Linux Or Windows 7 for gaming

[theAssassin0411]

Planning to build a PC and I really want the best OS for gaming.
So my question is does linux improve your FPS while gaming?
And also don't know wich one to choose there are so many sites to choose of.

Thanks and sorry for my english.

 

[Ijack]

Windows 7. No contest.

You'll have a hard time getting most games to run under Linux, let alone worrying about FPS.

 

[stillblue]

Windows 7. No contest.

You'll have a hard time getting most games to run under Linux, let alone worrying about FPS.

I'm curious though. Which can handle FPS better? As more and more games are going cross platform and Microsoft's predatory practices alienate more hackers, if your game is available for linux which would be better?

 

[theAssassin0411]

I'm curious though. Which can handle FPS better? As more and more games are going cross platform and Microsoft's predatory practices alienate more hackers, if your game is available for linux which would be better?

Almost shure linux does.
There is something like wine linux(let you play windows games on linux)

 

[stillblue]

Almost shure linux does.
There is something like wine linux(let you play windows games on linux)

You can play many windows games in wine, not all though and the graphics can leave a lot to be desired. You can also install VMware in Linux and run a virtual copy of windows inside Linux or vice versa. But you're probably better off running a dual boot and keeping the OS running a game native to it. Run windows games in 7 and Linux/cross platform games in Linux. Or you could just learn to love Linux games! :lol:

 

[sam_p_lay]

Steam is coming to Linux, so Left 4 Dead etc. Other than that, no modern games. Nexuiz and Blob Wars are pretty awesome for open source stuff. But there's really no discussion necessary if you want access to more than a small handful of games. Windows 7.

 

[Ijack]

I would bet a small fortune that better FPS are available in Windows, even for the few native Linux games. The manufacturers spend more time optimizing the drivers for Windows (obviously) than for Linux.

For games running under Wine, it's again fairly obvious that running natively on Windows is going to be faster than going through the extra layer of emulation.

 

[stillblue]

I would bet a small fortune that better FPS are available in Windows, even for the few native Linux games. The manufacturers spend more time optimizing the drivers for Windows (obviously) than for Linux.

For games running under Wine, it's again fairly obvious that running natively on Windows is going to be faster than going through the extra layer of emulation.

Wine is not an emulator, just ask them.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Wine is not an emulator, just ask them.

Haha +1 to this ^ :-D I've honestly never understood the distinction though. I am correct in understanding though that no DirectX games will run even with WINE? Purely the old OpenGL id stuff?

 

[stillblue]

Haha +1 to this ^ :-D I've honestly never understood the distinction though. I am correct in understanding though that no DirectX games will run even with WINE? Purely the old OpenGL id stuff?

This is a link for compatibility questions http://appdb.winehq.org

I myself don't use wine much as I work all day on PHP database programming and repairing broken Windows systems (until I convert them to Linux that is). At home I have no electricity so no playing there. No, I'm not some survivalist, I just live in the DR Congo in a city of over a million without electricity or running water. About the only games I play is Soduku when my brain goes dead and needs a distraction.

 

[Ijack]

Call it a compatability layer if you prefer (despite the fact that Wine was originally an acronym for WINdows Emulator). But playing semantics makes no difference to the fact that Wine introduces another layer of function calls to emulate the Windows API. Programs are never going to run so fast with this extra intermediate layer of function calls as they do under the native API. And that's not even accounting for the driver differences.

 

[stillblue]

Call it a compatability layer if you prefer (despite the fact that Wine was originally an acronym for WINdows Emulator). But playing semantics makes no difference to the fact that Wine introduces another layer of function calls to emulate the Windows API. Programs are never going to run so fast with this extra intermediate layer of function calls as they do under the native API. And that's not even accounting for the driver differences.

No arguments from me. Running native is always better. I'm just amused that they say wine is not an emulator but hey, they write it and they give it away, they can call it anything they want, they're cool by me.

 

[Ijack]

It's a wonderful piece of software; a great achievement. But the simple fact is that, as things currently stand, if you want a computer primarily for gaming purposes then Windows is the best way to go. Limited availability and performance on other platforms, plus the problems associated with trying to run Windows games on them, make them a poor choice.

