Ubuntu 14.04 vs Windows Gaming

[sancrya0]

Hi there,

I've been using Linux for years on my main machine, and I really don't want to go back to Windows. There is only one problem; My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 17 (3721) with "hybrid" integrated Intel HD graphics and dedicated AMD Radeon HD graphics. Even though I am able to use the proprietary AMD driver in Ubuntu 14.04, gaming performance just isn't that good as on Windows.

Can anyone tell me if this is a common thing, or if maybe I am doing something wrong here?

Also I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but thanks in advance for your help.

[mastablasta]

no in Linux they are still worse for about 20-30%. but then it also depends on game. and native or wine.

[MikeCyber]

That's why I have a GTX770.
Some games even work in Wine better than on Win8:
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=30403&iTestingId=85558

[donkeyoatmeal]

Windows is great for gaming but ubuntu is great for everything

[mooreted]

Nvidia graphics tend to be better due to the drivers. All my Steam games run great and even WoW using Wine runs great.

[sffvba[e0rt]

That's why I have a GTX770.

<3 my GTX770 and the gaming performance in Linux is currently touching on very good and becoming better daily.

[mJayk]

Linux gaming is getting better but current driver support does make it worse than windows as a whole. Of course there are situations when this is not true but on the whole windows is better for gaming currently.

[bizhat]

I too using AMD gpu, gaming perormance is bad. So i dual boot to Windows for playing games.

This make me feel slightly better

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michakaufman/2014/07/18/10-tips-to-work-less-and-accomplish-more/


Have One Computer Just For Fun


Have two computers, one for work and one for play. Get it into your head that on your work computer there won’t be any (non-work related) Facebooking, Tweeting, or procrastinating via BuzzFeed or Reddit. If you only have one computer, simply use a different browser for business.

Since i am on desktop, i do plan to get an NVIDIA card soon, by the time there will be more games like borderlands 2 and GTX 800. Also AMD is giving away Mantle to OpenGL, if that worked, i can get a new AMD gpu itself.

For now, i will to finish some games like Fary Cry 3, BioShock, Tomb Rider etc. in Windows.

For me AMD open source driver give better in game performance, not sure due to any conflict. I will try catalyst again when they release new version.

[fireflower]

Can anyone tell me if this is a common thing, or if maybe I am doing something wrong here? Drivers are a constant source of tension in Linux gaming, and hybrid GPU setups are the most difficult to resolve. If I had to guess, your computer is using the Intel GPU rather than the AMD GPU. It needs to be told to ignore the former and use only the latter. I don't know how to tell it that. It sounds like a matter for the more technical forums. I do know that Nvidia has its own program, Bumblebee, that is supposed to be able to switch between one GPU and the other.

But the most likely explanation is that, for reasons beyond mortal ken, that particular game runs slower on Linux. That's odd, because it's usually the opposite. For instance:


Some games even work in Wine better than on Win8 I've had this experience too. My partner got so upset when WoW installed easier and ran faster on my Linux laptop than their Windows laptop.

The longer you use computers the more of this kind of inexplicable behavior you see. It has something to do with the sheer complexity of computers. Bugs used to be literal bugs that got caught in vacuum tubes. Then they became quirks in the code, as computers got more complex. Now we have nano-scale transistors and we're running out of atoms. Thermal fatigue is an issue. Quantum phenomena are becoming non-trivial. The machine spirits are restless. The best you can do is offer them the correct maintenance devotions and hope for their favor.