Tweaking Gaming Performance on Manjaro for i7-powered Laptops - Seeking Optimization Tips

Greetings Manjaro Community!

I recently acquired a gaming laptop featuring an i7 processor and I’m eager to dive into the world of gaming on Manjaro. However, I want to make sure I’m getting the best possible performance out of my hardware. I’m reaching out to the community for tips and advice on optimizing gaming performance specifically for i7-powered laptops running Manjaro.

Here are a few questions to guide our discussion:

Kernel Selection: Any recommendations on the best kernel for gaming on Manjaro with an i7 processor? Have you noticed significant performance differences between kernel versions?

GPU Drivers: What’s the preferred method for installing and updating GPU drivers on Manjaro for gaming laptops with gaming laptop i7 processors? Any specific considerations or steps to ensure compatibility?

Game Compatibility: Share your experiences with specific games on Manjaro and how they perform on i7 laptops. Any tweaks or workarounds for improving compatibility?

Community Favorites: Share your go-to tweaks, configurations, or software recommendations for achieving the best gaming experience on Manjaro with an i7-powered laptop.

I’m excited to hear from fellow gamers and Manjaro enthusiasts who have experience with i7 laptops. Let’s pool our knowledge and create a comprehensive guide to optimizing gaming performance on Manjaro for these powerful processors!

Hello @susanconner and welcome :wink:

Manjaro is a bad distribution choice when it comes to gaming only. For causal gamers, sure, but not when the focus lies on gaming alone. You will be disappointed in the long run. And the main reason is not that it is not optimized, the reason is simply that game devs targets mainly Windows on the PC.

Take a look here:

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Yes you are right but a user must know how to get optimum results, always check all possible ways and best option according to your desired program to run

For example you should know the specifications of Kernel for good performance, you can check it from community feedback of game specific forum or official site Like EA Sports FIFA Mobile. Utilize Manjaro Settings Manager to install and update GPU drivers for seamless gameplay or functionality. Check ProtonDB or Lutris and tweak settings for optimal performance.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Intel_graphics

Im highly disagree, Manjaro has a good gaming reputation and even Steam Recommend to use Manjaro KDE, i can’t remember when they said this statement btw, but i think it was related to a Steamdeck talk and Steam OS for PC is or was not developed enough at this time.

I think Manjaro is one of the best Linux Distributions out there.

Place number1 is Arch as far as i know.

But Arch is only for hardcore linux veterans…

Additional:
Another big point is also, that there are enough games out there, where Linux is running with equal or better performance.

The performance decreased with win10 and decreased even more with Win11, because all of this spytelemetrie in windows, destroy the performance…

I compared my most played 4-6 games after switching from win7 to win10 and it was a step back!

Oh really? I guess you might not know Valve used and recommended Manjaro KDE on the Steam Deck before they finalized their custom OS based on Arch KDE.

I know that, but that was simply for testing as an alternative. Yes.

I understand, but the update cycle on steamdeck is a bit different than on Manjaro. And I didn’t say it is not feasible to game properly.


But my experience is still: Linux as a whole (not only Manjaro/Arch) is not ready for “Pro Gamers”. And that is what I mean with:

I myself use https://shadow.tech/ if I would like to game properly and I use it only for gaming. And there is a reason for that. I still play older/retro games on Linux.

“Pro Gamers”

:rofl:

Whatever that means. I played Math Blaster and F14 Tomcat on a Commodore 64 when I was a wee laddie, am I “Pro”? :grin:

Anyway, I can play any game I want mostly. Occasionally there are issues, of course. I use Steam, Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher to play just about anything via Proton / GE-Proton / lutris-GE-Proton.

All hail the Glorious Eggroll! :raised_hands:

“Such Gamers” are normally people who buy a game and want to play them on since day 0. I don’t know any other name… probably “spoiled gamers” is better?

However… I’m not sugarcoating anything here. For this type of player, Manjaro is not something to consider. Even people who have a SteamDeck subscribe to shadowpc, no joke, I’ve seen it very often.

I’ve never heard of ShadowPC before. It seems to be a cloud gaming service like NVIDIA GeForce Now or Amazon Luna?

I mean … by that logic you are speaking of someone who does not know their foot from their face …

Such a user would be just as perturbed by the lack of nintendo games on their playstation … so I suppose those are equally unfeasible platforms. :sweat_smile:

I resemble that remark… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

…well, in as far as putting my foot in my mouth often. :laughing:

Not like that. It is a real PC, not just a start button for the game xD In practice it is a virtual environment which runs with libvirtd/qemu/kvm and a passthroughed nvidia gpu on a server rack. The screen gets encoded with the nvidia gpu and decoded on my screen in window, no spice-server involved. And I have pretty decent ping to the server about 15-20ms. So in practice it is not noticeable.

The cloud is just someone else’s computer. :wink:

I know and any game on Steam which I bought can be deleted anytime. Thus I don’t own anything there, I am only allowed to use it as long as I am allowed to.

Hmmm, in beyond all reason RTS Game, im around the top 10 Players there (atleast before i take a break from the game, 6 month ago).

20 years ago, i played against International (ESL) top 20 CS-Clan (I think it was a schwedisch Clan, which visit Germany, called Team Infernum) on a 600 user Lan-Party and in the 5vs5 tourney i killed atleast 1-2 opponents each round there… i was pissed that my clan was destroyed and we leaved the Lan-Party, at this time i wasn’t aware who this people was… a friend of mine told me few weeks later.

Im not sure if i was a true Pro Gamer, but i was and i’m still pretty strong in gaming and compared to this other Pro Gamers, i never cheated or Exploited in a Multiplayer Game.

I think if i want to play a game seriously, i can play it seriously, no matter if it on Linux or Windows… as long as i dont have a handicap there.

And a few fps less doesn’t make a big difference… the most “fake pro gamer” who saying this, are more or less cheaters anyways and playing with AIM Bots… (i remember DKH Gladiator, Deutschlands Kranke Horde/DKH) of course this cheats required Windows :smile:

Even a casual gamer, is maybe intrested in a flawless and stutterfree experience…

My biggest issue what i have today (atleast what i personal see) are the problem to archive top notch FPS for VR Gaming.

When i go away from Windows10, i don’t see me using my Vive Pro2 (4k VR device with 6k Resolution) that require atleast 90HZ = minimum 90FPS.

And my Fanatec Racing Equipment is also dead meat (for simracing). But besides this 2 big downgrades and maybe the TPM Requirements for EA Games (soul less games anyways) i see a bright future for Linux gaming… atleast if Microsoft don’t destroy Linux with TPM/Secure Boot before it happend.

Alright, alright. Enough of the banter. Why don’t we focus on what the OP actually asked about…

Welcome to the forum! :wave:

Which generation? There are 13 of them so far. We have no idea what GPU you have. Integrated? Hybrid? NVIDIA? AMD?

Please post your system info as outlined here:

There’s no such thing as “the best kernel”. Install both the latest stable and LTS kernel and use whichever has the best support for your hardware. Boot one and keep the other for backup so you have something to boot into in case one won’t boot.

You already have the proper drivers installed out of the box. All you have to do is stay up to date. See Announcements posts for info about recent updates.

See ProtonDB.

This is a support forum, not a social network. You’re welcome to post on our unofficial subreddit if you’d like for general discussion. There’s also a GNU/Linux gaming subreddit.

P.S. Every question you have is already answered somewhere on the internet. Seek and ye shall find. :wink: