Currently running Windows 11. I customised the install with Rufus so I could disable its requirements such as TPM 2.0, secure boot and a Microsoft account. I tried Linux Mint recently, and while the few games I tested ran smoothly, I was unable to get my controller to work. Probably due to it being third-party and having additional buttons :P
If you're running W10/11, I recommend using the following commands to ensure that there's no issues with the OS
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
sfc /scannow
Reboot your PC after running both commands
To check your drive health, download Crystal Disk Info. It'll inform you of the status of your drives, including how much life is remaining on an SSD: https://crystalmark.info/redirect.php?product=CrystalDiskInfoInstaller
Just want to add, you're unable to disable Game Bar on W11 unless you use the following commands in PowerShell as admin. This may or may not improve performance in games.
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage
reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameDVR /f /t REG_DWORD /v "AppCaptureEnabled" /d 0 reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\GameConfigStore /f /t REG_DWORD /v "GameDVR_Enabled" /d 0
The first part of the second command will complete automatically, so make sure to press the Enter key to finish the second one