I am relatively new to linux, and am trying to get my games to run well on bazzite.
I have 2 main issues. I cannot get games to perform as they should, and I cannot get any apps to launch through box buddy or any other container apps.
My pc has a 13th gen I7, a 4070ti, and 64 gigs of ddr5.
While I was surprised at how many games work out of the box, lots of my favorite games like Space Marine 2 and Helldivers 2 suffer from a stutter that happens every so often, and will not abate no matter what i tweak, what proton version i use, whether or not I have VRR enabled…Nothing seems to fix it. From what I could tell testing in Helldivers, it seems to be a frametime issue, not a resources issue. CPU and GPU utilization are always below 40% in the hub, but the render times will spike to 30-60ms every few seconds.
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
As for the boxbuddy, I think I’m just not doing it right to be honest…
I don’t know about boxybuddy nor have Helldivers 2 and Space Marine 2, but on CachyOS, for me, using GE-Proton or Proton-Cachy following the orientations of the CachyOS team, work better than using Valve’s Proton (and I don’t have to wait for shaders compilation every time something changes). At least for now. They just recommend disable shader caching for non-Valve Proton and have a shell scritpt to set the power profile to Performance that is run as a command when you run a game. (as long as you put it in the command field in Steam)
Thank you so much for the suggestion! I have tried GE Proton, but maybe not the right version… I will attempt to disable the shader caching, but am not entirely sure how to do that so wish me luck. As for the power profile, If i have the whole OS set to maximum performance, do I still need to do that?
Sadly with GE proton’s latest, and last release of v 9, even with shader precomp disabled the stutter is still present. almost every 5 seconds. Forcing d3d11 seems to just give me a more stable minimum frame time. The stutter occurs regardless of what version of DX I use, the severity seems affected though. On lowest settings, with GE proton and shader precomp off, the stutter did appear reduced…But it was definitely still happening, just not as often.
Shame that it’s wasn’t that. When you play, are you using what power profile? It shouldn’t make huge difference,usually, between Balanced and Performance, but it makes sometimes.
What about trying Proton Experimental or Proton HotFix? There are several ways to reach an approximate solution, but it’s extremely important to analyze all the variables.
In that context, when you see low CPU/GPU usage but frametime spikes (30–60 ms) every few seconds, it’s usually not a “lack of power,” but stalls (shader/PSO caching, I/O, compositor/Gamescope behavior, or DX12→VKD3D quirks), as far as I’m concerned.
Here’s a quick triage checklist (change one variable at a time):
Confirm you’re on the latest Bazzite image and NVIDIA driver.
Make sure the game is on an SSD (watch for disk spikes during stutter).
Test Gamescope session vs. normal desktop session (and toggle VRR once).
For Space Marine 2, try Proton Experimental/Hotfix and compare frametimes, not only FPS (also try disabling the 4K texture pack if you have it).
If you can share a MangoHud frametime graph/log + your session (Gamescope or desktop) + driver version, it’ll be much easier to pinpoint the cause.
Last but not least, about BoxBuddy/Distrobox: if apps don’t launch, paste the exact error message. Often it’s a container setup/permissions/missing dependency issue (easy to fix once we see the output).
Beyond that, you can always count on the community.
I have heard much the same regarding your suspicions, and while initially i was convinced that was the case, I must admit I am starting to doubt.
I was on the latest bazzite image and nvidia drivers, but have recently downgraded due to recommendations from the bazzite discord. (to no avail, mind you.)
The game IS indeed on an ssd, and while I dont know how to monitor the disk usage on bazzite yet, the same games run perfectly off the same drive on Windows 11. (I am dual booting and using a 3rd part BTRFS driver for windows.)
I would love to do this, but sadly , have no idea what a gamescope session is, what a normal session is, or how to change between the two. I tried toggling VRR, and while I believe I was successful, it also did not fix the issue.
I will try and get you a frametime log from HD2, but cant promise anything.
Your HD2 summary already shows classic spike behavior: avg FPS/frametime look fine, but 0.1% low (15.9 FPS) and 1% low (37.3 FPS) confirm periodic stutters. Also, CPU peak 100°C (avg 88°C) is a big red flag for thermal throttling, which can cause spikes even when CPU/GPU “usage %” looks low.
Quick next steps (one variable at a time):
Set Performance power profile (not balanced/powersave) and retest.
Try different sessions: KDE Wayland vs KDE X11, and Gaming Mode (Gamescope) vs normal desktop (you can switch at the login screen via the session selector, or “Switch to Desktop” from Gaming Mode).
Yes, please share the full MangoHud log, but from real gameplay where stutters happen (not just the hub, okay?).
If you want to enable Gamescope on Bazzite, the most practical method is per-game (nested Gamescope) in Desktop mode: in Steam go to Library → right-click the game → Properties → Launch Options, and either run Gamescope directly (gamescope … -- %command%) or, per Bazzite’s docs, use ScopeBuddy as a Gamescope replacement by simply replacing gamescope with scb/scopebuddy in the Launch Options (this is also used to fix Steam Overlay/Steam Input issues in nested mode). Example: scb -- %command% (and you can keep your default Gamescope args in ~/.config/scopebuddy/scb.conf so your Steam Launch Options stay short). If you want ScopeBuddy without actually launching Gamescope, the docs say to set SCB_NOSCOPE=1 in Launch Options, e.g. SCB_NOSCOPE=1 scb -- %command%. Finally, if you are using Steam Gamemode (the console-style mode), ScopeBuddy detects that and forces SCB_NOSCOPE=1 automatically—because Gamemode already runs under Gamescope at the session level—so you typically don’t add nested Gamescope there.
I managed to fix literally all of my issues by just swapping to the KDE base instead of GNOME…
Now everything works perfect.
As for the thermals, yeah I’m not a fan of them either. Pun intended. My desktop is a custom mini itx. Sadly I didnt do enough research when buying parts. I got a 13th Gen Intel i7-13700K, and despite upgrading the bios to stop it from frying itself, certain cores idle 10 degrees hotter than the rest, and skyrocket to much higher temps while others stay at a nice 60-70.
Even with full AIO, i cant keep cpu temps low in games like helldivers 2. Not sure if its my case, since i cant fit many fans inside, or just intel being scum, but I was under the impression that it was alright as long as it isnt resting at those temps. The cooking cores never stay above 90 for more than a second or two, but I still wish there was a fix for this, as I’m sure it will degrade performance over time.
Great news on the fix! KDE Plasma is a good choice.
On the 13700K thermals: your understanding is correct. For a direct fix, try undervolting or setting a power limit in your BIOS. This can lower temps significantly with minimal performance loss in games.
Enjoy the rock stable system and count on the Universal Blue and open source / free software community.