Ive not had a PC or gaming PC in 15 years. I want to get back into it now.
Im fairly against windows. I’d like to try a Linux system and thought this would be a fun way to get into Linux.
Ive been looking at some black friday sales here Newegg sales
Its been so long since ive looked at PC specs I feel like im completely new. Ive read that an AMD GPU can be easier for Linux so I started there.
So Ive got two questions!
What are some must have specs in you opinion to run most modern games, and would you have a #1 recommend for a prebuilt to get started with?
What disto is best for a total newbie who wants to use it for gaming and eventually transition for anything/everything else?
People have been recommending bazzite for newbies who want to game. I haven’t tries it but have found PopOS to be very easy and stable. Pop does simplify nvidia support as well but I run an AMD GPU for the reasons you mentioned.
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What are some must have specs in you opinion to run most modern games
There are none. Choose the best ones to fit your budget.
would you have a #1 recommend for a prebuilt to get started with?
I don’t really recommend prebuilts. If you look up reviews most of them are just awful. But iBuyPower seems to have a decent reputation. The Steam Machine will be available sometime next year but its a relatively underpowered machine built for the living room. Not sure what your budget looks like or how you plan to play but that could be a good option. However it should be noted that it’s not upgradable. I’ve saved buckets of money by upgrading my PC over the last 20 years.
As for distros, there is obviously no “best”. The most commonly recommended one for beginners is Linux Mint. I recommend Zorin. If you want the best possible gaming performance, you could go with Cachy. It’s also available with Steam’s “Game Mode”, which will give you that handheld/living room experience.
There are none. Choose the best ones to fit your budget.
You’re Right but I think giving a baseline for „Most modern games“ would still be helpful
Would you like to run “most modern games” at 720, 1080, 1440 or 4k? 30, 60, 90, 144, 240, or 480Hz? How about graphics? Low, Medium, High? Ray Tracing? Upscaling? Frame Generation?
It’s just not that simple.
I agree with you about avoiding prebuilts. They cost more for than the base parts by a decent margin, which can easily be avoided by watching a YouTube video on “How to build a PC 15 min” and 2 hours of your time.
The AMD rx 9060 xt 16gb GPU looks good.
Then choose whether you want DDR4 or DDR5 RAM, and based on that pick choose a modern Ryzen CPU. For a CPU cooler, I recommend something by Arctic. For example, I got the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO used (because used is basically as good as new but way cheaper).
For motherboard company, I would avoid ASUS because of the recent security vulnerabilities. Maybe try ASRock, as they are budget friendly and aren’t lacking. Really anything is fine as long as your CPU fits the slot (and so already should your RAM if you choose a CPU compatible with the right version).
Get an NVME SSD with at least 1 TB of spacs and a HDD for extra, slower storage. You can find some good deals on here: https://diskprices.com/
Get a case that can fit your graphics card and CPU cooler. Also should have space in the front and back to channel wires
Use an online power supply calculator to figure what wattage of PSU you need for your parts. You should get a PSU that is Gold or Platinum rated and prefer ably modular wires.
As a noob why Gold or platinum psus?
They are more energy efficient and better quality. At the very least get a bronze rated one. Only use reputable brands. A bad or cheap PSU could be defective and fry all the parts connected to your board and cause a fire.
