Windows 11 scores dead last in gaming performance tests against 3 Linux gaming distros

Since Valve's Proton compatibility layer came about, there has been a lot of discussion about the performance implications of running games with a go-between. While Linux users have long espoused the performance benefits of Linux over Windows, Proton introduces some overhead, which could result in performance degradation in games.

As it turns out, according to testing by German outlet ComputerBase, the opposite may be true, or it at least appears to be true that Windows has more going on in the background that does hinder performance. The outlet tested three different Linux distributions — Arch Linux, the base of SteamOS, Nobara Linux, a fork of Fedora, and Pop!_OS by System76 — across five Windows games and found that in most scenarios, Linux beats out Windows.

When it comes to FPS, the overall leader in testing was Nobara Linux, with Arch Linux and Pop!_OS trailing by 1–5%. Windows 11, however, was only 6% behind Nobara Linux. So, there isn't a massive performance delta here, but it's an important milestone for Linux to be consistently ahead of Windows — especially in games designed to run on Windows.

In case you haven't heard of Nobara Linux, it's a Fedora-based Linux distribution maintained by GloriousEggroll (Thomas Crider) — a Red Hat Software Engineer who is also responsible for ProtonGE, a modified version of Steam's Proton that often includes performance fixes and features not found in Valve's standard Proton. The point of Nobara is to deliver an easy-to-use Fedora that has been modified for gaming, so it makes sense that it scores well in gaming applications. 

Of the games tested — Cyberpunk 2077, Forspoken, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Starfield, and The Talos Principle II — Windows lost by the biggest margin in The Talos Principle II, where it scored just 65.1 FPS, compared to the leader, Nobara Linux, and its 71.5 FPS. 

The impressive FPS deltas aside, it should be mentioned that, with the exception of Arch Linux, average frame times (measured as 1% lows, in this case) on Linux were generally behind what Windows managed by up to 20%, although frame times were all over the place, so the average may need to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Curiously, The Talos Principle II is where Windows excelled the most in terms of 1% lows, scoring a whole 14% better than the nearest competition, Pop!_OS. The only Linux distribution to consistently challenge Windows 11 when it comes to frame times is Arch Linux, which beat Microsoft's OS in Cyberpunk 2077, Forspoken, and Starfield.

Arch Linux's success in both FPS — where it scored within 3% of the fastest system in this round of testing — and frame times may give some insight into why Valve switched from Debian to Arch Linux for the base of its SteamOS for the Steam Deck (curr. US$626.98 on Amazon), and switching to Linux might be worthwhile for gamers on the move looking to eke out every last drop of performance from the ROG Ally (curr. US$599.99 at Best Buy) or Lenovo Legion Go (curr. US$699.99 at Best Buy).