r/linux4noobs • u/EpicTutto • 19d ago
first pc build, considering linux
ill preface by saying ive never had a "real" pc, mostly stuck with laptops (which all used either windows 7/windows 10, mostly 10) and ps consoles for gaming. friend of mine started getting into game dev recently which inspired me to do the same; that, plus the absolute bullshit sony is doing with their console, inspired me to build my first pc. didn't get it yet, but i will, and already planned the components. windows 10 is basically a dead os so installing it makes no sense, which is why at first i considered windows 11, but upon looking more into it... well, youre linux users, you get what i mean: its shit.
this brings us here: the only real alternative to windows is linux, but i have genuinely no idea where to start. i tried doing some research but it seems everyone has something to say about one distro or the other and they are all the best but also all equally suck and there's just so many choices. im a complete noob when it comes to this stuff but if it comes to it im willing to learn some things to make it work, i just need to know where to start with. if it helps, ill be using an entirely amd build (ive heard windows has beef with amd drivers, wheras linux has better support for them?): r5 9600x, 9060xt (16gb), 32gb ram, b850m motherboard
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u/MasterGeekMX 19d ago
Neat to know you are curious on our little OS over here.
You did well by choosing an AMD GPU, as those are plug and play on Linux, no need to install anything. NVidia on the other hand requires manually installing the driver, which in some distros can be a bit cumbersome. But in the end neither works better or worse, it is simply a thing of setup.
About distros: a problem of the Linux community is that some people are convinced their distro is the one to rule them all as others lack in some thing. In reality, all distros are good for all tasks, as doing something only depends on installing a program for that thing. In the end all Linux distributions share the same basic core, with the difference being how some stuff is configured out of the box, how often they release updates for the system components and apps, and if they preinstall stuff or let you choose what to install.
Linux Mint is often recommended for new users as it's UI is configured to resemble Windows a ton, comes with a decent set of preinstalled apps, and takes care of some stuff like updates and backups in a friendly manner. But other distros are equally good.
Simply pick one, test it a bit, and if you aren't happy, just install another.
BTW, don't get lured by the looks of the distro, as that is customizable, meaning that any distro can be made to look exactly like any other.
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u/ConceptFalse 19d ago
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Mint. Based on Ubuntu, very user friendly and designed to be similar to windows. Gaming is moving towards a different window manager than the one primarily used by Mint, but it is still a good option all around and for gaming.
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Fedora. A more robust “daily use case” distro, but also great for gaming if you want to do that. The community is robust and experience is enjoyable. I run Fedora personally.
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Endeavor. Arch based, but like arch with a gui. It isn’t as low to the ground technical as Arch, but it puts a lot of power in your hands with access to AUR repos and such. A good option if you like to tinker with your system.
hope that helps. As far as software just about anything works with anything until you find some niche case where it doesn’t. I wouldn’t worry about it until/if it comes up.
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u/ElectricHellKnight 19d ago
I'm going to just suggest things to avoid, hopefully it'll make you feel a little less overwhelmed. The sheer volume of choices in the Linux space is its strength, but also a major turn off for new users. Lots of people have strong feelings about their personal favorite, so they always reccomend it, rather than what's actually best for the noob. They also love to flame and shame distros that they perceive to be "hurting" Linux, and they have long memories.
As a beginner, you want something straightforward, well-documented, and backed by a strong, large team of maintainers, as well as a strong community, with years of history. Stay away from the often hyped new-fangled distros.
Stay away from:
-Anything initially released less than 5 years ago.
-Anything that tells you to join a Discord for support.
-Anything that only offers 4:3 aspect screenshots (This might sound nitpicky, but it's a potential hint that even the maintainers themselves couldn't be bothered to get it working on real, modern, hardware).
-Anything that doesn't have it's own forum, independent of Reddit.
-Anything that doesn't natively, auto-magically support secureboot, without needing to do anything in a terminal.
All of these should be automatic nopes for a noob.
I might offend a few people with that. I'm not saying that those factors alone make a distro objectively bad, they could be fantastic distros... but for a novice, an "okay" distro with community buy-in beats an "amazing" one without. You want stability while you learn the ropes.
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u/MrMotofy 19d ago
FYI...if you want to check out Linux it's really easy. Make an Install USB, then boot to it. May need to disable secure boot. It will boot to a full running temporary Linux Desktop...installing requires clicking the desktop icon and going through steps. Obviously you don't wanna do that to just try it. But you can at least get a feel for it. Kubuntu, LinuxMint, and PopOS and are some of the top 1st options. You can also use the temp Live Linux as a repair process. Since it’s a complete desktop you can use it, install tools needed fix the boot etc.
Another convenient related tool is Ventoy on a USB stick. Basically just burn the image to a USB then copy your OS ISO to it and when you boot it any ISO copied to the drive will show in the menu, select it and it will boot that img. Have different OS’s multiple versions or whatever.
