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Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. Maybe for a small sub-set of games, but for the vast majority you're running them on Win32 a

by nick_ 3y ago

Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. Maybe for a small sub-set of games, but for the vast majority you're running them on Win32 and DX compatibility layers that each have overhead. Sometimes a lot.

ramesh31 3y ago
>Maybe for a small sub-set of games, but for the vast majority you're running them on Win32 and DX compatibility layers that each have overhead. Sometimes a lot. It really doesn't matter. You're talking theoretical benchmarks, when in reality the only thing that matters to someone playing is 60fps@4k. For a compatible game, any Linux machine is equally capable of acheiving that through Proton with a sufficient GPU. Particularly for Nvidia, where the linux drivers are equally as good or better than Windows at this point.
Propelloni 3y ago
You know, I wouldn't have objected if you had said something like "Linux does not match Windows in gaming perfomance" but you had to go to hyperbole and say "not even close" and that's just not true. Linux is astoundingly close to MS Windows if you consider that most games are not written for the Linux platform, but for MS Windows. That alone should give one pause for thought. Add "treating its users with respect" to the mix and Linux seems to be the better choice. It sure is good enough for me.
aomix 3y ago
The DX layer is interesting. Dxvk ranges from slightly slower to much, much faster. Older games are an unambiguous win and modern games seem to be a toss up. There’s a large user base for it on windows to get all the performance you can out of older PCs.
ActionHank 3y ago
SteamDeck has entered the chat. Low power device with low end specs, absolutely crushing games with those pesky compatibility layers. I play all my games on my PC, they work flawlessly save for 2 exceptions. Diablo 4 Beta took some tinkering, but I got it going after 20mins. Fortnite won't run because their anticheat isn't compatible, because Epic don't want it to be.
xcv123 3y ago
> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. Proton/Linux can exceed Windows 11 performance, and is otherwise very close. The difference on my system is negligible. https://www.computerbase.de/2023-12/welche-linux-distribution-zum-spielen/2/ https://www.computerbase.de/2023-12/welche-linux-distributio...
thefurdrake 3y ago
> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. I'm curious if you've actually, you know, tried linux with proton/wine at all in the last three years. Things have really changed since the Deck. You might wanna try updating your opinion to reflect reality; performance is less an issue than one-off compat issues by far in most circumstances in my experience, IE I'm more likely to have to make config changes to deal with a crash than I am to have a huge disparity in FPS/load times/stuttering/frame dropping between linux and windows.
nick_ 3y ago
These replies are very curious. Apologies for angering some folks. I didn't intend for that. The assumption that I don't know what I'm talking about was expected. However the doubling-down that running Windows games on linux is, in fact, "far superior" to running them on Windows is... interesting. First of all, I play games daily on my M1 Mac and have gamed on linux and older Intel Macs since around 2007. I'm very familiar with the compatibility layers that go into running Windows games on non-Windows systems. Wine, ESync, MSync, WineD3D, MoltenVK, DXVK, VKD3D, GPTK, Rosetta 2, winetricks, CrossOver, CXPatcher, Whisky, PlayCover, Parallels Desktop; these are all things I have used to let me play ~8/10 of the games I want to play. That is, ~20% of the games I want to play simply don't work at all outside of Windows mostly due to either anti-cheat, or using DX APIs that aren't implemented in the compatibility layers. Most of them perform noticeably worse than Windows, and that's after googling for an hour and applying the random performance hacks/tweaks. Windows games are designed and built, from the hardware APIs to the shaders, to run on Windows. It is only with a very curious definition of "far superior" that getting a tiny percentage of games to run a few FPS better is a true statement. Playing Windows games on linux is not "far superior" than running them on Windows.
- xcv123 3y ago
  Proton is a major improvement over what you listed, but of course it doesn't run on Mac. I also have an M1 and have been using Crossover or Wine with all the tricks since the 2000's. Proton was a significant improvement for ease of use and performance. It's not better than Windows but is practically the same for most games now. From Steam you browse to a game then click install, and it just works. The guy you were replying to meant it was far superior in terms of experience, not being forced to view shitty ads and deal with other Windows 11 obnoxious garbage.
- justinclift 3y ago
  As a data point, some older games (Eufloria comes to mind) act up on Windows due to the version of .dlls shipped with it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/221180/Eufloria_HD/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/221180/Eufloria_HD/ Running the Windows build via Proton works fine. That being said, this particular game has a Linux build anyway, so it's kind of a moot point (for now). ;)
Andrex 3y ago
> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Windows-11-scores-dead-last-in-gaming-performance-tests-against-3-Linux-gaming-distros.778624.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Windows-11-scores-dead-last-in... "Not even close" is inaccurate.

by nick_ 3y ago

ramesh31 3y ago

>Maybe for a small sub-set of games, but for the vast majority you're running them on Win32 and DX compatibility layers that each have overhead. Sometimes a lot. It really doesn't matter. You're talking theoretical benchmarks, when in reality the only thing that matters to someone playing is 60fps@4k. For a compatible game, any Linux machine is equally capable of acheiving that through Proton with a sufficient GPU. Particularly for Nvidia, where the linux drivers are equally as good or better than Windows at this point.

