Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu Linux Gaming Performance With NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060/1080

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
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Phoronix has an article up today comparing gaming performance between Windows 10 and Ubuntu Linux on Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 and 1080 GPU's. It seems like not so long ago we were hearing from Valve, that they anticipated their Source engine based games to, in many cases, perform better under Linux than they do in Windows. The results today, however, show that performance under Linux in modern titles has not lived up to this promise.

This confirms what I have been experiencing myself, and is why I despite being a huge Linux user still maintain a Windows 10 install just for games. The titles I want just aren't always available, and the ones that are, rarely perform as well or look and feel the same in Linux.

Today the NVIDIA Windows vs. Linux results are complete while in the coming days will be similar results available for Radeon graphics and a shorter comparison with Intel Kabylake graphics. A variety of new and old Linux games were used for testing. Titles tested included Company of Heroes 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, GRID Autosport, Metro Last Light Redux, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Civilization VI, Tomb Raider, Total War: WARHAMMER, and The Talos Principle.
 
At this point in time, my Linux PC runs dual 1080p monitors so 1080p is what I game at and performance is more than adequate. Considering the linked article showed testing running at 4k, and as an individual that runs 4k on a Windows machine using a 980Ti and a 2700k @ 5.0Ghz I know just how demanding 4k really is - I actually find the results quite promising, I expected worse.
 
Here's where I stand: My main issue with Windows is privacy concerns and my lack of control over what I paid for while my main issue with Linux is gaming performance and number of games. Gaming performance and number of games are getting better on Linux every month while I can't say that privacy and control are getting better on Windows.
 
BulletDust said:
One thing the article does highlight is how the Vulkan API can benefit everyone.
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I think it shows that and also how important it is that developers plan for Linux from the start or at least use openGL from the start. Most games that I play that developed for Linux from the get go play with much better FPS than those that ported to Linux after the fact. For instance when playing Soma I got higher FPS on Linux than Windows on the same hardware. Minimums of 62 and averages in the 80's while on Windows I got minimums of 46 and averages in the 60's.
 
Simmonz said:
I think it shows that and also how important it is that developers plan for Linux from the start or at least use openGL from the start. Most games that I play that developed for Linux from the get go play with much better FPS than those that ported to Linux after the fact. For instance when playing Soma I got higher FPS on Linux than Windows on the same hardware. Minimums of 62 and averages in the 80's while on Windows I got minimums of 46 and averages in the 60's.
Click to expand...

I've experienced the exact same thing running Nvidia binary drivers/hardware. When it comes to DX wrappers it comes as absolutely no surprise that there's a performance penalty, especially when gaming at ultra under 4k.
 
Simmonz said:
Here's where I stand: My main issue with Windows is privacy concerns and my lack of control over what I paid for while my main issue with Linux is gaming performance and number of games. Gaming performance and number of games are getting better on Linux every month while I can't say that privacy and control are getting better on Windows.
Click to expand...

I feel similarly.

As for right now, I do almost everything in Linux except games, and as far as games go, I'm not all that concerned about privacy.
 
Master_shake_ said:
i was actually commenting at the absurdity that an unlocked 2500k is going to have worse performance than a 3770.

at this point if you have a 2500k and it's not overclocked there is no hope for you.

:D
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Zarathustra[H] said:
I feel similarly.

As for right now, I do almost everything in Linux except games, and as far as games go, I'm not all that concerned about privacy.
Click to expand...

So that is to say that you would use a Windows system for gaming but not for anything sensitive ? If I read that right I can relate. I keep a Windows 7 gaming system for games on my backlog but would never store my personal documents on a Windows OS.
 
BulletDust said:
One thing the article does highlight is how the Vulkan API can benefit everyone.
Click to expand...

That was clear since the original announcement, which included every single platform and almost every company.

Hell, even MS joined them a while after launch.

Meanwhile, here is a quick guide for gpu pass through using ubuntu.



Another one:

 
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grtitan said:
That was clear since the original announcement, which included every single platform and almost every company. Hell MS joined them after.

Meanwhile, here is a quick guide for gpu pass through using ubuntu.

Click to expand...


This may be useful for others. Personally I only run native Linux titles, if the developer isn't interested in Linux, than I'm not interested in the developer.
 
BulletDust said:
I've experienced the exact same thing running Nvidia binary drivers/hardware. When it comes to DX wrappers it comes as absolutely no surprise that there's a performance penalty, especially when gaming at ultra under 4k.
Click to expand...

I've experienced that linux is always faster when native support exist.
RPI 3 in linux with usb 2.0 throughput for disk and a cpu comparable to a 15 year old cpu still runs stuff.
in the shared garage\workshop with my friends we have a 4gb, intel I3 laptop and it struggles exactly as much as the pi with same set of tasks...
it even has a SSD...
 
