[Hexus]SteamOS vs. Windows benchmark- Linux drivers still suck

[NTMBK]

Owch. Running SteamOS makes that 970 perform like a 960.

 

[monstercameron]

Owch. Running SteamOS makes that 970 perform like a 960.

Please edit the title, its opengl that sucks not necessarily the drivers.
Opengl is hot garbage.

 

[ViRGE]

And that's with NVIDIA cards where the drivers are half-way performant. It's even worse with AMD cards much of the time.

Linux is a great OS, but a gaming OS is is not.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Linux is a great OS, but a gaming OS is is not.

And most likely never be.

 

[ultima_trev]

Windows will always be the go-to platform for games. iOS, Linux, Android and OSX will NEVER be competitive in this regard.

 

[Mondozei]

iOS, Linux, Android and OSX will NEVER be competitive in this regard.

We'll see. There are no such things as inevitables in life.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Windows will always be the go-to platform for games. iOS, Linux, Android and OSX will NEVER be competitive in this regard.

OSX was never a gaming platform anyway, though new low level api may assist Android/iOS in the coming years.

 

[RussianSensation]

And that's with NVIDIA cards where the drivers are half-way performant. It's even worse with AMD cards much of the time.

Linux is a great OS, but a gaming OS is is not.

That's why I don't understand why people discuss Linux gaming performance. Clearly buying a 970 and turning it into a 950/960 isn't worth saving $100 on buying Windows 10 and using that OS for 5+ years and upgrading the GPU 1-2 more times and enjoying great gaming performance. That doesn't even come to the aspect of PC gaming support.

In defense of Steam OS, in non-GPU demanding titles, the performance is satisfactory in the popular games. If someone wants to primarily play some of these titles, it's not bad, but Witcher 3, Crysis 3, SW:BF, Shadow of Mordor, etc. forget it!

OSX is even worse than Steam OS. In some PC games the performance is 50-100% lower than on Windows. That's why when Apple users start crying about lack of NV GPUs / more powerful GPUs in iMacs/MacPros, I just shake my head.

 

[Face2Face]

I was contemplating on grabbing the Alienware Steam machine, but ended up grabbing the Alpha Windows 8.1/10 version instead.

I've been setting it up, and have played a couple games on it. It's really a pretty decent little box for under $400. I've upgrade the ram to 8GB and bought a SanDisk 480GB SSD for it, so that was an extra $130 out of pocket (BF sale). This little thing boots into Windows faster than any PC I've seen. Performance is pretty good. With it overclocked, I can manage 50-60 FPS in Shadow of Mordor with Med settings and high textures @ 1080p. I really got it, so It can be used as a console replacement for my kids to use. They can play Minecraft Story mode, Rocket League, Castle Crashers, Lethal league, Sonic games, and more. The best part about it, is it can be hidden behind my wall mounted 65" TV and you'd never know it was there, thanks to the HIDEit mount.

 

[NTMBK]

I was contemplating on grabbing the Alienware Steam machine, but ended up grabbing the Alpha Windows 8.1/10 version instead.

I've been setting it up, and have played a couple games on it. It's really a pretty decent little box for under $400. I've upgrade the ram to 8GB and bought a SanDisk 480GB SSD for it, so that was an extra $130 out of pocket (BF sale). This little thing boots into Windows faster than any PC I've seen.

Yup, Alienware have done some really snappy BIOSes recently- I've got an X51 R2, and even without an SSD it boots super quick. It boots even quicker than my old XBox 360!

 

[cbn]

That's why I don't understand why people discuss Linux gaming performance. Clearly buying a 970 and turning it into a 950/960 isn't worth saving $100 on buying Windows 10 and using that OS for 5+ years and upgrading the GPU 1-2 more times and enjoying great gaming performance. That doesn't even come to the aspect of PC gaming support.

I'm thinking Valve is going to add perks to SteamOS if they want more users on Linux.

 

[cbn]

Then if adding perks (to move gamers to Linux) works it might be we even see games using the ARM ISA. (Steam Link, which uses SteamOS, does have a Marvell ARM SoC).

And that would make sense to me if Valve was trying to lower the hardware cost of its user base. (Although as I remember the primary concern of Gabe Newell for choosing Linux was MS and its app store strategy)

P.S. Steam Link teardown specs posted here.

It uses Marvell Armada 1500-mini (88DE3005) SoC, same as Chromecast.

Armada 1500-mini uses GC1000 GPU core from Vivante.

Wireless is driven by Marvell 88W8897 chip.

RAM looks like Micron MT41K256M16LY-107 512MiB

Flash is Micron MT29F32G08CBAC 4GiB

 

[RussianSensation]

I'm thinking Valve is going to add perks to SteamOS if they want more users on Linux.

I think many gamers buying Steam machines will not even know the performance differences between Steam OS and Windows. Worst part is even $1500+ Steam machines still use Steam OS instead of Windows 10. :thumbsdown:

 

[tviceman]

That is pretty terrible. And the fact that Valve games have similar performance deficits on Linux is telling. I had hopes for SteamOS, but I think those hopes are far fetched at best now.

 

[RussianSensation]

That is pretty terrible. And the fact that Valve games have similar performance deficits on Linux is telling. I had hopes for SteamOS, but I think those hopes are far fetched at best now.

Even if SteamOS offered identical performance to Windows 10, the idea of buying a pre-built that has weak PSU, is more expensive (most pre-builts are) and cannot be as easily upgraded and overclocked are additional barriers for DIY PC market. I think this is more appealing to try and attract console gamers to PC gaming. The problem is with Steam machines starting from low prices of say $400-500 to $5K US, it just confuses the types of customers that might consider abandoning consoles for PCs. What exactly separates a $500 vs. $1500 vs. $5000 steam machine? They probably don't know and the unfortunate part even if they buy a rig with a 970/980, the performance is terrible and game support is a fraction of what we get for Windows.

 

[dark zero]

Windows will always be the go-to platform for games. iOS, Linux, Android and OSX will NEVER be competitive in this regard.

INBF next year 5 AAA games ends into a massive dissaster at the same time or on a row and we will see if you can say the same.

 

[cbn]

I think many gamers buying Steam machines will not even know the performance differences between Steam OS and Windows.

I think that is true for the most part.

The part, as you have mentioned, they will certainly notice is reduced game selection.

 

[el etro]

Vulkan can help i think.

 

[cbn]

Vulkan can help i think.

Regarding Vulkan, Frostbite engine will be supporting it (for future Battefield players using Windows 7).

So it will be getting support in the Windows world as well. That has got to help.

 

[xorbe]

I think many gamers buying Steam machines will not even know the performance differences between Steam OS and Windows. Worst part is even $1500+ Steam machines still use Steam OS instead of Windows 10. :thumbsdown:

The 980 and 4790K account for $800 of that right off the top. $760 for everything else + their profit isn't that outrageous. Motherboard, hdd, ram, psu, case, controller, pcie riser, packaging.