6-core ATI CPU, Radeon 5870 GPU and 16GB RAM..which 64-bit Linux is best for me?
 

First of all, I'm a noob at Linux. I've used it before but it's a little over my head at the moment. I am learned in C++ and other languages but Ubuntu I am not. I was using Windows 7 64-bit simply because XP 64-bit is unstable and unreliable.

I want to be able to easily install games, for the most part, without having to use the Terminal often. I also need it to be compatible with my GPU.

I installed a basic version and it booted up in black screens because of the GPU.

So what would you suggest? Help is appreciated.

A basic version of what?
Also, if you are a beginner at linux, ubuntu would probably be the best choice, the 64bit version of course. If not then I would suggest Slackware64 because installing ati drivers is easy on it (same as windows, double click the driver from the official website).

I'd install Gentoo.

I really can't say what you should install. A distro is a group of things. One is a way to manage packages. Not all are as easy as can be. Almost all disto's can offer the same type of drivers so that shouldn't be an issue.

Wow!!
Sounds like you've got a lot of PC there!!!
However since you state you are new to Linux, my recommendation is PCLOS.
Now as of this writing it's still written for 32 bit machines, but for your windows games they do have a VM in their repos if you need it. And with 6 cores you can definitely handle the load. Mainly though I'd recommend them to you because it also sounds to me like you're going to need some hand holding initially, & at the PCLOS forums they're used to that, they won't belittle you. Check them out here:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/

The OP rightly asks for a 64-bit distro. IMO, installing any 32-bit one on such a machine would be really .... odd:)


We can only state our preferences. If I had such a machine I'd install one of the following: Slackware, Arch, or Debian. Mind you, I'd install them on any machine.

If you're new to linux, try Linux Mint. By the way, I'm really sorry if it's obvious, but just to make sure you are aware that you can't install windows games on linux. At least not natively. You can use a program called 'wine' which will enable you to install SOME windows games or in a virtual machine as stated in the previous post.

If you're a beginner, you need a "friendly" distro.

As you'll have discovered, the GUI is not built in, so you get a choice, and making the right choice for you is an important part of getting a good experience. Try the live CDs of Mint: KDE and Xfce. Then you can install the one you like. I don't recommend the Gnome version at the moment, because Gnome's in the process of changing from version 2 to version 3. You don't want to learn Gnome2 this year and then have to get used to Gnome3 next time!

If you're a keen games player, keep Windows for playing them. A lot of Windows games can be played using Wine:
http://appdb.winehq.org/

I would recommend Linux Mint for a new user, but beware Radeon drivers aren't as up to snuff as Nvidia drivers.. so if you try to run games in wine.. well.. good luck.

Thank you for all of your suggestions, they are greatly appreciated. I think I'll just try the 64 bit suggestions one by one and continue down the list as I go. As syc said, it wouldn't make much sense to install a 32 bit operating system for the monster I'm running. XD

And I was planning on emulating windows or using an app for gaming purposes if needed.

Thanks for your advice!

Hmm. You know I was thinking of just keeping Win7 64-bit but it just doesn't seem to be running the hardware as efficiently as it should. The startup takes about 2-3 minutes, which is NOT right at all considering the RAM if not also the cpu. I have Linux as a secondary OS at the moment and it boots up way more efficiently than Win7. I've toyed around with voltages, configurations etc, but I when I built this thing I expected it to run a lot smoother. Solid state will probably help that out marginally, but ehhhh. Not to mention that, but I think upon update it actually started running SLOWER. I'm essentially hoping to be able to travel backward and forward through time with this contraption. :P

Forget the playing Windows games in a VM thing. You will only be able to play some older games, no recent game will work in a VM.
If you want to play Windows games the best way for doing that would be dual-booting Windows and Linux, especially if you are new to Linux, since for many games you have to fiddle with your system to get them running. I play games with wine and I know that it can be really nerve-stretching. And since you are new to Linux I wouldn't recommend Slackware 64 bit, you will need the 32 bit compatibility libs to run wine and you will have to maintain that system from the command-line. May be to much for a newbie, but of course that is up to you.

i assume you have windows already installed .
If that's the case - get the VirtualBox for windows. And try as many linuxes as you like as guests. I would suggest to spend at least a month with each of them and learn as much as possible. Create documents, install software, try to resolve something that's not working from the first "click". See if you like that.