Linux vs Windows - Which is Best For Gaming Laptops?

Gaming on Linux has improved a lot, but should you use it on your laptop instead of Windows? I’ve compared a bunch of games to find out!

Check out Linux game compatibility here:

EVERYTHING I USE:

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Timestamps:
0:00 Linux or Windows Gaming Laptop?
0:05 Laptop Specs
0:28 Dual Booting Linux & Windows
0:50 Water Cooling in Linux
1:08 Video Sponsor - Ugreen
1:49 Customizable Lid & Keyboard Icons
2:01 Linux vs Windows Battery Life Difference
2:11 GPU Power Limit Differences
3:21 Linux Games with Proton & Lutris
3:47 6 Game Comparison - 1080p & 1440p
4:34 More Performance in Newer Distros?
4:45 Example of Problems Running Games in Linux
5:48 One Problem After Another…
6:19 Learning Curve Coming From Windows
6:49 GUI Differences
7:02 Should You Put Linux on Your Gaming Laptop?
8:10 Linux Perfect for Older/Cheaper Laptops?

Disclosure: Purchases made through store links above may provide some compensation to Jarrod'sTech.

[msterred]

It’s amazing to see how many games work on Linux and work quite well on Linux. The real limiting factor right now is kernel level anticheats. I checked on Lutris and many games would be very compatible if they didn’t have these criminally dangerous anticheats software. This prevents many of the big names, like Valorant, to work on Linux. Once this is getting taken care of, hopefully this will mean many more people will switch to Linux or at least try it.

[etaashmathamsetty]

shader compilation is no longer a problem on up to date nvidia drivers and proton experimental, I would recommend trying that combination and just clicking the skip button when it's processing shaders
not only will performance be better in DX9-DX11 games, the 1% lows will be even better than they are on windows

[JarrodsTech]

Linux or Windows, which OS do you pick and why? 💻🤔

Addressing some comment comments: Radeon graphics might work better in Linux, but it's worth keeping in mind two things, the first is out of 37 laptops sent to us in 2022, only one had a Radeon GPU - it's just less common. Second, the Tuxedo laptops ship with Nvidia.

The KDE/Kate thing was one simple real world example. The point was to illustrate how a new Windows only user might feel, given it actually happened here. This video is aimed at people who use Windows to see if Linux is worth using for gaming. If you're already using Linux and are experienced, then great, this video isn't really aimed at advaned users who use it all the time.

Suggestions to try different distributions/desktop environments are valid sure, but a lot of you are suggesting different things and making it sound like it's obvious that a new user should be aware of these and know which one to pick. We chose to stick to what Tuxedo shipped with, given they are a popular Linux laptop seller.

We had WAY more problems in the 2-3 weeks spent doing the testing for this video that are not covered here. It's possible some of that hair pulling period translated into the video. I tried to not let it affect it, as ultimately it was to do with getting FPS measurement tools working properly with the games and at the end of the day that isn't related to what this video was meant to achieve.

The blame around lack of Linux support from developers whether for game ports of anti cheat software is a bit of a chicken and egg problem I didn't really cover. Linux objectively has smaller marketshare, so I can understand that it might be difficult to spend dev $ on something that would get less use.

If you're a Linux user there's no need to take our experiences and thoughts personally. This is just what happened for us, you don't need to get mad and justify your decision to use what ever operating system you like. Frankly, I don't care. Use what ever is best for you and the task at hand.

[KeyTch]

Jarrod you need to start covering more Linux benchmarks now as well!

[RadieschenBaerchen]

I am Linux desktop user for over 10 years now and totally agree. Although Linux Gaming has improved greatly in the past 3 years, there is always these issues with not working out f the box, requiring tinkering or then less performance and annoying micro stutters. All of which could be avoided, if you simply install Windows. I will switch back on my X1 Extreme Gen 2 as soon as I have some time for it.

[emrexis]

wow would love to see your old laptop with its older Linux OS and then maybe upgrade its drive to SSD and add more RAM in addition installing newer Linux distros :D

[ultraviolet]

Honestly, really fair comparison. To add something I found out, where Linux shines is in older games, like DX11 and below. Borderlands 2, max view distance, running on Proton was giving me locked 150fps+ on a 5600X, and this game hovered around 100 average on windows.

Tho I haven't found many games that would show that big of a _relevant_ difference. Most of the time it's my cpu doing 900fps instead of 600, like yeah it's more fps but it doesn't matter at that point, and I had to lower resolution to 480p to get rid of a GPU bottleneck (3060 ti). Probably worth keeping in mind for weaker hardware tho

[lamkask]

Nvidia + Linux is already not a great combination in a desktop. Laptops are on a completely another level of bugginess.

[low_re]

Yep, as a Linux user, I can confirm this all sounds about right. Find and read a bunch of logs to fix problem C so problem B can be resolved, since B prevents you from fixing A, which ultimately prevents game play. Linux over Windows for a lot of things, but gaming on Linux can sometimes be frustrating to say the least. I'm just glad to see Linux gaming is better than it was many years ago.

[lapin_noir]

I daily drive Linux and also use it for games. I don't play Apex, so I can't attest to how representative Jarrod's experience is, but I've been able to play the vast majority of my library out of the box and the rest with minor tweaks (like switching Proton versions or adding a couple launch options). Haven't seen anything as crazy as what Jarrod described. Even if a game performs poorly, it's usually because the PC port is just that bad, even on Windows.

