Which version of Linux would be good if I use my PC for gaming ? I play these games the most:

Joint operations: typhoon rising
Red Faction
Soldier of Fortune 1 &2
Star Craft
Madden 2004
soon, doom 3 and Half-life 2

So is there a version of Linux that can help me ?

whatever.... some distro's perform slightly better on benchmarks.
use whatver you re most comfortable...

Gentoo if compiled correctly would be the fastest, but its for experts only...
i hear SuSE does quite well on benchmarks compared to other newb friendly distro' like fedora.

I could live with a little less performance, I am just worried about a specific version of Linux not supporting my games at all. Which would support them and be relatively easy to use, you said Gentoo was for experts. Is SuSE easy to use, I am a complete newb to Linux.

Just be aware that not all the games you have listed have native Linux version (IIRC). So you will need to run something like Cedega to get them to work. Cedega does work fine on any Linux distro that otherwise meets the specs for the games.

But most preferably, run games that have native Linux versions (Like Doom3, for instance).

Fedora Core 3 .... has done pretty well for me. It plays anything I put in it with Cedega/Point2Play .... My friend uses SuSe...its just as simple as FC3 is to use...some things are a little harder to get a hold of for it. But for the most part its the same as FC3.

I dunno...I can't complain about FC3 at all...its done me good for everything.

to piggy back off Sarge....If theres already a native version out, Cedega/Point2Play won't support it...Why support something for a windows os when they have a Linux version?

Where could I find FC3, I checked Linux.org but couldn't find it. Also, that Cedega, I checked it out and it turns out it costs money, need to subscribe, can you do it without a credit card, which I don't have ?

Fedora Core 3

As for Cedega taking other forms of payment, I don't know. You'd have to snoop around at the website, I guess. I dunno.

TransGaming.com / Cedega will take Paypal also... its only $15 for 3 months...keep in mind the software still works even after you subscription is up...you just can't update it. Also if you don't pay you can't post for support on the TransGaming forums...you have to go elsewhere for support.

You can find just about any Linux distro at www.linuxiso.org .. All for free too!

Did't see paypal, but ill worry about that later. For FC3 in the download section, I download all 4 iso's right ?

Yes, you will want all 4 iso files.

Has anybody heard of WINE, and can comment on how well it works for games ? Cedega probably isnt for me because I can't pay online, so how good is WINE ? Or can anybody name any other programs that will do the same job and are free.

Wine works for a few games...but not for many. Thats why they made Cedega... If you can't pay for it you might try an older version of Cedega (was called WineX) ..you should be able to find the old ones for free on thier CVS section. However it doesn't work well with newer games. Your better off biting the bullet and paying for Cedega 4.2.1 ..

ah also when you d/l FC3 you won't need the 4th CD ....I've installed it on 4 machines so far and never needed it. It has server based files on it which you probably will never need for a desktop OS.

Thanks for the correction.

Now I'll know, too, the next time someone asks.

No problem... I'm just a simple SrA with to much time on my hands! That was why I got into Linux years ago. lol I test for Staff next month.

Wine has no directX support...
if your windows game uses OpenGL (lik half-life Counterstrike) then there's a chance it will work, try it.. if its directX, no chance for wine.