u/Fit_Customer_5148

Moved from Windows 11 to CachyOS about a month ago, no regrets. Work setup is done and both my games run through Proton: PoE2 on the Vulkan renderer, WoW through Steam. Fun fact: WoW actually runs about 10 FPS higher than it did on Windows on every settings preset. I was ready to accept up to a 10 FPS loss from the compatibility layer, not gain one. Big + there.

Two quirks remain and advice on either is appreciated.

1. WoW freezes my entire desktop when it fills my VRAM

Laptop RTX 5060, 8 GB VRAM. When WoW fills it up, not just the game but the whole UI freezes and I have to hold the power button. I know NVIDIA on Linux can't offload VRAM into RAM.

On Windows I always played maxed out and never watched VRAM, so I don't know if the game legitimately uses all 8 GB or if something in the compatibility layer is leaking.

My workaround: a watchdog service that polls free VRAM and warns me when headroom gets low, giving me time to lower settings or move out of danger. If it keeps dropping past a second threshold for 3 consecutive readings, it SIGTERMs the game.

Question: is it normal for WoW under Proton to fill 8 GB, and is there a better way to handle VRAM exhaustion than a watchdog?

2. Corsair Scimitar Elite Wireless SE: 12 side buttons randomly stop working

Left click, right click and scroll keep working, only the side buttons die. Unplug/replug fixes it.

The mouse has onboard memory, which is exactly why I bought it. Since iCUE doesn't ship for Linux, I set up a light Windows VM for it, and I've already factory reset the firmware and rewritten my colors and macros to onboard memory twice. Didn't help.

I've only seen it happen in game since that's the only place I use those buttons, and I replug immediately because it tends to happen when I can't afford dead buttons, so I haven't tested whether they come back after closing the game. I've also had click-through issues in windowed fullscreen (clicks landing in Battle.net and minimizing the game), but if the inputs were going to another window I'd expect nothing to register, not just the side buttons.

Neither of these is a dealbreaker honestly since I am a casual gamer. Everything else is set up exactly how I want it. Any pointers welcome.

I am a developer who worked primarily on Windows/.NET/C# backend since like 2007. I made a shift in my career path in 2018 to machine learning simply because I found it more interesting (and yes as of the last 2-3 years LLMs/Agents too). Was a lucky/good call looking back now.

I feel like the habits of my early career sortof carried over with the years, and I never bothered to make the switch. I am looking for a daily driver recommendation that would fit me personally. My tech stack, for years now, has no dependancy on Windows what-so-ever.

Windows simply started to bother me. Also not a crazy security/privacy fanatic but they even crossed my low annoyance bar a while ago already.

As of my previous linux experience (which is limited) it was almost exclusively debian. Had dual boot with BunsenLabs on my personal computer for a few months, but ages ago. I also had a decent amount of experience with macOS with some companies I worked with before which enforced macbooks.

Most of the ML workloads I do require cloud compute anyway due to the sheer volume of data. I still like to experiment locally first though on small samples.

As of my hardware, I own an ASUS ROG Strix G18 (G815LM). Used to buy these gaming laptops for the GPU rather than gaming because I also travel a lot and need something somewhat portable.

Specs:

BIOS: G815LM.333
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (Arrow Lake-HX), 24 cores / 24 threads
GPU (dedicated): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU (Blackwell), 8 GB VRAM, 115W
GPU (integrated): Intel Graphics (Arrow Lake iGPU, Xe-based)
NPU: Intel AI Boost NPU (PCI 8086:AD1D) + Intel GNA accelerator (8086:AE4C)
RAM: 32 GB DDR5-5600 (2x16GB Samsung SO-DIMM)
Storage: 1 TB WD PC SN5000S NVMe SSD
Display: 18'' (ROG Strix G18)
Keyboard: Has RGB controlled through Asus Armoury Crate (ew)
Mouse: Corsair Scimitar Wireless SE (noting mainly due to iCUE)

As for the gaming part, I am not a very "diverse" gamer. I primarily play Path of Exile 2, and World of Warcraft (which worries me most due to Battlenet req).

I initially just wanted to slap on the latest debian before I started researching, watching videos, and reading about CachyOS, Pop!_OS, Bazzite, Linux Mint and all sorts of other distros.

I listed my hardware because I used to have issues with some of them even on Windows due to how "new" they were at the time I bought the machine (especially the SSD).

I always enjoyed tinkering around, customizing my UI, colors, themes, icons, etc simply because I couldnt do that on Windows. I dont mind having to spend some time getting things "working" either. I just don't want to end up having to babysit driver updates or end up in an "unfixable" scenario with regards to drivers and new-ish hardware. People discouraged me from just using debian for that reason but I am not experienced enough to tell myth from fact.

I would greatly appreciate some insight from people with vastly more experience than me, when it comes to linux.

One month on CachyOS: down to two issues, WoW freezing my desktop on full VRAM and Corsair Scimitar side buttons randomly dying

Daily driver recommendation for development and sporadic gaming