Hello posters. I am completely new to this forum, and quite new to linux. I am looking for an alternative to windows, and am looking for a good newbie distro that can play new games.

My specs are as follows.

Asrock Dual 939 sataII mobo
Athlon64 3000+ venice @ 2.45
1.5gig pc3200 ram
7600gt
200 gig
80 gig

I am a little overcome and intimidated by the sheer number of distros available. I am looking for something that will be quite functional out of the box ( of course some tweaking is always necessary )
I also need to know what programs I need to be able to play games. I heard WINE is good for apps, but can be quite slow for gaming. What are some high speed options for games.

another question that I have is in regards to installing games. I will probably have to search this one out, but I thought i would ask while i am here. How do I install a game (Need For Speed Most Wanted for example) without being able to click on an setup.exe.

Last question for now (then I start researching)is regarding networking. Whenever I use a "Live" CD, I can get online no prob, and start surfing. But when I do the FULL install, this no longer works. So any help with this would be appreciated as well.

I know i will get a few "Use the search or google" replies, and I will. This is more of my introduction post, and I wanted to pop off a few initial concerns while I was at it. Thanks for any help now, and future help I am sure. I hope as I learn, I can contribute to this community.

no linux distro can play new games, unless those who make it also provide linux binaries - quake series, doom...

I would not try to run windows games with emulators... especially not as a newbie. I still have windows, and it is only for running GTA3, 4, 5 and Mafia.

I can get those to run in linux, but not without loosing 30% or more of performence.

You can of course try to get them to run, but it's a road to frustration.

I would recommend Suse or Ubuntu, some recommend Mandriva - I have never tried it.
For ubuntu you only need to install it and then run the easylinux installer - see signature.
Suse - see signature.

Have fun

Oh... you will not have sound in flash in ubuntu, but it's so easy to fix, it's almost not worth mentioning. It will work with suse out of the box.
Any of the two is fine. You will run into an equal amount of mundane problems.

Thanks for the reply. I will look into those distro.

Cedega is something I might be interested in. Im going to research into that a bit. Thanks for the suggestions.

These might help you make a choice.

Cant post links until 4th post. This is only my second. Sorry

1. Google search with the quotes "Get your game on with SuperGamer-1" first link that shows up has a nice review

2. March Issue Of Linux Magazine Extream Gaming DVD Distro
Google search with the quotes for "juegaLinEx-LINEXTREMIX-1-DVD.iso"
Shows up as Planeta LinEx at third link down


3.Google search with quotes for "Games Knoppix" shows up at first link. Goto download and choose the English version (EN)

Thanks for the info. I am %90 into my supergamer download. I will try this first.