The Best Operating System for Gaming: Top OS Delivering Ultimate Gaming Experience

An operating system (OS) is the essential software that manages the hardware, services, and software resources of a computer. A robust OS will help you a lot in gaming, especially those demanding and heavy. 

You may wonder what operating system is the best for gaming PCs. This article will analyze the most popular OS so that you can choose the most outstanding one.

Windows 10

Windows 10 has been the latest version of Microsoft Windows and is used by over five million people worldwide. You can see it is the most remarkable Windows version that Microsoft has developed. It is perfect for those who are new to gaming PCs. 

Below are minimum requirements to run Windows 10 operating system:

  • CPU: 1 GHz or better 

  • RAM: 1 GB for 32-bit / 2 GB for 64-bit

  • HDD: 16 GB for 32-bit / 20 GB for 64-bit 

  • GPU: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver

  • Display: 1024 x 600 

Windows 10 is pretty reliable and excellent for gaming. You can tweak and customize several features so that it is more convenient for gaming. Apparently, you need robust hardware, like an MSI gaming laptop, Intel i7 processor, and GeForce graphics card to ensure your gaming performance.

In general, Windows 10 can be considered the most reliable operating system when it comes to gaming. 

macOS

There are a massive number of people using Apple products, so macOS accounts for a large percentage of users. The first impression of macOS is that it has an excellent interface and optimization; it has become more friendly to gamers now.

Here are the specifications of a standard Apple computer:

  • CPU: 2.3GHz dual‑core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz

  • RAM: 8GB 2133MHz DDR4

  • Storage: 256GB

  • GPU: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640

  • Display: 21.5-inch (diagonal) 

  • Video: HD

  • Audio: Stereo speakers.

macOS is a fantastic operating system, but it doesn’t put gaming as the priority. You can still play most games smoothly on macOS, but there will be some problems with heavy ones. 

Linux

Among three popular operating systems, Linux may be the weakest one. Fortunately, it is ever-growing and making inroads into the gaming world. Linux focuses on professional gamers since it has powerful features, flexibility, and lower hardware requirements

Below are the minimum requirements to run Linux:

  • CPU: 2 GHz dual-core 

  • RAM: 4 GB 

  • Storage: 25 GB 

  • Display: 1024×768 

Linux isn’t considered a user-friendly operating system. We don’t recommend you download heavy-duty gaming titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Monster Hunter, or Capcom. 

What is the best operating system for gaming?

In this part, we will go into detail comparing OS when it comes to different aspects of gaming.

Performance

Windows and Linux tend to deliver relatively even ground performance in gaming. While Windows supports the same frame rates for every game, distributions of Linux may offer different statistics. The most vital distributions of Linux that can be named are SteamOS and Ubuntu. 

On the other hand, macOS can be seen as the loser here. However, the low performance doesn’t come from the operating system itself but the hardware. As you know, Apple focuses on producing compact and thin products, so the CPU isn’t big enough to deliver a high performance.

You can install an external graphics card, but it would cost much as Apple’s computers are expensive already. 

The selection of game 

In fact, when people talk about gaming PCs, they often refer to PCs using Windows. Most games today are released primarily for Windows because it is the most popular OS. The number of Windows-supported games has reached 20,000 recently. 

The game selection for Linux and macOS, oppositely, is much more limited. If you are using one of the two OS, you had better whether the game supports your OS before making the purchase. 

Platforms

DVD and Blu-ray disks are no longer available in the 20s of the 21st century. Game stores sell games on online platforms these days. The most common platform is definitely Valve’s Steam because it can support all three operating systems: Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Some other alternatives are:

  • Origin: only sells EA games. This platform supports all three OS, but some features do not work well on Linux.

  • Battle.net: only sells Blizzard games. It officially supports Windows and macOS.

  • Windows Store (or Microsoft Store): sells games of Microsoft and other companies. It supports Windows only.

  • GoG: sells old classic games and the best new games. It supports Windows and macOS. There’s some news that it will come to Linux soon. 

A final word

There’s no doubt that Windows is the winner in this competition as it has reliable performance and supports most gaming titles. If you play games for entertainment and want an excellent interface, macOS may be the better choice.

You should do research by yourself to choose the best operating system that meets your preference. You can always try to experience Linux; you aren’t stuck with it.

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Paul Syverson

Paul Syverson

Working as a software engineer for a computer manufacturing company for many years, Paul Syverson has a wealth of experience to share with you about this intelligent device. There is no doubt that his information will be very useful for those who have the intention of buying the best functional computer meeting their needs.