Why does Linux perform worse than Windows in gaming?

[𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭★]

So I switched to Linux in 2021 because people said Linux gives better performance compared to Windows, but after using it for almost 2 years, I realized that Linux gives much worse gaming performance than Windows. Linux may use less resources for its operating system, but still, it doesn't improve any gaming performance, in fact it's worse than Windows, even when playing Linux native games. Does anyone know why?

[worstcaster]

Because proton/wine is a translation layer for running Windows programs on Linux. Imagine speaking to someone in (insert language you don't know) with a really good translator available. The conversation will go fine, but it will go a little slower than if you just spoke the same language.

[N3tRunn3r]

Linux indeed gives better performance, as server machines, webserver, database server, office work and programming & scripting... even has high and higher performance as "game servers". Especially on my favourite branch "Debian". But Linux systems have never been invented to "game" on it, while Windows 11 is indeed concepted for gaming so are games.

"Android" and Apps is an other topic though.

[𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭★]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von worstcaster:

Because proton/wine is a translation layer for running Windows programs on Linux. Imagine speaking to someone in (insert language you don't know) with a really good translator available. The conversation will go fine, but it will go a little slower than if you just spoke the same language.

yes i know but what about Linux native games? i don't think it requires proton/wine to run

[Haruspex]

Linux is more performative overall, but when it comes to running Windows games, there are extra layers it needs to go through via Proton, and these extra layers can add overhead. There are games that benefit from the conversion to Vulkan, and once in a while you can stumble upon a Windows game that actually performs better under Linux compared to Windows, but this is the exception and not the rule.

That being said, Proton has gotten really, really good, and most of the time the overhead Proton introduces is negligible. Playing Windows games on Linux is a completely different world now and has made a lot of advancement in a short amount of time. It's a totally different experience in 2023 compared to when you switched in 2021, and it will only continue to get better.

Edit:
In regards to native Linux games sometimes being less performative, I think this is just a matter of the Linux version getting neglected in comparison to the Windows version. Linux is great and growing, but it's still less than 2% of Steam users, so it's natural that a developer will focus more on the Windows version. In fact, sometimes it's better to run the Windows version via Proton than it is to run the native Linux version. Linux purists can get a little salty about this, but it's a fact that running Windows games on Linux via Proton is the present and future of Linux gaming.

[skOsH♥]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kitsune:

So I switched to Linux in 2021 because people said Linux gives better performance compared to Windows, but after using it for almost 2 years, I realized that Linux gives much worse gaming performance than Windows. Linux may use less resources for its operating system, but still, it doesn't improve any gaming performance, in fact it's worse than Windows, even when playing Linux native games. Does anyone know why?

Give it the right commands in launch options and use Proton Glorious Eggroll and you should be getting essentially the same performance.

I actually got better performance in CP2k77 before I built a new computer...but only by about 2-3 frames

[𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭★]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 8bitbeard:

Linux is more performative overall, but when it comes to running Windows games, there are extra layers it needs to go through via Proton, and these extra layers can add overhead. There are games that benefit from the conversion to Vulkan, and once in a while you can stumble upon a Windows game that actually performs better under Linux compared to Windows, but this is the exception and not the rule.

That being said, Proton has gotten really, really good, and most of the time the overhead Proton introduces is negligible. Playing Windows games on Linux is a completely different world now and has made a lot of advancement in a short amount of time. It's a totally different experience in 2023 compared to when you switched in 2021, and it will only continue to get better.

You may be right, as I haven't used Linux since then, and I thought I'd check it out later to see if there has been any performance improvement over the past 2 years.

[Omega]

It highly differs per game. Some games run much better, some run much worse, and some run about the same. This goes for both native titles and games running under WINE.

Native games too often tend to be untested and plain bad.

Performance entirely comes down to drivers and any additional software you may be using such as WINE and DXVK.

Translation layers such as WINE nad DXVK do not inheritly make performance worse, the additional overhead is very minimal.

[𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭★]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von d¢:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kitsune:

So I switched to Linux in 2021 because people said Linux gives better performance compared to Windows, but after using it for almost 2 years, I realized that Linux gives much worse gaming performance than Windows. Linux may use less resources for its operating system, but still, it doesn't improve any gaming performance, in fact it's worse than Windows, even when playing Linux native games. Does anyone know why?

Give it the right commands in launch options and use Proton Glorious Eggroll and you should be getting essentially the same performance.

I actually got better performance in CP2k77 before I built a new computer...but only by about 2-3 frames

Maybe that's why I'm getting worse performance, I didn't put any commands in the launch options, and just a quick question, what distro did you use?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

First off, don't use Ubuntu for gaming. Use something else and also learn what launch commands are available and such.

Try one of these distros...
Pop_OS
MINT
Manjaro

[Omega]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Bad 💀 Motha:

First off, don't use Ubuntu for gaming. Use something else and also learn what launch commands are available and such.

Try one of these distros...
Pop_OS
MINT
Manjaro

Ubuntu is fine for gaming. Pop!_OS and Mint are Ubuntu-based.

The main issue with Ubuntu is Canonical which keeps pushing their Snap crap.

[skOsH♥]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kitsune:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von d¢:

Give it the right commands in launch options and use Proton Glorious Eggroll and you should be getting essentially the same performance.

I actually got better performance in CP2k77 before I built a new computer...but only by about 2-3 frames

Maybe that's why I'm getting worse performance, I didn't put any commands in the launch options, and just a quick question, what distro did you use?

I was using Manjaro but the effectiveness of my kernel was probably not completely optimized. I'd go with Pop_OS or kubuntu if I was doing nvidia

[Haruspex]

I say use Ubuntu (Or any Ubuntu derivative), especially if you're not super familiar with Linux. Other distros can be great, but with Ubuntu you're more likely to find the software you want to use ready to go in the package manager. All the prerequisites and updates are handled for you that way. Otherwise, with other distros, you might need to make sure the prerequisites are covered yourself, and you might need to download the source code from Github and compile it yourself, which is routine on Linux, but can be a head-spinning task for ordinary folk.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Omega:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Bad 💀 Motha:

First off, don't use Ubuntu for gaming. Use something else and also learn what launch commands are available and such.

Try one of these distros...
Pop_OS
MINT
Manjaro

Ubuntu is fine for gaming. Pop!_OS and Mint are Ubuntu-based.

The main issue with Ubuntu is Canonical which keeps pushing their Snap crap.

Since I'm a bit out of the loop. Maybe share some good websites for these folks that would help them better configure their Linux for performance, especially when it comes to dealing with NVIDIA GPU Driver for Linux, Steam, Proton and alike.

I for one keep a Vega64 laying around for Linux use. NVIDIA GPU in Linux is poop.

[Omega]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Bad 💀 Motha:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Omega:

Ubuntu is fine for gaming. Pop!_OS and Mint are Ubuntu-based.

The main issue with Ubuntu is Canonical which keeps pushing their Snap crap.

Since I'm a bit out of the loop. Maybe share some good websites for these folks that would help them better configure their Linux for performance, especially when it comes to dealing with NVIDIA GPU Driver for Linux, Steam, Proton and alike.

I for one keep a Vega64 laying around for Linux use. NVIDIA GPU in Linux is poop.

Default config is fine in 99% of cases. Many articles on the web are outdated or factually incorrect.

The Linux desktop is moving very fast at the moment, what was relevant is often no longer just one year later.

[𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐭★]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Bad 💀 Motha:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Omega:

Ubuntu is fine for gaming. Pop!_OS and Mint are Ubuntu-based.

The main issue with Ubuntu is Canonical which keeps pushing their Snap crap.

Since I'm a bit out of the loop. Maybe share some good websites for these folks that would help them better configure their Linux for performance, especially when it comes to dealing with NVIDIA GPU Driver for Linux, Steam, Proton and alike.

I for one keep a Vega64 laying around for Linux use. NVIDIA GPU in Linux is poop.

I have an Nvidia GPU and the only distro that works perfectly with Nvidia Driver is just Linux Mint, and on other distros that I‘ve tried like Arch and Debian, Nvidia Driver don’t work perfectly (there’s still screen tearing etc.)