Linux Gaming / Bazzite

Put Steam's Gaming Mode on a Normal Desktop PC

SteamOS installs on handhelds. It is not built for ordinary desktop hardware. Bazzite is the closest thing that is, and it boots straight into the same Steam gaming mode. It runs on Fedora rather than Arch, and it is free.

Pick your image before you download

Go to the Bazzite site and start the download.

https://bazzite.gg/

The download is not one file. You choose the build first.

Select desktop hardware rather than a handheld.

Select your GPU vendor.

Select a desktop environment. KDE is the closer one to Windows and to SteamOS itself. GNOME behaves more like a Mac.

Then choose whether you want the Steam gaming mode build.

The gaming mode build boots into the console style interface and you press the power menu to reach a desktop. The plain build boots to the desktop, and you can still enter gaming mode whenever you want.

If this is your only PC, take the desktop build. You lose nothing.

Nvidia is still beta for gaming mode. Playing games on an Nvidia card works and performance is close to what you get on Windows. Gaming mode itself is the part that is not reliable. If the whole reason you are doing this is the console experience, use an AMD card.

Two AMD GPUs can break display detection. A Ryzen desktop chip with an integrated GPU sitting alongside a discrete Radeon can leave gamescope unable to find your display, and gamescope is what gaming mode runs on. Disable the integrated GPU in the BIOS if you hit it. Not every combination is affected.

Write the USB

Download Balena Etcher on the machine you are flashing from.

Install it and open it.

Click Flash from file and select the Bazzite image.

Plug in your USB drive.

Click Select target and pick that drive.

Click Flash and accept the UAC prompt.

A USB 3.0 stick is fine. A faster drive shortens the install and nothing else.

Windows will offer to format the drive when the flash finishes. Click Cancel. The drive now holds a Linux filesystem Windows cannot read, so Windows assumes it is broken. Formatting it there destroys the installer you just wrote.

Install it

Boot the target machine from the USB drive.

Click Install and pick your language.

Open Installation destination and select the drive to install to.

Click Done and let it partition automatically.

Open User creation and make your user now. It saves a step later.

Set up the network before you start, not after.

Connect wifi at this screen so the installer can pull updates as it goes.

Click Begin installation.

Reboot when it offers to.

First boot

The welcome flow is the same one a Steam Deck runs.

Set language and time zone.

Let it run its update pass.

Log into Steam.

Use the QR code with the Steam mobile app. It is far quicker than typing a password with a controller.

Pair a controller from the Steam menu under Bluetooth. An Xbox pad pairs the same way it does on Windows.

Press the Steam button and A together to reach the in game settings. The performance overlay lives there.

Do the desktop pass

Switch to the desktop from the power menu.

A welcome screen appears with optional installs. This is worth doing on day one.

Decky Loader for plugins.

Decky framegen, which swaps DLSS for FSR 3 upscaling and frame generation on AMD cards.

EmuDeck for emulation.

Sunshine for streaming out.

OpenRGB for lighting.

OpenRazer for Razer peripherals, and Wootility for Wooting keyboards.

Tick the ones you want and install. You will be asked for the password you set during install.

Update it

Open the start menu and search for system update.

Run it and press y to confirm.

It pulls everything current from the repositories.

Press r to reboot when it finishes and enter your password.

Check your games first

ProtonDB lists compatibility per game.

https://www.protondb.com/

If a game misbehaves, look there for launch options or a specific Proton version that fixes it.

Most things run now. Monster Hunter Wilds worked on day one.

Anti-cheat is the one thing that still forces a dual boot. Fortnite does not run here, and that is a decision by its anti-cheat rather than a driver problem you can fix. If someone in the house plays it, keep a Windows install on the side. Check ProtonDB for the specific games you care about before you wipe anything.