ManofGod said:
On a PC, sure. But I loved that Amiga more than any other computer I have owned before or since. :)
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Commodore really was ahead of their time with the Amiga, that's for sure. An Amiga+VideoToaster was the thing for graphics artists long before Apple managed to get out of DP.
 
BulletDust said:
The better OS is undesputable... ;)
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ManofGod said:
Yep, Windows. :D Of course, the Amiga was way ahead of the game and the best at it's time, even though Commodore had no idea what they were doing.
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It all depends on how you define best.

That's why - IMHO - there is no such thing as a "best operating system" or a "best car" or a "best motherboard". Bests don't exist.

There are only things that are best in different categories, and based on which categories they are best at, may or may not be best suited for the task at hand.

Windows certainly has the better gaming experience. There is no doubt about that. More games are available, the games that are available on both run better on windows, and other less tangible issues like smoothness of mouse movement, is much better on Windows.

Windows across the board has benefits such as the fact that just about any software you want, has a version that will run on it. It is more universal, so more people know how to use it well, and hardware compatibility (especially for brand new hardware) is also better.

Linux on the other hand has other benefits. More stable, less intense on hardware (needs much less RAM and much less disk space for the same tasks, and can get away with weaker CPU's too). While overall Windows software catalog is larger, Linux has a very good supply of free software. Package managers that update not only the OS itself but all installed software with both feature and security updates. This and the general design of the OS itself helps it be a more secure OS too. And from a security perspective, the relative obscurity doesn't hurt either. Not only is the OS more security by design, and have a package manager that makes sure installed programs are up to date, but you also have much much fewer people targeting you.

Not having to hunt for drivers during install, or look for driver updates, as they are automatic with the package manager/kernel is huge too. It takes me less than 10 minutes to install a fully working Linux install. It takes me MUCH longer to install windows, all its drivers and the software I want. Recently I had an issue with Windows that bugged the crap out of me. Intel discontinued driver support for my onboard NIC's. Windows has generic drivers for them though, so they work, but you need the official Intel drivers to support LACP. In Linux I can use LACP on any NIC I want, even something 20 years old, and driver support never disappears. I can even mix and match NIC's from different manufacturers.

Ease of use really isn't a concern anymore, as long you don't need to do fancy stuff. My stepson started using Linux Mint when he was 6 and didn't have any issues. (He has since mostly switched to Windows though, due to it having more games) My Fiance's 73 year old mother also uses Linux Mint without significant issues (no more than she would have under Windows)

So, depending on what your focus is for your rig, Windows can be the obvious choice, but so can Linux. There is no best. There is only best suited for what you want to do.
 
Todd Walter said:
Commodore really was ahead of their time with the Amiga, that's for sure. An Amiga+VideoToaster was the thing for graphics artists long before Apple managed to get out of DP.
Click to expand...

Yep. My Amiga 1000 had L/R stereo outputs while my friend's top end PC was still chirping and bleeping out of a PC buzzer. This prior to the soundblaster era obviously. And I remember rocking DeluxePaint while he was still sucking a fat one with 4-color EVGA.

I still have that A1000..
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
It all depends on how you define best.

That's why - IMHO - there is no such thing as a "best operating system" or a "best car" or a "best motherboard". Bests don't exist.

There are only things that are best in different categories, and based on which categories they are best at, may or may not be best suited for the task at hand.

Windows certainly has the better gaming experience. There is no doubt about that. More games are available, the games that are available on both run better on windows, and other less tangible issues like smoothness of mouse movement, is much better on Windows.

Windows across the board has benefits such as the fact that just about any software you want, has a version that will run on it. It is more universal, so more people know how to use it well, and hardware compatibility (especially for brand new hardware) is also better.

Linux on the other hand has other benefits. More stable, less intense on hardware (needs much less RAM and much less disk space for the same tasks, and can get away with weaker CPU's too). While overall Windows software catalog is larger, Linux has a very good supply of free software. Package managers that update not only the OS itself but all installed software with both feature and security updates. This and the general design of the OS itself helps it be a more secure OS too. And from a security perspective, the relative obscurity doesn't hurt either. Not only is the OS more security by design, and have a package manager that makes sure installed programs are up to date, but you also have much much fewer people targeting you.

Not having to hunt for drivers during install, or look for driver updates, as they are automatic with the package manager/kernel is huge too. It takes me less than 10 minutes to install a fully working Linux install. It takes me MUCH longer to install windows, all its drivers and the software I want. Recently I had an issue with Windows that bugged the crap out of me. Intel discontinued driver support for my onboard NIC's. Windows has generic drivers for them though, so they work, but you need the official Intel drivers to support LACP. In Linux I can use LACP on any NIC I want, even something 20 years old, and driver support never disappears. I can even mix and match NIC's from different manufacturers.

