A few years ago, I ran a small web design agency here in Vancouver. My setup was built for reliability and productivity: three Dell desktop workstations handled all production work, and one laptop stood by as an emergency backup, a kind of digital lifeboat.
The purpose of that laptop was simple: if something ever went wrong like a fire or flood, I needed a single, portable device that had everything required to rebuild from scratch. When you’re providing professional services, clients don’t care why something went wrong, they care that you can fix it. That’s why security, redundancy, and portability were key.
My Linux Journey on the G15
Over the last few years, I’ve run a number of Linux distributions on this laptop:
- Initially, I installed Fedora but since all my other computers run Manjaro, I eventually switched.
- When the asusctl options were merged starting with the 6.1 kernel, I moved to Ubuntu and later Manjaro Gnome Minimal Edition, each with their own pros and cons.
- Eventually, I installed CachyOS, and because it run so fast, I never felt the need to switch.
CachyOS: The Right Fit for the Zephyrus G15
CachyOS has proven to be the best Linux distribution I’ve ever installed on this laptop. It’s stable and best of all, everything just works.
Yes, everything. From Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to audio, suspend/resume, and full hardware acceleration via the proprietary Nvidia drivers. I use the Gnome desktop environment, customized with the Powerlevel10k terminal theme for aesthetics and productivity.
The only thing that doesn’t work? The fingerprint reader. But that’s a small price to pay and a feature I don’t need anyway.
A Note to Other Zephyrus Owners
There’s very little recent documentation online confirming that CachyOS works out of the box on Zephyrus laptops, especially models like the G15 with a powerful Nvidia GPU.
So let me be clear:
- Yes, CachyOS works 100% on this device
- Performance is rock-solid and stable
- The operating temperature is nice as long as an external monitor is connected via the HDMI port and not USB C.
If you’re looking for a Linux distribution that works with zero drama on gaming laptops like the Zephyrus, CachyOS is your answer. If you are looking for a fast operating system for a PC, I recommend GhostBSD, especially if your computer is still running Windows 10 and you’re being forced to upgrade.