linux for gaming??

[fuzzynavel]

How good is linux for gaming....

Does it come anywhere close to windows for performance...

Do you have to use windows emulation software to get games to run if they don't have a linux specific version? (lets face it not many do)

Thanks

 

[Tarrant64]

I would suggest sticking with Windows to make things simpler.

 

[TGS]

If by emulation your mean running the windows APIs, then yes. Programs that require the use of DirectX APIs, will have to run under WINE(free) or Cedega(free from CVS or 15 Bucks for 3 months).

Performance on big name titles that have been out for a bit are typically around the windows equivalent. Some are a bit lower, some reportedly higher.

It would be better to check out Winehq or Transgaming, to see if your games are supported and how well they run if they are.

 

[Mesix]

Don't plan on hardware acceleration working with that X800XL. Sorry.

(Read: Games in linux will be terrible with the X800XL) Until the next ATi driver release. (ALSO, This may only be the case for the 64 bit drivers, but I think the X800XL is just genereally unsupported as of yet)

 

[Bateluer]

ATI has horrible linux drivers, absolutely horrible. They got their windows drivers on track, but their linux drivers definitely need work.

 

[shortylickens]

You could try Ubuntu for games.
But (in general) if you plan on gaming with an x86 PC, plan on spending lots of money. This includes OS's and hardware.

If you wanna save money, try a console.

 

[fuzzynavel]

lol spend loads of money....no way...

My PC runs BF2 quite happily at 1280x1024 with most settings on high apart from the bottom 4....(I turn off lighting to stop people jumping out of shadows).I also run at 6xAA...getting around 60fps unless there are masses of explosions and I drop to about 40-50fps....

I didn't realise how bad my FX5950 was until I upgraded!!

Hardware for me is a necessary evil....I find the PC experience better than console for FPS's

 

[Parkre]

Originally posted by: fuzzynavel

I didn't realise how bad my FX5950 was until I upgraded!!

Hardware for me is a necessary evil....I find the PC experience better than console for FPS's

SO true...it's a terrible addiction...

 

[drag]

Linux is OK for gaming. Windows is better if your a 'hardcore' type.

Personally I never play very new games, so Linux is ideal for me. I have neither the desire nor the budget to go out and blow 300 dollars on a video card... Why pay for a 500 dollar card to play a 60 dollar game now when you can pay 120-175 dollars in a few months for a video card to play the same game (which costs now 30-40 bucks) and get better performance?

But that's neither here nor their. Performacne in Linux for OpenGL is the same as in Windows, for DirectX it's more spotty.. sometimes 100%, sometimes 50%. Depends on the game. The truth is that out of the 10-20 most popular games at any one time usually about 70% of them run in Linux one way or another.

Still though, generally gaming in Linux is generally: "I use linux for many other reasons then gaming, but I game in Linux to avoid having to reboot into/pay for/waste disk space for windows"

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: fuzzynavel
lol spend loads of money....no way...

My PC runs BF2 quite happily at 1280x1024 with most settings on high apart from the bottom 4....(I turn off lighting to stop people jumping out of shadows).I also run at 6xAA...getting around 60fps unless there are masses of explosions and I drop to about 40-50fps....

I didn't realise how bad my FX5950 was until I upgraded!!

Hardware for me is a necessary evil....I find the PC experience better than console for FPS's

I'm not an nvidia fan or anything but maybe you could have disabled DX9 support with in the game (I know you can do this with HL2) because I heard the 5950 had horrible DX9 support.