Linux gaming in 2025 shows big gains as Radeon 9070 XT hits 196 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 while RTX 5080 delivers 163 FPS
When it comes to gaming in 2025, people have a lot of choices, even within the PC gaming space. You can either go for Windows 11 or any Linux gaming distro, like Nobara 42, with an AMD or Nvidia GPU. But with so many options, it can become difficult to settle on the right combination of OS and GPU. Thankfully, YouTube channel Ancient Gameplays has done the painstaking analysis of finding out the performance difference between Windows 11 and Linux for an AMD Radeon 9070 XT and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080.
The YouTuber tested 15 different games at 1080p and 1440p ultrawide using an AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with 32GB DDR5 RAM running at 6200MHz. Including titles like, The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, both with and without ray tracing.
In The Witcher 3 at 1080p, the Radeon 9070 XT (currently $749 on Amazon) actually ran a little better on Linux, averaging just over 170 FPS compared to 161 FPS on Windows. The RTX 5080, meanwhile, slipped slightly on Linux, landing around 155 to 157 FPS versus 163 FPS on Windows.
Moving up to 1440p ultrawide, the RTX 5080 (currently $999 on Amazon) pulled ahead with 116 FPS on Windows, roughly 17 percent faster than the 9070 XT’s 99 FPS. On Linux, however, that lead shrank, and frame stability took a noticeable hit with 1% lows dropping as far as 50 FPS. The 9070 XT also gave up a few frames on Linux, but still managed about 91 FPS on average, which kept it competitive.
Enabling ray tracing didn’t shake things up much for the 9070 XT. At 1080p, it held steady across both operating systems, even delivering smoother lows on Linux in some runs. The RTX 5080, by comparison, matched the 9070 XT on Windows at about 98 FPS but fell back on Linux, where averages dropped into the low 80s.
At 1440p ultrawide, the 5080 finally stretched its legs with 88 FPS on Windows, widening its lead over the 9070 XT’s 75 FPS. On Linux the difference grew further, with the 5080 pushing close to 77 FPS while the 9070 XT trailed behind at 64 FPS.
In Cyberpunk 2077, the Radeon 9070 XT ran faster on Linux at 1080p, averaging almost 196 FPS compared to 189 FPS on Windows, though its 1% lows dropped from 124 FPS to 101 FPS. The RTX 5080 came out on top on Windows with 202 FPS on average, but on Linux it fell back to about 163 FPS with lower 1% lows.
At 1440p ultrawide, the 9070 XT averaged 101 FPS on Windows but jumped to 131 FPS on Linux, while its 1% lows dropped into the low 50s. The RTX 5080 delivered 116 FPS on Windows and around 89 FPS on Linux, with 1% lows also landing lower than its Windows run. The tester reran the game several times, and the unusual 29% gain for the 9070 XT on Linux showed up each time.
With ray tracing enabled, the 9070 XT again showed higher averages on Linux at 138 FPS versus 131 FPS on Windows, but its 1% lows were cut in half. The RTX 5080 reached 142 FPS on Windows and about 121 FPS on Linux. At 1440p ultrawide, the 9070 XT dropped from 73 FPS on Windows to the mid-50s on Linux, while the 5080 held 86 FPS on Windows and just over 71 FPS on Linux.
In Doom: The Dark Ages at 1080p, the Radeon 9070 XT reached 125 FPS on Windows with 1% lows at 101, while on Linux it averaged about 109 FPS with lows around 83. The RTX 5080 pushed higher, delivering 136 FPS on Windows and about 119 FPS on Linux, though its 1% lows dropped from 109 on Windows to around 98 on Linux.
At 1440p ultrawide, the 9070 XT averaged 74 FPS on Windows with lows close to 60 FPS, while Linux brought it down to around 65 FPS on average with lows under 50. The RTX 5080 again stayed faster, turning in 86 FPS on Windows with 1% lows at 71 FPS, compared to roughly 78 FPS on Linux where 1% lows were closer to 54 FPS.
Across both resolutions, the RTX 5080 was the stronger performer, maintaining higher averages on both Windows and Linux, even though it lost more ground in 1% lows when moving to Linux compared to the 9070 XT.
The YouTuber tested more games in the video which you can check out below, and I highly suggest that you do. And in the overall results, they claimed Linux is no longer the performance underdog it once was. Across 17 titles, the Radeon 9070 XT came surprisingly close to its Windows numbers, hitting 98% of its performance at 1080p and 95% at 1440p ultrawide. In other words, unless you’re chasing absolute peak frame rates, the difference is barely noticeable.
According to the YouTuber’s findings, Nvidia’s RTX 5080 didn’t track quite as closely, managing only about 84% of its Windows performance at 1080p, though it essentially held steady at 1440p with just a 1% dip. A few years ago, these kinds of results would’ve been unthinkable on Linux, where drivers and optimizations lagged far behind Windows. Now, with platforms like Bazzite and SteamOS pushing Linux gaming further into the mainstream, the gap is shrinking fast, and in some cases, even flipping the script.
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