Ease of use really isn't a concern anymore, as long you don't need to do fancy stuff. My stepson started using Linux Mint when he was 6 and didn't have any issues. (He has since mostly switched to Windows though, due to it having more games) My Fiance's 73 year old mother also uses Linux Mint without significant issues (no more than she would have under Windows)

So, depending on what your focus is for your rig, Windows can be the obvious choice, but so can Linux. There is no best. There is only best suited for what you want to do.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but, it does not matter to me one way of the other. I was just messing with the person I quoted. :) It does not surprise me that Intel discontinued their NIC support, they do that with their GPU's as well although it is not necessary. However, using less ram is not relevant because Windows loads up ram with the most used stuff which makes loading programs a lot faster, even with an SSD. I found that using any OS on a weaker cpu to be a pain without an SSD although it can be done, just slower. ;)

As an IT Professional, I find Windows to be the best host OS for getting things done and for support. Running Ubuntu through Virtualbox off of an SSD works well for the times when I need it. Dual booting for myself is a waste of time now and not worth the effort that it once was.
 
DPI said:
Yep. My Amiga 1000 had L/R stereo outputs while my friend's top end PC was still chirping and bleeping out of a PC buzzer. This prior to the soundblaster era obviously. And I remember rocking DeluxePaint while he was still sucking a fat one with 4-color EVGA.

I still have that A 1000..
Click to expand...

I still wish I had my Amiga 500 with the 68030 upgrade and 4MB of ram.
 
Todd Walter said:
I'm sure you meant to say OS/2 Warp (with REXX), heathen! :whistle:
Click to expand...

You infidel!

How do you say such blasphemy, instead of Be OS, the best OS that ever was!

I actually had a lot of fun with OS/2 Warp and Be OS.

Truly nice OS'es.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
So, depending on what your focus is for your rig, Windows can be the obvious choice, but so can Linux. There is no best. There is only best suited for what you want to do.
Click to expand...

I agree with this assertion, I think many pro-desktop Linux advocates are not particularly willing to look at it that way. The app gap between desktop Linux and Windows is enormous and games aren't the only thing. And while Linux is getting more games than ever, so in Windows, in absolute terms the gap in the number of games is GREATER now on Steam than when there were no Linux games on Steam.

Linux simply doesn't have enough market share to get the developer attention that Windows does. While that's not a failing on Linux directly it's by far the largest issue with using desktop Linux. Of course it won't get better without more desktop Linux users but for those without an agenda or specific need for Linux there's really only the general arguments to make in Linux favor like no problems with local malware (at least while desktop Linux has small market share), stability, etc.

While I fully accept local malware being a clear win for Linux, stability and performance I think are a wash and have a lot to do with the hardware and software at hand. Certainly these gaming benchmarks show there's noting at all to be gained in performance in gaming from Linux. And there's a lot of hardware that's out these days where Linux isn't just going to pick up the drivers for everything.
 
heatlesssun said:
I agree with this assertion, I think many pro-desktop Linux advocates are not particularly willing to look at it that way. The app gap between desktop Linux and Windows is enormous and games aren't the only thing. And while Linux is getting more games than ever, so in Windows, in absolute terms the gap in the number of games is GREATER now on Steam than when there were no Linux games on Steam.
Click to expand...

As stated many times in the past, a hugely irrelevant point. You don't understand it because you don't run a Linux desktop.
 
heatlesssun said:
Linux simply doesn't have enough market share to get the developer attention that Windows does. While that's not a failing on Linux directly it's by far the largest issue with using desktop Linux. Of course it won't get better without more desktop Linux users but for those without an agenda or specific need for Linux there's really only the general arguments to make in Linux favor like no problems with local malware (at least while desktop Linux has small market share), stability, etc.
Click to expand...

The Linux market share is continually growing, that's all Linux users care about.

heatlesssun said:
While I fully accept local malware being a clear win for Linux, stability and performance I think are a wash and have a lot to do with the hardware and software at hand. Certainly these gaming benchmarks show there's noting at all to be gained in performance in gaming from Linux. And there's a lot of hardware that's out these days where Linux isn't just going to pick up the drivers for everything.
Click to expand...

The performance issues surrounding DX wrappers have been known for quite some time, however not all games run slower under Linux, some actually run faster and all perform well beyond adequately at more realistic resolutions. As Linux users we're wrapped to have such a vast selection of titles available to us. As a purely Windows desktop user that doesn't care about the direction Microsoft is headed you wouldn't understand this.

As I stated, the Vulkan results show just how beneficial an open API such as Vulkan can be.

There's also plenty of hardware out there that Windows doesn't have drivers for.
 
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In relation to the best OS, I predominantly use Linux. But basically I use everything from AmigaOS to Linux, Windows and macOS through to MorphOS.

