What's the best way to use Windows only for gaming?

[Snowy]

I've been using Linux (POP_OS) for about the last ~6 months or so to do mostly development work and browse the web. I really like the UI and the user experience thus far has been really nice. Currently I have dual boot and go into Windows currently right now if I want to game or if there's something specific that's saved in my Windows environment.

I've really been thinking lately about making the switch to Linux full time and only using Windows for gaming. Is my dual boot setup the best way to go for this? I seem to remember reading once another option is the remote desktop into a Windows VM and game there.. Not sure what the benefits / drawbacks are one way or another.

Thanks!

 

[Space_Ranger]

It's a slight performance penalty (for gaming in a Windows VM) but you might be able to pull off a Windows Gaming VM with GPU passthrough.

You probably will get decent information from : https://www.reddit.com/r/VFIO/

 

[LazyGamer]

Is my dual boot setup the best way to go for this?

Generally yes. This is what I do with my XPS15 laptop, using the second SSD slot to host Linux distro installs. I may have up to half a dozen distros installed that I'll multi-boot between depending on what's hot or if there's a particular problem I'm trying to solve. Most-used distros have been Fedora, the Nobara gaming-spinoff of Fedora (highly recommend if you want something capable from first reboot that takes RPMs), Mint, Debian Mint, KDE Neon (KDE has been working hard on Wayland support and I prefer their approach to DEs over Gnome's 'we're Apple but also not' approach), and a few others.

EndeavorOS, which is Arch-based and gaming-focused, seemed to work pretty well too if you're interested in more bleeding-edge software releases.

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It's a slight performance penalty (for gaming in a Windows VM) but you might be able to pull off a Windows Gaming VM with GPU passthrough.

You probably will get decent information from : https://www.reddit.com/r/VFIO/

If one has all the right hardware and is willing to fight the uphill battle, this could be an interesting project. Like most things not Windows (including Linux itself), the more hacked-together the solution, the more moving parts, the more things can break and the more things that can break the system, and the fewer things that can be foreseen. VFIO just expands that horizon of uncertainty even further in my opinion, especially when talking about a system that does revenue-producing work as well as gaming. In both situations, most folks just want the darn the to work.

 

[Space_Ranger]

If one has all the right hardware and is willing to fight the uphill battle, this could be an interesting project. Like most things not Windows (including Linux itself), the more hacked-together the solution, the more moving parts, the more things can break and the more things that can break the system, and the fewer things that can be foreseen. VFIO just expands that horizon of uncertainty even further in my opinion, especially when talking about a system that does revenue-producing work as well as gaming. In both situations, most folks just want the darn the to work.

Oh.. We are in agreement here. I didn't state it was the greatest solution. It's just one way I've seen people attempt it.

 

[LeRoy_Blanchard]

I think it can depend on what games. Some games can run on Linux just fine. I mean the steam deck is a Linux OS.

 

[Brian_B]

There are a ton of ways to do it

But best would be a dedicated computer or dual boot scenario - where the gaming setup has a windows install that is only used for gaming. Direct hardware access, no emulation or translation. Latest WHQL drivers. No bloat from “other stuff”.

It’s not the most exciting way. Nor is it the only way. But it’s how you will get the best and most consistent performance out of the widest possible number of titles