Windows 10 LTSC for gaming

[Mango Cobra]

Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC and I was thinking about looking into the Win10 LTSC that Null talked about like a year ago on MATI. How good is it for gaming? And more importantly, how do I get access to it, if it is good for gaming?

 

[The Ugly One]

LTSC versions of Windows are for when you need a frozen environment--meaning you don't update any of your software until IT's cleared the update--and are known to crash software that gets frequently updated, like Steam and Discord. Not a good gaming OS.

 

[Mango Cobra]

LTSC versions of Windows are for when you need a frozen environment--meaning you don't update any of your software until IT's cleared the update--and are known to crash software that gets frequently updated, like Steam and Discord. Not a good gaming OS.

I was reading that it was fine, but that's fair.
I really just want something that isn't filled with bloat, but I'm almost tech illiterate and lunix is scary because of that / my job in the medical field leaves me with 0 time to learn.

 

[The Ugly One]

Windows won't bog down your machine unless you are building a dual-core shitbox with 4 GB of RAM. But that said, you're better off removing things from a consumer Windows installation than trying to make LTSC work for gaming.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

I've played some games on my laptop running LTSC. So far, so good.

 

[Fascist Frederick]

I was reading that it was fine, but that's fair.
I really just want something that isn't filled with bloat, but I'm almost tech illiterate and lunix is scary because of that / my job in the medical field leaves me with 0 time to learn.

If you've got time to play games you've got time to learn...

 

[Kosher Dill]

How good is it for gaming?

Perfectly fine, as long as you don't have any hardware, software, or drivers that depend on features introduced after whichever kernel version the LTSC release is frozen at (1809 for LTSC 2019, where 22H2 is the latest) Nobody documents this so you'll just have to try it for yourself.

Searching around casually, here's a thread about semiliterate people trying to run Cyberpunk 2077 on a comically old LTSB (predecessor of LTSC) Win10 frozen at version 1607 - that is, the kernel as it stood in August 2016.

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/windows-10-ltsb-not-supported-version-1607-not-supported-game-crashes-on-launch-fix-updated.11042129/

Of course it didn't work and can't be made to work.

Combining information from a few different documentation pages you can get a rough idea of what DirectX version is supported where.

Win10 LTSC	Version	Build	DirectX Version
LTSC 2015	1507	10240	12
LTSC 2016	1607	14393	12
LTSC 2019	1809	17763	12.1
LTSC 2021	21H2	19044	12.2

If your favorite game comes out with an update that uses a version higher than what you're stuck on, you're out of luck and there's no workaround except upgrading Windows.

How much of a problem this is depends on what exactly you plan to play. If you're playing constantly-updated AAA games that demand the latest hardware and software you're probably going to have trouble sometime before LTSC's EOL.

That said, I've never had any issues with Steam itself (not that there's any guarantee they'll never break compatibility) and I don't play anything that comes remotely close to "cutting-edge", so I've never had any problems. Your mileage will vary.

EDIT: and if you're building a new PC, be careful that your CPU is fully supported by whatever Windows kernel you choose. In particular, Intel chips with the "big.LITTLE" architecture (12th generation and onward) won't work at full efficiency on anything but Win10 22H2 or Win11. That would rule out any LTSC build that currently exists.

 

[BatterHomes&Gardens]

Where can one acquire LTSC install?

 

[generic sauce]

Your mileage will vary.

So I use a VM for gaming and have thought about using a LTSC verson, you think there will be an EOL windows 10 version that would be best to use soon since it seems that MS is pushing windows 11? Really just need a barebones version of windows for gaming. Could make one of those stripped down isos for deployments I saw on some techtubers channels.

 

[Golly Bo-Bolly]

Where can one acquire LTSC install?

https://archive.org/download/windows-10-enterprise-ltsc-full-collection

You can also get it officially on the Microsoft website but you got to sign for a bunch of shit; also don't forget the network drivers for the OS if replacing your main OS.

 

[Kosher Dill]

So I use a VM for gaming and have thought about using a LTSC verson, you think there will be an EOL windows 10 version that would be best to use soon

It really depends on what you plan to do with it. If you're just playing FreeCell, any version is fine. If you're playing the latest raytraced Nvidia 9090 AAA tech demo game every month, probably you're going to be forced to upgrade Windows at various times and there's no point locking into a specific LTSC version. In between... well, you'll have to use your own judgement.

