Thanks for the advice! I feel like I will have some flexibility with distros and can switch things out as long as game data is backed up and it works with the hardware.

Unfortunately the Amazon link doesn’t seem to work for me. Can you give me a brief description of what it included?

Thanks for the link to your build, that’s super helpful. The beauty of Linux is that I have some wiggle room as far as distro, as long as the save data is backed up, I can switch it up as long as it supports the hardware.

I feel like Civ6 felt a little sluggish late game, probably more processing and RAM than GPU specific. Also can hear the fans and feel the heat on the handheld, which I feel like a desktop can be configured to handle better. Otherwise the Deck is a great piece of hardware. If I’m looking at Civ 7 or any future games, I feel like the Deck might struggle a little.

That is good to know! I use my Mac Studio for my Blender stuff (works surprisingly well for what I need). Maybe I shouldn’t rule out NVIDIA as quickly as I have!

Just saw your edit!

So if Civ7 is a benchmark for what I want to eventually play, would it be sensible to go with…

• AMD RX 6600
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Thanks for the reply!

No strict preferences on distro, cpu/gpu manufacturer, open to suggestions. Although I’ve heard AMD is best with Linux due to the NVIDIA drivers and I’m hearing good things about Bazzite. I’d like to avoid excessive tinkering and configuration, hence why I’m ruling out NixOS for this build. As for budget and what I said in another reply, I’m going to be irritating and say “I don’t really know”, I’d like to avoid spending $2-3k on something to play Indies. But I’m also ok with under $2k or even less for something that is fairly future proof.

Most of my gamer friends are not PC players (console mostly), but I’m definitely open to looking into the used market.

Am I right in thinking CPU/RAM are more critical for games like Civ or Dwarf Fortress? More simulation than graphics intensive tasks?

Thank you for the reply!

Yeah I’ve seen Bazzite come up frequently and it sounds promising, essentially it’s Steam OS. I was also leaning towards AMD GPU due to the compatibility, heard the NVIDIA drivers aren’t the best.

I’m going to be irritating and say “I don’t really know” as far as budget, I’d like to avoid spending $2-3k on something to play Indies. But I’m also ok with under $2k or even less for something that is fairly future proof.

Am I right in thinking CPU/RAM are more critical for games like Civ or Dwarf Fortress? More simulation than graphics intensive tasks?

Woah, thanks for doing the searching leg work here.

I’ve been using ProtonDB pretty heavily for Steam Deck research and I think most of the games on the list have good Proton support or even native Linux functionality. I doubt I’ll play many kernel level anti-cheat games on it, I tend to go to the console for those types of games.

Based on the limited research I’ve done in the past, generally AMD is recommended for Linux, so I’d probably go that route. I don’t have a firm budget, happy to save up and attempt to future proof or go with an older/used model for less cost.

Am I right in thinking CPU/RAM are more critical for games like Civ or Dwarf Fortress? More simulation than graphics intensive tasks?

I enjoy btop personally