Linux

As others have already (somewhat) alluded to; it's best to buy a laptop from a company that offers devices on which Linux users are first-class citizens. Therefore, any device that specifically fits your needs (hardware-wise) from either NovaCustom, Star Labs, System76, Tuxedo etc should fit the bill. Furthermore, it's worth noting that Nvidia GPUs have a known bad track record on Linux. The possibility exists that you won't even notice it on any of the devices sold by any of the aforementioned vendors. However, I'd argue it's still mindful to be cautious.

Should I better buy all of AMD (if yes, which CPI, GPU) or Intel/Nvidia? Or Intel CPU and AMD GPU? Which combination is the right one with best performance for a casual gamer? I prefer FPS games, if that’s important…

AMD has been doing very good for some time and the fact that the Steam Deck is powered by AMD is very telling of what the current status quo is. However, I don't think it's a hard requirement. Sure, going full-AMD has it's merits, but you should be fine regardless.

Last year's Asus Zephyrus G14 is a full AMD computer and should work fine on Linux: https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-zephyrus/rog-zephyrus-g14-2022-series/

The upcoming Framework Laptop 16 has a replaceable Radeon graphics card. Looks very promising: https://frame.work/products/laptop16-diy-amd-7040

Don't touch ones with an NVidia GPU. Linux drivers from NVidia suck.

I prefer FPS games, if that's important...

Which games exactly? Many popular multiplayer FPS games don't work on Linux, due to the anticheat software employed by them.

See: https://areweanticheatyet.com/?search=&sortOrder=desc&sortBy=status

I'm buying a Framework 16 without the GPU because I'm more in the market for a 7800M when that comes out

But I'll be doing integrated meanwhile, it's quite powerful

System76 has laptops with Linux preinstalled, so they may be a good option to check. https://system76.com/laptops-powerful I have not personally owned one yet, but I've heard some good things about them. Other people may have more input though.

A few more details would go a long way in offering actually helpful recommendations.

• What is your budget?
  • Without that, I'm just going to recommend the highest end possible machine, which may be unaffordable to you.
• What country are you in?
  • There could be an amazing deal on right now, but only for US residents; this won't help you if you don't live there.

Tuxedo sells some gaming capable laptops with Linux preinstalled as well. I have an older one, always worked well.

I am very happy with my ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA402RJ. It's small, powerful, not too expensive, has a recent AMD GPU (RX6800S) / CPU (Ryzen 9 6900), upgradeable RAM, good resolution, and a gorgeous screen (great for photo development too).

I picked up a 2022 G14 RX6700s about a week ago from Beat Buy for $750. I added a 32GB memory stick to bring it up to 40GB. I also replaced the SSD with a 2TB 980 Pro. Since it's all AMD it works without any futzing. I'm running openSUSE Tumbleweed and so far it all just works. Sleep, dual GPU's, everything. I did add the AMD P-State flag which helped battery life tremendously. Even sleep just worked out of the box which is the first time I've ever had that experience.

My normal workload runs MS SQL Server in a docker container, two distroboxes for specific software, Outlook and Teams PWA apps, VSCode, Azure Data Studio, Firefox, and a couple of terminals windows, and it sits at about 8.5GB of memory idle. With Bluetooth connected and streaming YouTube Music and doing development I'm able to get about 7-8 hours of battery life.

I only play D3, D4, World of Warships, and Guild Wars 2. It plays those games without any issue even at 4K. I do recognize those games aren't Starfield, so keep that in mind. For me, it works great and it been the easiest experience with Linux I've had.

At least with Tumbleweed. I tried Pop_OS! first and it worked great, until launching games on Steam froze X11 and required me jumping to a TTY screen to kill everything. So far Tumbleweed with Distrobox is giving me the best of everything and I'm loving it.

The big issue is the distro you run and how it deals with secure boot. I can't tell you anything about gaming. I can tell you a lot about the kernel side because I play with AI, got a machine recently, and did a bunch of research.

The unfortunate side of AMD in laptops is that we are on a major point of deprecation and change. AMD is trying to spar with Nvidia by developing HIPS. HIPS is the API bridge between ROCm and CUDA. The target generation for HIPS is the 7k series. Behind the scenes the 7k series API is now managed by the same team as the AMD enterprise stuff. This means that 7k is a totally different product lineage. It doesn't have a massive impact for gamers because most of what is happening in gaming is done in user space with software that interfaces with the kernel module. The average gamer doesn't really interact much with this stuff. The only things they experience are issues with the kernel module as it relates to secure boot and UEFI.

However, when it comes to long term support (mostly proprietary related/but that is most gaming), anything prior to the 7k series is likely to get dropped sooner rather than later simply because HIPS is a bridge layer that makes API calls work the same for AMD and Nvidia; it is a path of least resistance thing.

The best deal IMO is still Nvidia when it comes to laptop hardware. I really wish this was not the case, but this is what a few weeks of research seemed to indicate. The main issue with secure boot is if the UEFI bios supports user generated custom keys, and if you are capable of the task of generating your own keys. If you do this, you can secure your own Nvidia kernel driver. This can be their binary blob driver or the one built from the open source code they provide for the kernel side module only.