 

[notafloridian]

LTSC is completely fine - Occasionally you will have to fuck around with shit more than if you were on the mainline version but still not nearly as much as if you were using Linux.

It's a nice middle ground.

 

[generic sauce]

It really depends on what you plan to do with it. If you're just playing FreeCell, any version is fine. If you're playing the latest raytraced Nvidia 9090 AAA tech demo game every month, probably you're going to be forced to upgrade Windows at various times and there's no point locking into a specific LTSC version. In between... well, you'll have to use your own judgement.

it has a 3060 passedthrou to it, I just have my pirated games installed on it. Right now it just has a bog standard windows 10 install with a volume licence activation. Might stick with that but fuck is it annoying with all the jewish shit they pack in there that likes to reinstall itself after updates. I should roll out my own activation/update/iso server but seems like overkill for a single user.

 

[Another Char Clone]

it has a 3060 passedthrou to it, I just have my pirated games installed on it. Right now it just has a bog standard windows 10 install with a volume licence activation. Might stick with that but fuck is it annoying with all the jewish shit they pack in there that likes to reinstall itself after updates. I should roll out my own activation/update/iso server but seems like overkill for a single user.

I used an activation script from https://massgrave.dev/index.html, no activation server needed, it supports Win10/11 and server OSes too.
I was still playing on Windows 7 until recently on my old shitbox, now I have upgraded to a newer shitbox. Not the latest hardware, still on DDR4 etc, but recent enough.

 

[Faceless Whore]

I'm almost tech illiterate and lunix is scary because of that / my job in the medical field leaves me with 0 time to learn.

Buy a console then.

 

[Mango Cobra]

Buy a console then.

No, I said almost tech illiterate, I'm not sacrificing the ability to play my steam library because I'm not good at learning Linux.

 

[TheDataHorder]

and are known to crash software that gets frequently updated, like Steam and Discord

been running ltsc 2019 vers 1809 since it fucking came out on many different systems and vms. not once have i had steam or discord crash.
fuck off if you're just gonna fester fear into a newbies head.

anyways, ltsc is fine for general gaming, much like kosher dill said dont expect it to play the latest triple AAA games but if you dont care about them then you'll do fine.
the general rule is unless it needs a feature of a specific version (e.g wsl needing ltcsc 2021 or higher) it's probably not gonna have any issues.
do keep in mind that you can't do an inplace upgrade of a ltsc install so if the app you're running needs a newer version then you'll have to wipe the system and install a newer version of ltsc.
you'll probably get the best compatibility with newer stuff if you use ltsc 2021 but it ain't a guarantee that it'll work.

you're gonna end up spending time tinkering with it regardless and with your job that might be a deal breaker.
hope this helps.

 

[Mango Cobra]

Gotcha, fair enough and thank you all.

So basically no LTSC for me if I want to play Baldur's Gate 3, fair enough. I honestly just want the bloat gone. I hate cortana and how I can't even search for a file on my PC without it searching the internet instead of my actual PC like older versions used to.

 

[seri0us]

Gotcha, fair enough and thank you all.

So basically no LTSC for me if I want to play Baldur's Gate 3, fair enough. I honestly just want the bloat gone. I hate cortana and how I can't even search for a file on my PC without it searching the internet instead of my actual PC like older versions used to.

You might like Chris Titus Tech's Windows Utility, I've never used it but I've heard it's great.

 

[Faceless Whore]

I'm not sacrificing the ability to play my steam library because I'm not good at learning Linux.

I didn't consider that you might already have games on Steam, sorry. For what it's worth you might check your games' Linux compatibility. Installing games on Linux from Steam is usually straightforward AFAIK, it shouldn't be much different than Windows. (Just click a button and wait.)

As for Linux being different, it depends on which version of Linux you use. Some are more similar to Windows than others. If you use something like Linux Mint Cinnamon you'll find the desktop is similar to Windows. (Taskbar at bottom where open windows are listed, start menu with programs and stuff, etc.) There will be a learning curve but probably not as high as you think. Not trying to push you towards Linux, just saying in case you ever reach the point of considering it.