I've had a console-like gaming PC for years. I suppose most people would call it an HTPC, or home theater PC, but I primarily use it to play games. I've had it kicking around in some form for a decade or more, only specifically buying components like a new case, or maybe a motherboard, every few years. It's where all of my old hardware ends up. As I upgrade my CPU and GPU, my old components are repurposed for my living room PC, which are eventually cycled out into the PCs of friends and relatives. For the first time, I'm upgrading the GPU directly to AMD's new RX 9060 XT, and for good reason.

As useful as my HTPC has been over the years, I've never used it as much as I'd like to. Incompatible hardware, spotty controller support, and constantly pulling out my Logitech K400 — the old one, with the diagonal stripes on the touchpad — turned me away, but the stars finally aligned with the RX 9060 XT.

How we got here in the first place

It's been a long road

The main reason I don't use my HTPC as much as I'd like to is because it's honestly kind of a hassle. There are a ton of ways to get a console-like experience on a PC, from certain Linux distros to tweaks within Windows to things like EmuDeck, not to mention the myriad game launchers available. I've tried all of these routes in some form or another. For me, the most useful solution up to this point has been EmuDeck combined with a 2.4GHz controller. I still need to pull out the K400 from time to time to update Windows and/or my drivers, but it's a mostly seamless experience.

When I learned about Bazzite, I knew I had to try it on my HTPC. I've wanted to install it for months, but I never did because of Gamescope. Bazzite uses Valve's window manager, called Gamescope, to provide a seamless, console-like experience. No sign-in screens, no K400. Gamescope support on Nvidia GPUs is in beta, with the Bazzite developers noting that the "majoriy of bugs" won't be fixed without Nvidia's intervention. The previous iteration of my HTPC had an RTX 3060.

That defeats the purpose of installing Bazzite in the first place. I had considered picking up another AMD GPU, but I couldn't settle on one that both fit in my Lian Li A4-H20 case and provided enough of a performance uplift over the RTX 3060 to justify the purchase. The RX 6750 XT was a killer, but I couldn't find one that fit inside the case in the way I have it configured. Something like the RTX 4070 would be perfect, but then you run into the issue with Bazzite. The RX 9070 XT looked like a perfect solution, but I haven't been able to track a true dual-slot model, much less one in stock. Enter the RX 9060 XT.

It's plenty powerful to justify an upgrade — read my RX 9060 XT review — there are dual-slot models available, and it should work just fine with Bazzite. So, I finally pulled the trigger. The other methods of setting up a PC like this are totally valid, and there's a strong argument for trying to splice together a system with an Nvidia GPU simply for the ubiquitous support of DLSS in the latest games. But I've been happy with the switch.

Bazzite is amazing on an HTPC

I can't believe what I've been missing out on

Bazzite is incredible on my HTPC, and not in the ways I expected. I've used Bazzite enough on handhelds, not to mention SteamOS proper, to know the ins and outs of game support with Proton. Some games straight-up won't work, and you'll still need to pull out the keyboard from time-to-time to click through prerequisites when launching games for the first time. Even with the quibbles, Bazzite is much more convenient than using Windows. First and foremost, I don't ever need to go to the desktop. Bazzite includes drivers, and you can update directly from Steam Game Mode, so I get the full console-like experience.

A few other things stood out, though. One of my main issues with using Windows is the notifications. Even when using EmuDeck or configuring Windows to launch directly into Steam Big Picture Mode, various Windows notifications would take over my screen. I'd get pop-ups for the Radeon graphics built into my CPU, reminders from Windows to change my power settings to conserve power, and pestering for updates. Not the case with Bazzite. Any notifications I see from Steam are automatically dismissed, rather than overtaking my display while I'm playing a game and forcing me to pull out a keyboard.

In addition, I'm able to connect or disconnect Bluetooth devices directly from Steam, change my Wi-Fi settings, and get updates, all with a controller. By far the biggest upgrade was sleep, however. You can't really sleep a Windows machine with a game running, or at the very least, you can't if you want to guarantee you won't crash the game. I've had no issues with Bazzite. I'm able to put the system to sleep and pick it up later, which is a creature comfort of consoles I didn't realize I was missing.

Performance has been great, too, at least in recent single-player games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. I have to push the upscaling hard to get into triple-digit frame rates, but with a 55-inch TV and 4K output, the final image still looks great.

How to do this yourself

It's easier than you might think

I want to give you a quick and dirty rundown of how to set Bazzite up on an HTPC if you're interested. You're installing a new OS — though you can dual-boot Bazzite — so always back up your files before doing anything.

One of the best things about Bazzite is that it isn't a single image. There are a handful of different images available for different configurations, and Bazzite will even recommend one based on the hardware you have. You can even build your own custom image. I went with the standard stable image that's used on devices like the ROG Ally X, just with a GNOME desktop environment. Grab the image — it's about 8GB — and prepare a flash drive with at least 16GB of space. Everything will be formatted, so make sure it's clear.

Then, you just need to flash the image to a drive and configure it as bootable media. There are a handful of tools to do this, but I use BalenaEtcher because it's quick and works across various operating systems. Load it up, select your flash drive, select your Bazzite image, and wait a few minutes while the flash process complete. From there, it's just a matter of selecting your Bazzite drive as a boot override in your PC's BIOS and following the prompts to install the new OS.

That's how it should go, but I ran into some issues. Bazzite has a lot of problems when it comes to deleting old partitions and creating new ones, particularly if you're coming from Windows. A clean drive is the easiest way to install. I ended up creating a drive with a live version of Linux Mint to delete the partitions from my drives using GParted, and then booting to my Bazzite installer after. If you're running into a lot of issues, you can also install Fedora Kinoite or Silverblue and rebase to Bazzite after the fact. Bazzite certainly isn't perfect during the installation, so be prepared for some troubleshooting.