If you do not want to make your own keys or if you buy a machine that does not support user generated custom keys (likely), you need to run Fedora. Fedora has a system that uses a special key signed by Microsoft that keeps secure boot enabled. Fedora now has an automated system that rebuilds the Nvidia driver from source code every time there is a kernel update. This system is practically invisible to the user and it makes Nvidia easy even for someone that doesn't know what is going on under the hood. Do not buy anything, or follow any guide that tells you to just disable secure boot. Linux does not manage the UEFI firmware layers. This is a vulnerability for every computer that runs UEFI and it is one of the largest targets now.

The biggest laptop GPU from AMD is rather obscure and didn't seem very popular. It is the 6850XT which has 12GBV. The best GPU that is readily accessible from Nvidia is the 3080Ti at 16GBV. Be aware that the "Ti" is very important here, the "3080" is just an 8GBV GPU.

The UEFI standard for secure boot specifies a way to generate custom keys, but there is no requirement for manufacturers to enable this functionality. There is still a way to boot into UEFI and use KeyTool to make keys, but this gets even more complicated.

If I were buying something again right now, I would look really hard for any possible option that has unofficial but proven AVX512 support, with a 3080Ti, and support for at least 96GB of DDR5 at the maximum frequency. AI actually uses all of this (and more) if you have it and want to play with the best offline models. The Asus Rog stuff looked like it had the highest specs for 2022.

For software there is this, preinstalled for best OOTB gaming compatibility https://universal-blue.org/images/bazzite/

I'm seeing others recommend the G14 2022 all-AMD one. I have owned this model since it released and use it nearly every day. Despite the performance being pretty okay, it does have its share of deal-breakers which, if I knew them at the time, I would not have bought it:

• random freezing, this affects some units most zen3 amd laptops and it seems I got unlucky. ASUS has been ignoring the issue for a year despite the crashes being reproducible on Windows (Windows recovers from it while Linux just freezes)
• short stutters due to fTPM. Hopefully once Arch updates the kernel to include the recent patch that blacklists all AMD fTPMs fixes this, for now you have to email ASUS to get a secret BIOS that allows disabling it
• nonfunctional vfio (code 43) without patching BIOS variables with a sketchy script (have to disable rebar), rebinding after shutting down the vm still does not work at all for me
• overheating while gaming, even with fans forced to max
• wifi constantly disconnects. I mostly fixed it by buying a AX210 card from Intel
• bottom shell is super brittle and cracked when unscrewing it

The laptop itself would be the best Linux experience I've had if not for these issues. The trackpad is excellent and great for Wayland 1:1 gestures, the display and speakers are great, and the battery lasts a good 2-3h with light web browsing.

I had no problems with Tuxedo but I would recommend a work laptop and a gaming desktop

Laptops age incredibly fast due to heat

AMD has the better graphics cards, CPU wise Intel has caught up so look for the cheaper equivalent

List the games you want and we can tell you compatibility, if you just want FPS games then I get my fix from Plutonium (older COD games)

Don't know where you live, but check https://linuxpreloaded.com/ , https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/?refID=dwsp, and https://starlabs.systems/ for linux laptops.

If those don't suite you, find a laptop then have a look at https://linux-hardware.org/ to check if it's supported.

Dell gaming laptops are decent for the price and might get a discount if you have the preinstall Ubuntu (since you're not buying Windows)

I just want to comment on the Nvidia thing, since they are so common on gaming machines. And I have no opinion / data on the performance of nvidia vs other to gpus with linux.

With nvidia on linux you will be fine if you just do a couple of things: hang back a little on applying updates (specifically kernel and Nvidia driver updates) and watch the relevant forums / lists for problems from nvidia users. Only update after a few days have gone by without such reports or, if reports have surfaced, after they get fixed.

openSUSE Tumbleweed user here, and I've actually had very few problems, and they were specifically caused by prime. I may have dodged a problem or two with the above strategy though.

I was looking for a smaller (14" and not bulky) gaming Laptop, and ended up with the Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X. And I'm very happy with it; feels fairly future proof with 32GB of Ram and runs NixOS like a champ.

Only has a GTX 3050 though, so it's not for the highest end gaming, but that's never been my priority anyway, it runs BG3 quite well and that's the beefiest thing I've thrown at it.

You could do a steam deck with a portable monitor and keyboard.

Looking for the ultimate gaming laptop that's also Linux-friendly? Consider this tailored advice for enthusiasts seeking top-notch gaming performance on a Linux platform. When exploring options, keep an eye out for configurations that boast excellent compatibility with Linux distributions like Manjaro Gnome.

For a seamless gaming experience, ponder over an all-AMD setup - a Ryzen CPU (Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7) coupled with a Radeon RX GPU offers a harmonious blend of performance and compatibility for gaming on Linux. Alternatively, an Intel CPU paired with an AMD GPU could also serve well for gaming enthusiasts.

For those diving into FPS games, prioritize a robust GPU. Models housing Nvidia's GTX or RTX series or AMD's Radeon RX series promise smoother gameplay.

When scouting the best gaming laptops, prioritize models with reliable driver support and compatibility with Linux gaming. Brands such as ASUS, Lenovo Legion, and select MSI models often cater well to Linux users.

In summary, a strong GPU-CPU combination alongside Linux compatibility is key for an immersive gaming experience. Cheers to finding the perfect gaming companion that suits your Linux adventure! Here is guide to chose a best gaming laptop under 500$

That doesn't suddenly die after 2 years.