In general, single player games will tend to be easier to get up and running, since they don't have to contend with anti-cheat. Older games as well, simply because they have been around long enough that someone has probably worked on making sure they are compatible. As linked in the description, ProtonDB is a good place to check before buying a game or moving over to Linux, to check if things work out of the box or for solutions if they don't.

I can't promise anything about performance relative to Windows since I don't even have it installed to do my own comparisons. I'm also not the kind to care about super high framerates, so I'm pretty satisfied with my gaming experience on Linux. Personally, I find Windows to be excruciatingly difficult to use, so I don't mind doing minor tweaks on Linux if it means I never have to touch Windows and have to wrestle it for control over my PC.

Edit: Also I will not stand for this KDE slander. The class of programs is called "text editors", not "notepads". Just because Windows calls its default text editor Notepad doesn't mean that everyone has to follow suit. I've never had an issue when I first used KDE, because Kate shows up when you search for "text". Imagine the opposite case: someone who only used Linux with KDE decides to try Windows, then blames Windows for being bad simply because they searched for "Kate" and couldn't get a text editor. If you want to blame KDE for being unintuitive, then logically speaking Windows is also unintuitively designed in the same manner.



Edit 2: I posted a reply to Jarrod but it got deleted for whatever reason.

Out of curiosity, I searched "note" and "notepad" on KDE. Both results gave me KWrite, another text editor. So, KDE actually has this base covered too.

Furthermore, as the other commenter said, KDE explicitly states that Kate is an "Advanced text editor" and KWrite is a "Text editor" in the search results. If you know what a text editor is, you'll find a Notepad alternative in KDE within seconds. There is no design error here.

Even if you didn't know what a text editor is, you could either open Kate/KWrite - which makes it blatantly obvious what they are for - or do a web search for a Notepad alternative in KDE. I got a page from KDE that lists alternatives for a whole bunch of Windows apps, so you'll find that Notepad corresponds to Kate/KWrite there.

If you're suggesting the solution is that we should change our terminology because one company's product has a majority market share (in this case rebranding text editors as "notepads"), then I have to say that is an awful proposition. It leads to erasure of competition, as people will either not know about or distrust alternative applications, helping that one company to monopolise the market. Just look at search engines and operating systems, and the various controversies due to this.

Furthermore, there is already a class of applications for notetaking, and calling text editors "notepads" will lead to confusion.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I get that you and your partner got frustrated from various issues, so even a simple one like finding a text editor could be difficult because you missed out on some details (like the description that KDE gives). I've been there before (albeit not with Linux).

The whole point of this Kate/Notepad tangent in my original comment was that you're not being fair to KDE. The KDE devs have already done all they can do about this. For the average Windows user trying out KDE for the first time, they most likely won't find this to be a problem. As such, it feels like you're making a mountain out of a molehill over this.

I wish you had chose an actual problem, like some kind of bug. This would not only be a fair representation of Linux/KDE, but also highlights an actual issue for developers to solve.

[maviniii]

As a Windows user for very long time, I decided to give Linux a try and I'm using Linux Fedora on my Razer Blade ADV 15, RTX 3070 and I'm loving it!!! I did not have time to start playing some games on it, but im planing it once I finish my college stuff lol

[A_d_e_k]

I'm so glad you talked in a transparent way about Linux.

It's impossible to have a healthy discussion with Linux soldiers online.

[forestfaint]

That was a very interesting video. Im surprised that Linux worked quite well, other than the issues you were having. I would love to see your old laptop and have your thoughts on the laptop itself

[EpicBunty]

We need more of this jarrod! Need different distros tested, emulation etc etc please !

[NoobiteArchive]

Jarrod can you try reviewing Lenovo Legion Slim 7 AMD Advantage edition for 2022?

[the.wanginator]

As a Linux user, I can tell you first hand that nvidia on Linux *can* quickly devolve into a sht show. When it works, it’s great. When it doesn’t, it’s like… ugh this again. On the flip side, I’ve had a *far* easier time getting things going and maintaining stability with AMD gpus. You should try an Advantage laptop with a MUX switch to see how it fares.

[n.m]

I have no problems running all my games in Linux. They work flawlessly, the Linux is just a better overall experience than in windows.

[한국어의이름이라면강]

exactly windows
reason
1.Few games with linux support
2.Even if it claims to be linux compatible, sometimes you can't play it without using bugs or small tips.
3.Similar to reason 2, but you may not be able to understand the tips if you don't have a reasonable basic knowledge of linux to begin with.

[ffsrarg]

If I might make some suggestions. For native games try forcing the use of proton and comparing against native performance, you may find they run better under proton in some cases.
In addition, if you are using KDE under X11 remember to make sure that compositing is turned off (alt+shift+f12 to toggle compositing) otherwise you will get some terrible results. Compositing should turn off automatically for native games but under proton you may have to toggle it yourself. This is an often overlooked "gotcha" about KDE + X11 which sometimes leaves people with questions.

[kiebitz]

I wonder if Nvidia is willing to fix this bug. The 3060 were released Feb.2021. Also how much better the results would be on a full AMD laptop.