and systems builder, I love phrase "homegrown gaming htpc" gives it a sense of organically growing over time.