Gnome. It feels better even tho it runs so much worse

Check Bodhi Linux's Moksha Desktop. Pretty lightweight and does work

Started on Gnome 2 for a short stint then used Unity for a while (used to be Ubuntus DM). When I switched away from Ubuntu I was still looking for something "familiar" so switching to Gnome (it was like 3.8 at the time) felt right. Have been using Gnome ever since.

I've thought about switching to KDE a few times (when Gnome made some bone headed decision) but the way key combos and workflows are ingrained to me I would just set up any DE to feel like Gnome so why should I switch.

I use KDE for desktops/workstations and Gnome where I want more of a 10ft interface...like HTPC, or if I have a touchscreen device.

I use lxqt mostly beacause it's simple and moderately lightweight.

You are used to KDE and Gnome is very different But also KDE is buggy, I dont know how Steamdeck people make it better. If you chose Xfce, you will get a KDE similar desktop but more robust. Xfce can look modern with few efforts. MX Linux distro is a good example of a nice Xfce config.

I use both: GNOME works better for a desktop, KDE Plasma works better for a laptop.

There are more than those 2 options for a Desktop Environment, by the way ;)

XFCE + xmonad

neither. i think i have cinnamon now on everything except the old junk that has peppermint (its xfce there) or is a console-only box or vm.

Any tips for 4k gaming on Plasma?

If i force system scaling, everthing looks great but games dont get to use the full 4k. If i go with app scaling the games look fine but some apps are blurry.

I figured out a halfway solution where i use no scaling and just made the fonts bigger, but some ui elements are still tiny, and steam doesn't scale at all.

Is there a way to disable system scaling for just selected applications?

Doesn't really matter for 90% of cases, best bet is to go for what feels good for you. Each distro is similar to each version of windows, they are a little different from one version to the next, but for the most part it just changes how you interact with it.

Started with gnome but stuck with KDE. Gnome just kept frustrating me and I had to do things their way or not at all.