I've been using Linux for only a few days and am currently dual-booting Ubuntu 26.04 with KDE Plasma 6.6.6. My system has an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F, 32 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 5060. I mainly use the computer for gaming, but games launched through Steam haven't been performing as well as expected, and the GPU seems to be struggling. I'm trying to move away from Windows eventually, so I'd appreciate beginner-friendly advice on drivers, Steam settings, Proton versions, or other tweaks that could improve gaming performance.
2 Answers
Once the graphics driver is working, you can experiment with different Proton versions in Steam’s compatibility settings. The standard Proton releases are a good starting point, while community builds such as Proton-CachyOS may improve performance or compatibility for some games. It’s also worth checking whether your chosen games have known Linux compatibility issues before changing lots of settings.
The first thing to check is whether the proprietary NVIDIA driver is installed. The basic driver included with the system may be enough for desktop use, but it usually isn’t what you want for gaming. Open the system’s software or driver settings, find the recommended NVIDIA driver for your RTX 5060, install it, and reboot. After that, test your games again. Installing the proper driver can make a huge difference.
That turned out to be the issue. Installing the NVIDIA driver took a little more effort than I expected, but both an older game and a newer one are now running smoothly. I’m still figuring out how updates work, but this was a great first step.
I’ll keep alternative Proton builds and other distributions in mind later. For now, I wanted to start with something beginner-friendly and learn the basics before making bigger changes.