Are custom kernels such as Liquorix and Xanmod worth it?

[realmain]

@Julio_cSordi

Which kernel would you recommend for general usage and gaming? Latest or LTS?

Whatever kernel works best for your setup. I have already answered this question in detail:

@realmain

@Julio_cSordi

And regarding about gaming should i go with LTS or latest kernel?

Depends on hardware. If you have a newer GPU, say Radeon Navi or GTX 2000s and newer, it might be better to stay on newer kernels. AMD GPUs does better with newer kernels (depending on the GPU), because all the open source drivers are built into the kernel itself and newer kernels sometimes have a lot of fixes for those GPUs. Not to mention a lot of fixes for newer CPUs as well such as newer Ryzen CPUs. Some stuff are backported or older kernels, but not everything.

Also, not every newer kernel fixes issues with specific hardware / software. Phoronix does pretty good explanations on what each new kernels introduce / fixes.

i.e. Linux 5.11 per Phoronix. Note: this is from December 2020, there were more fixes and stuff if you read the newer updates.

I had my Radeon RX 5700xt since kernel 5.5, and my gaming experience has gotten better as newer kernels got released. This is anecdotal for my specific hardware.

@Julio_cSordi

Could the latest one fix glitches and compatibility issues?

Could? Of course! But not always. Depends on your specific hardware and software setup, and how it interacts with the newer kernel. I had a ton of compatibility issues with my 5700xt originally, and some of the newer kernels fixed them!

Some kernels have progression with specific hardware, some kernels have regressions for specific hardware.

@realmain

@Julio_cSordi

How can i determine if there were any regressions regarding my hardware?

If you noticed your FPS is lower in games for example. Or maybe compiling packages is slower on one kernel versus another. Or read articles.

For example, kernel 5.11 had some regressions specifically on AMD computers, which is why I didn’t swap. But now that it’s fixed, I’ll probably swap to it.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux-50-59&num=1

I am always on /r/linux_gaming, because plenty of people talk about regression and progression of kernels for some hardware.

You have a I5 8265U 8th gen, you can probably just stay on Kernel 5.10 LTS from now on (until it’s EOL), or if you see on Phoronix (or similar websites) that some newer Kernels have better support for your specific CPU/iGPU.

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about newer kernels when it comes to intel iGPUs, unless it’s absolutely a brand new just released CPU/iGPU. Ryzen iGPUs are a totally different story, I personally try to stay on the latest kernels (currently 5.11) for my Ryzen iGPU laptops, and AMD dGPU desktops, unless there is a regression.