I never mentioned what the best OS was in my comment as I wanted to see what people would presume I'm talking about.
 
DPI said:
Yep. My Amiga 1000 had L/R stereo outputs while my friend's top end PC was still chirping and bleeping out of a PC buzzer. This prior to the soundblaster era obviously. And I remember rocking DeluxePaint while he was still sucking a fat one with 4-color EVGA.

I still have that A1000..
Click to expand...

I still have my A1000 too, and it's 1080 Monitor.
 
DPI said:
Yep. My Amiga 1000 had L/R stereo outputs while my friend's top end PC was still chirping and bleeping out of a PC buzzer. This prior to the soundblaster era obviously. And I remember rocking DeluxePaint while he was still sucking a fat one with 4-color EVGA.

I still have that A1000..
Click to expand...
Snowdog said:
I still have my A1000 too, and it's 1080 Monitor.
Click to expand...


It's interesting how many A1000 owners we have in here.

When I grew up plenty of people had Amiga's but they were primarily A500's and a lucky few with A1200's, all hooked up to TV's, not a monitor user in sight :p
 
BulletDust said:
As stated many times in the past, a hugely irrelevant point. You don't understand it because you don't run a Linux desktop.
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Not hugely irrelevant when it comes to gaming and the reason why I don't run Linux as a desktop host is because I can't without losing access to tons of software of which games are only a part.
 
Snowdog said:
Computer enthusiasts before PCs had anything to be enthusiastic about.
Click to expand...

I was very enthusiastic about my good old 286 back in the day. That being said, the Amiga was way ahead with its dedicated sound and graphics chips.

I just thought it was amusing that the A1000 was so common on here. I knew lots and lots and lots of Amiga owners as a kid, but no one with an A1000. Always A500 and A1200's.
 
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BulletDust said:
The Linux market share is continually growing, that's all Linux users care about.
Click to expand...

Well you'd need more than the current base of Linux users, i.e., people that don't care about Linux or Windows, for market share to continue growing.

BulletDust said:
The performance issues surrounding DX wrappers have been known for quite some time, however not all games run slower under Linux, some actually run faster and all perform well beyond adequately at more realistic resolutions.
Click to expand...

This review used a 1060 and a 1080. While a 1060 is an ok fit for 1080p there's no reason to buy a GTX 1080 for 1080p gaming, that's beyond overkill and a waste of money.


BulletDust said:
There's also plenty of hardware out there that Windows doesn't have drivers for.
Click to expand...

Little not covered on the new side.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
I was very enthusiastic about my good old 286 back in the day. That being said, the Amiga was way ahead with its dedicated sound and graphics chips.

I just though it was amusing that the A1000 was so common on here. I knew lots and lots and lots of Amiga owners as a kid, but no one with an A1000. Always A500 and A1200's.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Amiga didn't really take off until the A500, so A1000 is relatively rare. I bought my A1000 used for about the same price as a new A500 at the time. I just liked the A1000 case a lot more.
 
Todd Walter said:
I'm sure you meant to say OS/2 Warp (with REXX), heathen! :whistle:
Click to expand...
What are you a POS or ATM?
BulletDust said:
The Linux market share is continually growing, that's all Linux users care about.
Click to expand...
I mean if you don't count embedded systems, is it? Because last time i checked desktop linux is next to nothing market share I mean it could double and it wouldn't really mean all that much.
 
heatlesssun said:
Well you'd need more than the current base of Linux users, i.e., people that don't care about Linux or Windows, for market share to continue growing.



This review used a 1060 and a 1080. While a 1060 is an ok fit for 1080p there's no reason to buy a GTX 1080 for 1080p gaming, that's beyond overkill and a waste of money.




Little not covered on the new side.
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You're entitled to your opinion, that doesn't make it right, but I'm simply through reasoning with you Heatlesssun. I run a GTX 670FTW with dual 1080p monitors and I haven't experienced a performance issue at 1080p yet, frame rates are always above 60fps.
 
Semantics said:
What are you a POS or ATM?

I mean if you don't count embedded systems, is it? Because last time i checked desktop linux is next to nothing market share I mean it could double and it wouldn't really mean all that much.
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The statistics are defiantly showing growth and generally speaking embedded systems don't surf web sites, so it's unlikely they're contributing when it comes to web counters. So I doubt embedded systems make up much, if any, Linux market share at all. At the moment desktop Linux usage is somewhere around 3 - 4% that we know of, you can't even remotely calculate the usage of an OS that's free and legally able to be handed from person to person or install 50 machines off the one ISO.

Furthermore, Linux usage under Steam considering overall growth has increased ~25% by my calculations.

The other thing to consider is embedded systems generally run an embedded version of Windows, which I think is retarded as why the hell do you need an OS with a GUI running an embedded system? But, that's how it is.
 
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