this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Linux Gaming
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This PC uses a last-gen CPU which was a value buy before AMD moved to a new platform. It's basically a budget build at a non-budget price with an overpriced GPU in it. For AMD CPUs, you should look for the 7000 series, and for Intel you'd want the 13000 series.
If you're up for it, I strongly recommend building your own PC, perhaps getting help from someone if you need it. If not, look for something current-gen so that at the very least there's an easy upgrade path.
If you're going Linux, try to find a computer that doesn't include Windows, since you're paying extra for the license. For the GPU, AMD is usually the preferred choice for Linux builds since the drivers are open source and built into the kernel. I'd also recommend more RAM, but that's something that can be upgraded later if it doesn't fit into your current budget.
I concur with most of this, with one caveat. If you're going with a Zen4 platform, make absolutely sure you choose a distro that lets you run kernel 6.5+, or else you'll be having some issues. The main thing in the newer kernels for AMD and Zen4 is the amd-pstate management driver, and a number efficiency and compatibility drivers for things like caching and memory bus. The machine will run okay-ish without, but you'll get some performance issues, and needless power ramping that just wastes power.
I have built my own PC in the past. That may be the best option again, though I was hoping to avoid it. It's quite a lot of work. Given my priorities though, it may be the best option.