Hello all,
At around the mid Nov this year I had enough with Windows especially the latest 23H2 pack that forced a lot of what I call malware back on my system when I had put several blockers from being re-installed.
A bit of a background. I have been using Windows since 3.1 with MSDOS 6.2 since forever and I have seen everything from Microsoft. At the same time I'm a senior Microsoft engineer and have been for more than a decade.
Back in 2018 I decided to maximise my hosting game server and installed Ubuntu. I didn't have the greatest of times but I always enjoy the tinkering process of solving something, so I stuck with it.
Fast-forward to Nov this year, by chance I stumble upon a YouTube video show-casing Garuda Dragonized edition and how it performed in gaming. I was very skeptical as I tried gaming on Linux back in my college days and it was unworkable and unplayable.
Having had enough with Windows, I took the plunge. Now something about me, when I take the plunge on something, I'm going in both hands and legs. There isn't a compromise.
Created the boot drive, backed up my data to my NAS and purged the system from Windows. Within 30 mins of installing the OS and updating (slow internet, the OS installed everything from drivers to tools that I needed for gaming. I was surprised to be honest and I actually spend the rest of the afternoon making sure that everything was working by running benchmarks and low and behold, everything was. The CPU (5800X3D) was boosting at default values, the GPU (6800XT) was stable with the built in OC profile and was actually pushing better maximums than I had in Windows.
After my satisfaction that everything was good, it was time to test out and real gaming. I installed Satisfactory as that was the game that I was playing just before the purged. I didn't have hopes as it is still really access, but to my surprise, worked first try (to add, I did follow the Proton instructions on how to setup Steam prior).
I tried several other games such as Borderlands 3, Hunt Showdown, Assetto Corsa and Planetside 2 and all worked. The only issue I have is that Forged Alliance Forever is currently bugged on Arch and I'm unable to launch custom games but weirdly enough, I can play the game no probs without FAF.
I know this is a Linux forum but to anyone that is browsing, thinking of taking the plunge. Do it! But make sure that you prep before doing so as without prep, you are not going to be smooth sailing.
I'm not personally familiar with PopOS, but in reading up real quick it looks like it's selling point is baked in proprietary drivers.
If you want a "just works with my hardware" distro, that sounds like a solid choice. But, since you're technically inclined I might suggest avoiding it. Proprietary drivers come with their own problems and I think there's value in having to consciously choosing to use them, which will make you more able to handle/remove them if needed. There is some personal bias in this I admit. I don't care for proprietary anything if I have a choice.