Propelloni 3y ago

You know, I wouldn't have objected if you had said something like "Linux does not match Windows in gaming perfomance" but you had to go to hyperbole and say "not even close" and that's just not true. Linux is astoundingly close to MS Windows if you consider that most games are not written for the Linux platform, but for MS Windows. That alone should give one pause for thought. Add "treating its users with respect" to the mix and Linux seems to be the better choice. It sure is good enough for me.

aomix 3y ago

The DX layer is interesting. Dxvk ranges from slightly slower to much, much faster. Older games are an unambiguous win and modern games seem to be a toss up. There’s a large user base for it on windows to get all the performance you can out of older PCs.

ActionHank 3y ago

SteamDeck has entered the chat. Low power device with low end specs, absolutely crushing games with those pesky compatibility layers. I play all my games on my PC, they work flawlessly save for 2 exceptions. Diablo 4 Beta took some tinkering, but I got it going after 20mins. Fortnite won't run because their anticheat isn't compatible, because Epic don't want it to be.

xcv123 3y ago

> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. Proton/Linux can exceed Windows 11 performance, and is otherwise very close. The difference on my system is negligible. https://www.computerbase.de/2023-12/welche-linux-distribution-zum-spielen/2/ https://www.computerbase.de/2023-12/welche-linux-distributio...

thefurdrake 3y ago

> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. I'm curious if you've actually, you know, tried linux with proton/wine at all in the last three years. Things have really changed since the Deck. You might wanna try updating your opinion to reflect reality; performance is less an issue than one-off compat issues by far in most circumstances in my experience, IE I'm more likely to have to make config changes to deal with a crash than I am to have a huge disparity in FPS/load times/stuttering/frame dropping between linux and windows.

nick_ 3y ago

These replies are very curious. Apologies for angering some folks. I didn't intend for that. The assumption that I don't know what I'm talking about was expected. However the doubling-down that running Windows games on linux is, in fact, "far superior" to running them on Windows is... interesting. First of all, I play games daily on my M1 Mac and have gamed on linux and older Intel Macs since around 2007. I'm very familiar with the compatibility layers that go into running Windows games on non-Windows systems. Wine, ESync, MSync, WineD3D, MoltenVK, DXVK, VKD3D, GPTK, Rosetta 2, winetricks, CrossOver, CXPatcher, Whisky, PlayCover, Parallels Desktop; these are all things I have used to let me play ~8/10 of the games I want to play. That is, ~20% of the games I want to play simply don't work at all outside of Windows mostly due to either anti-cheat, or using DX APIs that aren't implemented in the compatibility layers. Most of them perform noticeably worse than Windows, and that's after googling for an hour and applying the random performance hacks/tweaks. Windows games are designed and built, from the hardware APIs to the shaders, to run on Windows. It is only with a very curious definition of "far superior" that getting a tiny percentage of games to run a few FPS better is a true statement. Playing Windows games on linux is not "far superior" than running them on Windows.

xcv123 3y ago
Proton is a major improvement over what you listed, but of course it doesn't run on Mac. I also have an M1 and have been using Crossover or Wine with all the tricks since the 2000's. Proton was a significant improvement for ease of use and performance. It's not better than Windows but is practically the same for most games now. From Steam you browse to a game then click install, and it just works. The guy you were replying to meant it was far superior in terms of experience, not being forced to view shitty ads and deal with other Windows 11 obnoxious garbage.
justinclift 3y ago
As a data point, some older games (Eufloria comes to mind) act up on Windows due to the version of .dlls shipped with it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/221180/Eufloria_HD/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/221180/Eufloria_HD/ Running the Windows build via Proton works fine. That being said, this particular game has a Linux build anyway, so it's kind of a moot point (for now). ;)

Andrex 3y ago

> Linux is not even close to matching Windows in gaming performance. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Windows-11-scores-dead-last-in-gaming-performance-tests-against-3-Linux-gaming-distros.778624.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Windows-11-scores-dead-last-in... "Not even close" is inaccurate.