Linux

I'm a fight simmer, and have used Flight gear. The main top options now are MS flight simulator, with incredible vusuals, and Laminar's Xplane, better flight model, so good in fact, that Laminar has a version which is FAA approved for simulator hours for pilots certification, and still great graphics. Both are way, way better than Flight gear (which is truly amazing for a FOSS flight Sim.)

If flight Sims are key to your decision making, I would pay for X Plane, a pay once model, that runs natively in Linux, Windows, and Mac, then spec around that. Next decision for me would be the GPU. In Linux most people seem to recommend AMD. I haven't delved into the issue, since I've had AMD for a while.

My usual decision process is:

1- analyze needs (programs and stuff that are important).

2- budget.

3- decide general specs.

4- get the best power supply I can afford within budget, gold, active PFC, modular, etc. Spec for at least 20% more wattage than maximum projected consumption Do a bit of research, googling etc. Be wary of ranked lists from established publications, as they are often influenced by manufacturers. So many people don't understand that the PS is the single most important component to ensure that everything else works correctly. Forum/reddit threads are better.

5- a good case. Fractal is my current go to.

6- GPU

7- processor.

8- board, Ram, memory, SSD, cooling

9- yoke, joystick (hotas), and pedals. 10 - everything else.

Do not go with Nvidia, AMD all the way.

That's my 2 cents I am throwing in there. I've used Nvidia graphic cards with Linux in the past and I've bought a new monster PC recently.

I went AMD all the way, I installed my little Linux, all went butter smooth, since the drivers are already in the kernel.

Make the wiser choice here, go read team.

No idea about Flightgear but to get super niche X-Plane works in VR on Linux, including with flight simulator joysticks.

I can't help you with your specific setup but my point is that gaming on Linux works very well unless you need kernel level anti cheat which at this point is pretty much only a portion of competitive gaming.

I don't see anything on https://www.protondb.com/search?q=Flightgear though so not a good sign.

Linux gaming is great! And games that are not working under Linux (like recently EA is rolling out kernel level anti-cheat) is not so nice.. so I boycott these kind of games! Vote with your wallet

what videos are those? flightgear looks like ass without mods so maybe it's modded? also flightgear runs on a baked potato so i wouldn't worry too much.

when it comes to building a machine, you're unfortunately going to have to deal with rgb. the supply/demand situation has gotten us to the weird place where components with christmas lights on them cost less than those without.

If you specify a budget then people might be able to give some recommendations, if you like.

As for aesthetics, Fractal Design offer a few cases which look really nice, if you like the Scandinavian design style. The overview shows all cases with glass or mesh sides, but there's usually an option to get an opaque door if you don't want LEDs from the electronics shining through

I would just use https://pcpartpicker.com/ to figure out compatibility if you haven't ever built a PC before. Most users tend to use AMD because it is a little better supported, but honestly having an NIVIDIA GPU doesn't stop you from doing anything.

Get a Steam Deck. Looks like Flightgear will run on them and you can use them as a portable PC when using it with a docking station.

I'm not saying this is the best choice but I went from a gaming PC to a laptop/Steam Deck and haven't touched the PC since. Best of luck with whatever you decide.

I don't know anything about Flightgear but I've had a great experience with Bazzite and would recommend it for gaming

There are a bunch of great build suggestions on the homepage of PCPartPicker. Really the only consideration if you want to use Linux is to go with AMD for your GPU (they're usually a better value anyway).

I wouldn't recommend any prebuilts, they're usually not a good value. Plus you can learn a lot about computers if you DIY and it can be helpful to diagnose in the future.

If you choose a case without a transparent side panel and ignore RGB and glamorous components, you can get better performance.