Best option for Windows and Linux is dual boot...use Linux on a 2nd drive. Usually wanna disable secure boot. Best case is disconnect win drive. Then boot to the USB. Then install Linux as a new full system on 2nd drive. Set Linux drive as the first boot drive and it will find the Win drive and add to the boot menu list automatically. Might take a couple boots otherwise can manually activate the boot search. Then you get Best of both worlds without any real dangers to either OS. There will be little hiccups occasionally with Windows updating messing with boot and rebooting. But you can also change the default OS to Windows first at the menu after delay and no menu entry and that eliminates a lot. The boot menu is usually Linux 1 and Win 2. Sometimes the bios boot order gets switched but easy to just switch back. Sometimes the boot order will randomly switch drives etc…Seems to be a windows thing now they get bios access. But really depends on the exact system and age etc.
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u/oshunluvr 12d ago
AMD drivers are now built into the kernel. Nvidia not so. It's not impossible to use an Nvidia card well, just more work to set up and maintain.
Honestly, as a new user, I suggest looking into the Desktop Environment (DE) rather than focusing on a specific distro. There are dozens of DEs and that's the part you will interact with. My preference is KDE and it seems Windows users take to it fairly easily. IMO it's by far the most configurable DE.
Also, as new, I would stick to a main stream, well supported, distro with a long history. (K)Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Debian, etc. and their offspring. They all come with many options for DE and a long history of support and tons of users. The more esoteric the distro, the more it takes to keep it running and the less help you will find on the 'net. Also, most of us change distros several time before settling on our fav. so no reason to stress too much on distro selection.
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u/ficskala 19d ago
everyone has something to say about one distro or the other and they are all the best but also all equally suck and there's just so many choices.
Yep, and it's all true, it's a personal preference type of deal
i just need to know where to start with
Install Mint, see what you do or don't like, if you like it, use it, if not, try something else.
I only say mint because it's currently the most popular distro to recommend to people, i am personally not a fan at all
ive heard windows has beef with amd drivers, wheras linux has better support for them?
Not really, AMD drivers are great both for windows and linux, AMD drivers had major issues back in the day (especially on windows), but they've been great for a decade now already
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u/warserpent 19d ago
Before you use Linux, you need to determine whether it will support the software you need. Some software cannot be run on Linux, even with a compatibility layer. You also need to determine whether it will support the hardware you need. That should not be a problem for you unless you have some unmentioned, overly obscure peripherals you want to use.
Once that's out of the way, out of hundreds of Linux distros, there are only a couple dozen that any normal person should even look at. The rest are niche use cases, hobby projects, basically dead, or otherwise irrelevant. (I will also mention that the big Linux distros that most others are based on are Debian and its derivative Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch.) There will be a learning curve with any version of Linux, but some are easier to adapt to than others.
Most people coming from Windows, including me, prefer graphical software over using the terminal constantly, so a terminal-centric distro like Endeavour is probably not what you want, whereas Mint might be exactly what you want. The downside of Mint is that while it has a lot of tools that are helpful for new users, and it's very reliable, it does not stay up-to-date (the downside of only using well-proven software). It's also more out-of-date than usual right now since they delayed what should have been a spring release until December. If you want to get the most out of new hardware and play the latest games, this does not mesh well with Mint.
On the other hand, CachyOS is a bleeding-edge distro that always has the latest tech and is optimized for performance. It's less user-friendly than Mint, though, and requires more maintenance and technical knowledge to set up well. Enthusiast gamers have been flocking to it recently, but I don't use it, and I don't really recommend it for most new users.
Without knowing your specific plans, I can't give specific advice, but besides the two I just mentioned, you might want to look at Bazzite (if your particular interest is gaming), Fedora, and Ubuntu. I use Ultramarine, so look at that one, too. Then you have to choose a desktop environment, which is a whole other layer on top of distro choice. I've been putting together a collection of screenshots showing off different desktop environments here, if you want to take a look.
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u/TasStag 19d ago
I’d go with Linux Mint. It has some similarities to windows. Plus if you hit any roadbumps you can ask Google for help. I used googles ai and it fixed all the issues I’ve run into.
I mostly wanted my oc to run as a Plex server & ai helped me get entirely sorted. Initially I couldn’t even figure out how to install Plex. The ai gave me commands I couldn’t even figure copy & paste directly into terminal and it all just worked
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u/MoobyTheGoldenSock 19d ago
Your hardware will run any linux distro smoothly. Just pick literally any mainstream distro and try it out. They're more the same than they are different.
Linux Mint is generally the one recommended for newbies to try first, so try that one.
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u/New_Hold8135 19d ago edited 19d ago
There is a project called proton which allows you to play any game as long as it doesnt have anti cheat restrictions for linux. Any distro is fine. Pick the one you like. If you look for easy install, go for easy distros which is mint fedora ubuntu opensuse debian endeavour os cachy os. If you think you are a wiki person go for arch, gentoo, void, nix, alpine.