Linux Unhinged

Hardware Levels

Not what we charge. What you need. Current market prices for complete systems at each tier.

Hardware tiers from entry to enthusiast: Mobile, Laptop, Workstation

Browser Requirements

Hard minimums. WebGL 2.0 + ES 3.0 shaders. No fallbacks. No polyfills.

Firefox 52+ March 2017
Chrome 56+ January 2017
Chromium 56+ January 2017
Safari 15+ September 2021

Why these versions?

  • WebGL 2.0 context with #version 300 es shaders
  • WebAssembly (WebAssembly.instantiate)
  • Vertex Array Objects, 32-bit index buffers
  • Fetch API, async/await, Service Workers

For multiplayer:

  • SharedArrayBuffer (requires HTTPS + COOP/COEP headers)
  • WebRTC with RTCDataChannel

WebGPU (optional, enhanced rendering):

  • Chrome 113+ (May 2023)
  • Safari 18+ (September 2024)
  • Firefox 125+ (April 2024, behind flag)

Steam Browser, embedded webviews, ancient Electron apps? Best effort. We test against real browsers, not every runtime that can render HTML.

Vulkan Requirements

Native Linux builds. Compute-first architecture.

Minimum Version 1.0 February 2016

Required capabilities:

  • Compute queue family (VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT)
  • Host-visible, host-coherent memory
  • SPIR-V compute shaders

No extensions required. Core Vulkan 1.0 only.

Supported GPU drivers:

  • amdgpu — AMD (RDNA, RDNA2, RDNA3)
  • nvidia — NVIDIA proprietary (Maxwell+)
  • i915 — Intel integrated / Arc

Used for:

  • GPU compute (inference, rendering pipelines)
  • llama.cpp acceleration (GGML_VULKAN)
  • stable-diffusion.cpp acceleration (SD_VULKAN)

Mesa/RADV, ANV, and NVK are fine. Nouveau without NVK? You're on your own. We don't test against drivers that can't do compute.

Tier 0

Mobile

Old phones, budget tablets. The real minimum.

Varies
  • Status Actively Exploring
  • Target ARM / WebGL 1.0
  • RAM 2GB+
  • Use Case Viewer / Companion
Tier 2

Workstation

The benchmark. This is what we develop on.

$3,000 - $4,500

Custom desktop build

  • CPU AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
  • RAM 64-128 GB DDR5
  • GPU RTX 5070 Ti
  • Storage 2TB+ NVMe
  • OS Linux (obviously)

Why These Tiers?

Linux Unhinged is built for everyone. The codebase compiles to both native binaries and WebAssembly, runs on bare metal and in browsers. We test against real hardware, not theoretical minimums.

The laptop tier is "recommended" because that's the normal curve. Most hobbyists have a decent laptop. The workstation tier is our development benchmark - everything should run smoothly there.

Mobile is an active consideration. We're not chasing checkboxes - we expand support when we can do it right.

/libs/profile

Soon: register your device profile and see how others run Unhinged. All devices welcome. All humans too.

Prices based on Q1 2025 market averages. Check PCPartPicker or your local retailers for current pricing.