I Tested the 'Gaming Distro' Against Linux Mint and Pop!_OS
CachyOS is pitched as the gaming-focused Linux distro. Optimised kernel, high performance scheduling, tweaked binaries — it should be the one to beat. So I installed the Gamescope launcher, ran the same three benchmarks on the same hardware
CachyOS is pitched as the gaming-focused Linux distro. Optimised kernel, high performance scheduling, tweaked binaries — it should be the one to beat. So I installed the Gamescope launcher, ran the same three benchmarks on the same hardware, and expected it to walk away with the crown. That's not quite what happened
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This is part of an ongoing series where I'm turning different Linux distros into Steam Deck-style gaming rigs using a custom Gamescope launcher script. Same 5060 Ti 16GB, same Ryzen 9, same games, same settings, same external NVMe over Thunderbolt. The only thing that changes is the distro underneath. So far I've tested Linux Mint and Pop!_OS Cosmic, and now it's CachyOS with Bazzite still to come.
BENCHMARK RESULTS
Returnal — Proton GE, DLSS quality at 67%, everything on Epic. Score: 97 FPS. Exactly the same as Mint, exactly the same as Cosmic. No surprises here. Rock solid.
Doom Eternal — Proton GE, DLSS quality, v-sync off, ultra nightmare, max textures on the 16GB card. Score: 63 FPS. I ran it twice. Both times 63. On Mint it was 85. On Cosmic it was 85. This is the same hardware, same settings, same process. I genuinely don't know what's happening here. Default CachyOS install, default kernel, nothing tweaked. That's a 20+ frame drop on a Vulkan game running on what's supposed to be the gaming distro. I didn't expect that at all.
Cyberpunk 2077 — Ultra ray tracing, DLSS auto, no frame gen, 1440p. Score: 94 FPS. That's actually higher than Cosmic's 88 and in line with what I'd expect from CachyOS. But it still doesn't touch Mint's bizarre 99 from the earlier test. So Cyberpunk is performing well, Returnal is identical, and Doom is way off. It's not a clean sweep in either direction.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The whole point of this series is to test whether the distro underneath actually matters once you strip away the desktop environment and run games through a pure Gamescope session. The theory is that it shouldn't — you're bypassing the DE entirely, talking straight to the hardware through Gamescope's own Wayland compositor.
Returnal and Cyberpunk support that theory. The scores are within a few frames across every distro. But the Doom result on CachyOS throws a spanner in the works. Something is different and I haven't figured out what yet. It could be a kernel scheduling difference, a driver interaction, something specific to Vulkan on this setup — I just don't know. If you're running CachyOS with a 5060 Ti and you've benchmarked Doom, I'd love to hear what you're getting.
THE CACHYOS EXPERIENCE
CachyOS is brilliant if you know what you're doing. It's flexible, powerful, and gives you full control. But it's not where I'd send someone coming straight from Windows. Mint or Pop Cosmic are far more comfortable first stops. CachyOS is for people who already know Linux and want to push things further.
There were a couple of script quirks specific to CachyOS worth noting. The launcher doesn't auto-detect external game drives like it does on Mint and Cosmic — you have to mount your drive and attach it in Steam before launching into Gamescope mode. The exit keybinding also stopped working after a recent CachyOS update, so you have to switch to desktop through Steam's own menu instead. Both things I'll be working on fixing.
STEAM WAS BUILT FOR THIS
One point I keep coming back to across this series — Steam on Linux exists because of the Steam Deck. It's designed to run in its own compositor in Deck mode. If you're launching games from a desktop environment and hitting problems, that's not how Valve built it to work. Running a pure Gamescope session solves most of the issues people run into. If it works on a Steam Deck, it'll work like this.
WHAT'S NEXT
Bazzite is the final distro in this series. It's purpose-built for gaming with its own home theater mode, so I'll be testing that next and then putting together a full comparison video with all the scores side by side.
The CachyOS and Mint Gamescope launcher scripts are available in the members area. Join up if you want to try them.
I make videos about Linux gaming, distro comparisons, hardware tinkering, and getting the most out of your setup. Subscribe if that's your thing — there's plenty more coming.