Windows vs Linux performance :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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C1REX 19 hours ago

Windows vs Linux performance

I’m currently testing 5 different Linux distros vs Windows. (EDIT: I've upgraded from 10 to 11)
Ryzen7800x3D + 7900 xtx

I’m using built-in benchmarks in Shadow of the Tomb Rider, Black Myth Wukong and Returnal. It takes forever to test as I need to do at least two runs per game per resolution to confirm consistency.

Why these 3 games specifically?
Because no other games I own have built in benchmarks and I wanted them for more consistent results that can be easily replicated and compared.
It’s also a nice sample of UE5, UE4 and custom game engine.

So far these 3 games run about 5%-7% faster on Bazzite than on Windows 10. (EDIT: it is now W11 instead of 10)

The results surprise me as I was testing performance few weeks ago and it was the other way round where Linux was a little bit behind Windows. Maybe there were some gains from newer Proton/Wine or amd drivers?

I will keep this post updated as I have 4 more distros to test what will take few hours that I don’t have.

Last edited by C1REX; 17 hours ago

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Showing 1-15 of 27 comments

A&A 19 hours ago

What are the other 4 distros?

Edit: AMD drivers in theory should not make a difference because of Mesa.

Last edited by A&A; 19 hours ago

C1REX 19 hours ago

Originally posted by A&A:
What are the other 4 distros?

CachyOS
Mint
KDE Linux
Gentoo

emoticorpse 19 hours ago

I'd request you throw Windows 11 into the mix. I'm gonna guess you're boycotting it kind of though.

C1REX 19 hours ago

Originally posted by emoticorpse:
I'd request you throw Windows 11 into the mix. I'm gonna guess you're boycotting it kind of though.

My other PC is on W11. I will upgrade this one to 11 as well just to be sure the results are fair.

emoticorpse 18 hours ago

Originally posted by C1REX:
Originally posted by emoticorpse:
I'd request you throw Windows 11 into the mix. I'm gonna guess you're boycotting it kind of though.
My other PC is on W11. I will upgrade this one to 11 as well just to be sure the results are fair.

Oh ok.

The_Abortionator 18 hours ago

Originally posted by A&A:
What are the other 4 distros?

Edit: AMD drivers in theory should not make a difference because of Mesa.

The sentence under edit makes no sense...

The_Abortionator 18 hours ago

Originally posted by emoticorpse:
I'd request you throw Windows 11 into the mix. I'm gonna guess you're boycotting it kind of though.

Windows 11 isnt going to be any faster than 10.

emoticorpse 18 hours ago

Originally posted by The_Abortionator:
Originally posted by emoticorpse:
I'd request you throw Windows 11 into the mix. I'm gonna guess you're boycotting it kind of though.

Windows 11 isnt going to be any faster than 10.

Well, I asked because I just kind of remember seeing some claims that it was slower.

Agent 18 hours ago

I have heard the intel scheduler for P and E cores works better on Linux instead of Windows. This is something Wendell mentions a lot, but haven't really tested myself. I also own an Nvidia GPU so Linux is not really worth my time for gaming unless my next card is a Radeon.

Last edited by Agent; 18 hours ago

C1REX 17 hours ago

Originally posted by Agent:
I also own an Nvidia GPU so Linux is not really worth my time for gaming unless my next card is a Radeon.

https://youtu.be/JpXINAMaljA?si=XYJMxjI0YHPB-SfJ

According to this guy, Nvidia has identified the problem and is working on a fix that should greatly improve performance on Linux.

#10

A&A 17 hours ago

Originally posted by The_Abortionator:
The sentence under edit makes no sense...

There is AMDgpu and Mesa.
If you don't see a difference between the two or what they do, unfortunately I do.

Originally posted by Agent:
I have heard the intel scheduler for P and E cores works better on Linux instead of Windows. This is something Wendell mentions a lot, but haven't really tested myself. I also own an Nvidia GPU so Linux is not really worth my time for gaming unless my next card is a Radeon.

Depends on the schedular.
CFS will balance the load between all threads, so... really?

Last edited by A&A; 17 hours ago

#11

Dusk of Oolacile 17 hours ago

Your experience is good because you have recent AMD hardware, the best case scenario. Anyone with older parts and especially older Nvidia has up to 60% performance loss. Up to 90% if you have no vulkan support whatsoever. It can be either a very good or very bad experience depending on hardware.

The major issue here is Xbox crashing while AMD already shrank to 4% market share, so everyone switching to AMD is not an option. They were living off consoles, and now half that is gone as well. It's a very high risk situation, as AMD might leave the market anytime. Who would switch is such a scenario?

#12

lailaamell 15 hours ago

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:
Your experience is good because you have recent AMD hardware, the best case scenario. Anyone with older parts and especially older Nvidia has up to 60% performance loss. Up to 90% if you have no vulkan support whatsoever. It can be either a very good or very bad experience depending on hardware.

The major issue here is Xbox crashing while AMD already shrank to 4% market share, so everyone switching to AMD is not an option. They were living off consoles, and now half that is gone as well. It's a very high risk situation, as AMD might leave the market anytime. Who would switch is such a scenario?

Xbox wasnt all that big to be fair its not that big of an issue most on console uses ps5 or switch 1 or 2

Last edited by lailaamell; 15 hours ago

#13

C1REX 13 hours ago

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:
Your experience is good because you have recent AMD hardware, the best case scenario. Anyone with older parts and especially older Nvidia has up to 60% performance loss. Up to 90% if you have no vulkan support whatsoever. It can be either a very good or very bad experience depending on hardware.

The major issue here is Xbox crashing while AMD already shrank to 4% market share, so everyone switching to AMD is not an option. They were living off consoles, and now half that is gone as well. It's a very high risk situation, as AMD might leave the market anytime. Who would switch is such a scenario?

Despite even lower Xbox sell numbers than normal, AMD gaming revenue is at record high.

https://www.techpowerup.com/339649/amd-reports-second-quarter-2025-financial-results?amp

Low PC market share is partly due to 5090 and 4090 sold for non gaming AI workloads but calculated as gaming market and inflating their numbers. Many containers of such GPUs were smuggled to China to AI farms.
In DIY, enthusiasts market in western countries, Radeon is doing exceptionally well. Radeon is also doing well in handhelds and growing mini PC market. It also may start taking some of the laptops market share with their new SoC (system on chip).

Also, I’ve never encouraged ditching windows.

#14

wing0zero 13 hours ago

Originally posted by C1REX:
Low PC market share is partly due to 5090 and 4090 sold for non gaming AI workloads but calculated as gaming market and inflating their numbers.

Yeah but isn't the 4% AMD GPU share on Steam stats? That would make all the talk of GPUs sold to industry irrelevant, in fact that would mean if they are not included Nvidia spanked harder than originally thought.

#15

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Date Posted: 20 Oct @ 12:41am

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