On the other hand, if you just want a general purpose computer or - better still - a development machine, then Linux is an excellent choice. It has certainly improved out of all recognition since the version of Slackware that I first installed off a set of 36 floppy disks - and that was pretty good.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Awesome for netbooks too. My girlfriend's is running Windows 7 (Starter, for all the good it does) on an Atom N450 and 2GB RAM (originally 1GB). It ain't pretty. I reckon it would actually not be bad with Xubuntu or Bodhi. Only real reason for her to stick with Windows is for compatibility with her phone and digital camera.

EDIT: And you're hardly gonna be gaming on a spec like that even if you wanted to, so even more reason! Could Dosbox, but I think Dosbox has a Linux version also...

 

[amdfangirl]

I like Linux more than Windows.

But until Valve's Linux console makes deep inroads in game support you cannot expect me to switch my gaming computer too.

On the plus side I have a Nexus 7 running Ubuntu 13.04 now .

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I would bet a small fortune that better FPS are available in Windows, even for the few native Linux games. The manufacturers spend more time optimizing the drivers for Windows (obviously) than for Linux.

For games running under Wine, it's again fairly obvious that running natively on Windows is going to be faster than going through the extra layer of emulation.

For NVidia drivers OpenGL performance in Linux eclipses that of Windows by 50-75% on average. My own system (Gentoo) is actually twice as fast as any version of Windows on the same hardware. I run primarily X-Plane.

 

[sam_p_lay]

I like Linux more than Windows.

But until Valve's Linux console makes deep inroads in game support you cannot expect me to switch my gaming computer too.

On the plus side I have a Nexus 7 running Ubuntu 13.04 now .

That's pretty cool Even better than Android for touch?

 

[sam_p_lay]

For NVidia drivers OpenGL performance in Linux eclipses that of Windows by 50-75% on average. My own system (Gentoo) is actually twice as fast as any version of Windows on the same hardware. I run primarily X-Plane.

Gentoo is pretty cool, not for the faint of heart though! I tried a few times to install it, but never got my Internet working. I need to get my head around hosts, DNS, WEP, WPA, SSIDs, all that stuff, but it baffles me. And then Arch dropped the installer too so that's just as tricky!

 

[amdfangirl]

That's pretty cool Even better than Android for touch?

Nope. I just hate Android on the premise that its made by Google.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Nope. I just hate Android on the premise that its made by Google.

Seems like a pretty weak reason to not run Android. I'll use whatever does the job best and with the most style. What's the problem with Google, the privacy stuff?

 

[amdfangirl]

It's a matter of personal preference.

 

[zak138]

Since Guild Wars 2 only runs on one core of my AMD FX4100 in Ububtu 12.04, I am using Windows 7. Another thing that's bugging me, I had some serious graphic error when I tried to run 12.10 on my laptop, which has a radeon 5650 card. Hopefully they get that sorted out fairly soon.

 

[The Stealthinator]

For now, Windows 7 has the most games and best support for them. I wouldn't try using Linux to run the same games you would run on Windows.

 

[chris674]

Almost shure linux does.
There is something like wine linux(let you play windows games on linux)

I agree with the above statement. I have used Wine myself, but the best I can do is, "run" Unreal Tournament 2004. The graphics are on and off and very choppy. I would say that Wine is still extremely primitive. I would recommend sticking with Windows just because of compatibility issues that will most likely surface. The only way I would switch to Linux for video games is if Linux is stated on the box as being a compatible operating system. Even though it might say that, it might still be kind of buggy. As stated before, I tried installing UT2004 and that game is actually, "compatible" with linux out of the box. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, it was quite buggy as well and I felt that as I was trying to play it, I thought it would work better in Windows. I do agree that the Frames per Second would be much higher than in Windows, which is true. Of course, this was only tested on the select few games that work on Linux.

Hope that helped,

CC

P.S. I installed UT2004 via the Linux version and the Wine version. Both came up with similar results.

 

[DJRWolf]

Steam is now in open beta for Linux. Team Fortress 2, Killing Floor, and Uplink are some of the titles now available. Left 4 Dead 2 should be out soon.

http://store.steampowered.com/browse/linux/