Windows vs. Linux gaming: Test reveals clear winner, but community disagrees
Windows vs. Linux gaming: Test reveals clear winner, but community disagrees
Publish Date: 2026-07-15 08:20:00
Source Domain: www.notebookcheck.net
Can a gaming PC in 2026 be used without Windows at all? That is the question the team behind the YouTube channel Meta PCs set out to answer. To find out, they installed Windows 11 and Fedora KDE Linux on the same system and compared the two operating systems under conditions that were as identical as possible.
The test system featured an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor, a Radeon RX 9700 XT graphics card and two identical Kingston NV3 SSDs. Windows 11 was installed on one drive, while Fedora KDE was installed on the other. Memory configuration, BIOS settings, resolution and graphics options remained unchanged throughout the testing process. Every benchmark was run three times, with the final results based on the average of those runs.
Linux is faster in some workloads
In CPU-focused and productivity benchmarks, Linux benefits from its leaner architecture. In Geekbench, the operating system scored 3,595 points in the single-core test and 19,995 points in the multi-core benchmark. Windows 11, by comparison, reached 3,500 and 19,144 points, giving Linux an advantage of roughly three to four percent depending on the workload. Fedora also came out ahead in all three Blender benchmark scenes. According to the reviewer, the most likely explanation is the operating system’s lower overhead. Without having to rely on Proton or translate DirectX commands, Linux can make more efficient use of the available hardware resources. Gaming, however, tells a different story.
Windows wins every gaming benchmark
Windows 11 came out on top in every game tested. In Cyberpunk 2077, it achieved 149 FPS at 1440p compared with 140 FPS on Linux. In Arc Raiders, Windows reached 145 FPS versus 133 FPS, with an even larger gap in the 1% lows: 131 FPS compared with 94 FPS. Marvel Rivals also performed well on Linux at 110 FPS, although Windows still edged ahead with 116 FPS. Fortnite, meanwhile, would not launch at all because Easy Anti-Cheat does not support Linux. Valorant, Xbox Game Pass…
