How to Ensure Good Performance of Games and Emulators on Linux

For those looking for a better gaming experience, Linux can be an excellent option that’s often considered to be a realistic alternative to Windows. With SteamOS integration, better support for GPU, and many other enhancements, gaming with Linux is definitely doable.

Similar to Windows, you might not get the most pleasing experience right from the start. Therefore, in this article, we want to share a few tips to game and emulate better on Linux.

How to Ensure Good Performance of Games and Emulators on Linux

Get The Right Driver 

If you’ve been using Linux for quite some time, you might know that it’s not as easy as expected to use any GPU drivers. Most GPU drivers are heavily supported for Mac and Windows, which is understandable as the two are the most popular options people use today.

Although there are some alternatives you may consider, one of which is the third-party drivers, they won’t work as well as the real drivers. 

But now, everything seems to be changing. Most AMD graphic drivers are available widely, and also support Linux, while NVIDIA also offers their most advanced drivers. However, if you want to find an answer to which one is better between NVIDIA and AMD, in terms of driver support, we highly recommend AMD. 

However, that’s okay if you do have an NVIDIA card; you don’t need to throw it away. The NVIDIA + Intel combo has been magnificent with the performance, surpassing AMD + Intel. If you have an AMD CPU, combine it with an AMD GPU to make everything better.

So the key here is to get the hardware and drivers right, and you’ll start seeing some improvements almost immediately. Aside from the computer, you can also enhance the overall gaming experience with proper peripherals, like better controllers and audio. Make sure their drivers are up to date as well.

Have A Better IP

If you tend to use the desktop online most of the time. One way you do it is by using a dedicated IP. While keeping yourself safe from terrible security risks, dedicated IP can also improve access. Thus, for a better and safer gaming experience, we highly recommend using a dedicated IP

It’s highly important to set a better IP, especially if you tend to play online games. As you probably know, online game always uses your actual IP to detect any nearest server that can be connected. 

And, of course, having your IP displayed on public can be dangerous. Thus, using a VPN service that also provides a dedicated IP is highly recommended.  

Boost the CPU

When using Linux OS, you can also tell the CPU to work harder to get the performance improved. It is actually the common method most gamers use as it’s considered essential for gaming. And what’s better is that it’s not that hard to actually crank the CPU’s performance. All you need here is a tool, cpufrequtils.

To install it, you can enter the command: “sudo apt install cpufrequtils”. Then, you can simply launch the software from the drawer or search for its name, and then use it to make your CPU’s performance more optimal. You can do it by selecting all CPU’s, and then setting Governor to Performance. Finally, click apply to finalize the option. After you adjust the setting, you’ll notice a difference. 

However, there are cases when the performance isn’t as good as expected. It’s worsened even. This is mainly because the game uses integrated graphic cards instead. 

To overcome this problem, you can right-click the game, and select to launch it using Discrete Graphic Cards. Activating this option ensures that the game will use the desktop’s GPU to handle the graphics. That way, you may notice an increase in the performance.

Enable Game Mode

Just the same as Windows, you can also activate the Game Mode on Linux. However, the methods might not be as easy, and that’s quite expected from this OS. In the latest Ubuntu version, the Game Mode is already included. 

If you don’t have it somehow, you can use this code: “sudo apt install gamemode”, or “sudo dnf install gamemode” if you use CentOS.

When properly installed, the game mode activates immediately after the game is launched. If it’s not activated somehow, you can use “gamemoderun” command, complete with the game’s process name.

Update Your Games

Now, the drivers are not the only thing you should keep updated. You also need to update your games because these updates often bring bug-fixing patches and tweaks that are helpful in diminishing previous technical issues and enhancing the game’s performance. 

Of course, by updating your game, you may have a guaranteed better gaming performance on Linux. If you want to use Steam, just use SteamOS to avoid the manual kernel updates that might be frustrating for newcomers.

Thus, this OS will simplify things. Plus, we believe that most of you are familiar with Steam’s UI. So, it won’t be hard for you to deal with the updates as they will be given automatically to those who own the games.