Steam os or bazzite?

passey89 · 20 Apr 2026 at 15:11

Building a steam machine soon. Ryzen 5500 & 9060xt its looking like.

No kb and mouse if possible just controller.

Which os is likely to perform the best without issues and give the best console feeling?

lovelyhead · 20 Apr 2026 at 15:34

passey89 said:
Building a steam machine soon. Ryzen 5500 & 9060xt its looking like.

No kb and mouse if possible just controller.

Which os is likely to perform the best without issues and give the best console feeling?

What about a third option, Windows.

I have my Windows PC set up so that as soon as you switch it on it automatically logs on without needing to enter any password and then automatically launches Steam Big Picture mode. You get the same experience as Steam OS / Bazzite plus the advantage of being able to play all online games.

passey89 · 20 Apr 2026 at 15:59

lovelyhead said:
What about a third option, Windows.

I have my Windows PC set up so that as soon as you switch it on it automatically logs on without needing to enter any password and then automatically launches Steam Big Picture mode. You get the same experience as Steam OS / Bazzite plus the advantage of being able to play all online games.

I want to try linux for a first. Also had enough of the windows bloatware.

iamgigglz · 20 Apr 2026 at 16:06

lovelyhead said:
What about a third option, Windows.

Have we come full circle? We used to scoff at the random dude suggesting Linux when someone had a Windows problem.

Spleen Sauce · 20 Apr 2026 at 17:24

lovelyhead said:
What about a third option, Windows.

I have my Windows PC set up so that as soon as you switch it on it automatically logs on without needing to enter any password and then automatically launches Steam Big Picture mode. You get the same experience as Steam OS / Bazzite plus the advantage of being able to play all online games.

Having built a ‘Steam machine’ myself, stubbornly I kept running Bazzite for months, then CachyOS for months, but eventually ended up putting a very stripped down Windows 11 install on it.

The issue comes with new, more complex games. In Linux, you’re often having to faff with proton versions, launch parameters etc to get a game working. On windows, it’s just install via big picture mode and launch it.

Performance between CachyOS and Windows 11 was negligible in most cases, and better for Windows in some. Nobody wants to hear this but it’s true in my case. Also, HDR was never quite right in Linux with some games. No issues in Windows.

Your mileage may vary of course, especially if you’re not bothered about brand new games.

I desperately wanted (and still want) Linux to be as seamless as Windows for gaming, but it just isn’t yet.

lovelyhead · 20 Apr 2026 at 17:51

Spleen Sauce said:
Having built a ‘Steam machine’ myself, stubbornly I kept running Bazzite for months, then CachyOS for months, but eventually ended up putting a very stripped down Windows 11 install on it.

The issue comes with new, more complex games. In Linux, you’re often having to faff with proton versions, launch parameters etc to get a game working. On windows, it’s just install via big picture mode and launch it.

Performance between CachyOS and Windows 11 was negligible in most cases, and better for Windows in some. Nobody wants to hear this but it’s true in my case. Also, HDR was never quite right in Linux with some games. No issues in Windows.

Your mileage may vary of course, especially if you’re not bothered about brand new games.

I desperately wanted (and still want) Linux to be as seamless as Windows for gaming, but it just isn’t yet.

Also if you have a Nvidia GPU it works perfectly with Windows but doesn't work as well with Linux.

randal · 20 Apr 2026 at 18:37

Bazzite. The community support is great.

I have previously run a 9060XT and it was a troublefree experience for couch gaming.

Timber · 20 Apr 2026 at 19:15

I'd say Bazzite.

Both will work well on the right hardware (SteamOS needs the right hardware), are immutable, work nicely with controller-only game scope mode and have desktops modes. I've run Steam OS on a Minisforum NUC-style PC and it ran very well. It had odd quirks like once, or twice the internet was unavailable (network card wasn't starting-up; didn't do this on Fedora, or Windows) and my Gulikit KK3 Pro controller would not work with it in USB 2.4ghz mode. But I never encountered issues with any of the games I played on it (mostly easier to run indie games like Brotato etc.).

I haven't tried Bazzite yet, but will more support and a newer kernel I think that has the potential to do better.

passey89 · 27 Apr 2026 at 08:08

Spleen Sauce said:
Having built a ‘Steam machine’ myself, stubbornly I kept running Bazzite for months, then CachyOS for months, but eventually ended up putting a very stripped down Windows 11 install on it.

The issue comes with new, more complex games. In Linux, you’re often having to faff with proton versions, launch parameters etc to get a game working. On windows, it’s just install via big picture mode and launch it.

Performance between CachyOS and Windows 11 was negligible in most cases, and better for Windows in some. Nobody wants to hear this but it’s true in my case. Also, HDR was never quite right in Linux with some games. No issues in Windows.

Your mileage may vary of course, especially if you’re not bothered about brand new games.

I desperately wanted (and still want) Linux to be as seamless as Windows for gaming, but it just isn’t yet.

So bazzite lasted 12 hours.

Going to desktop mode lost signal to the tv.

Done a stripped down win 11 and removed all the bloat. Teamviewer so i can remote control it and it boots to big picture.

Also not able to run gamepass games for the 1 or 2 that are good now the price has dropped.