RTX 5090 gets 12% gaming boost in Ubuntu 26.04, thanks to optimizations with Gnome 50 — latest popular distro update brings significant performance uplift for Nvidia's top GPU

GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition — (Image credit: Nvidia)

Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distros, has received some noteworthy gaming performance upgrades with the latest version 26.04. Phoronix tested Ubuntu 26.04 against 25.10 and found gaming performance improvements as great as 12%, depending on the title.

The Linux-focused outlet tested the two Ubuntu versions with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, and RTX 5080. All the tests were conducted on the Nvidia 590.48.01 Linux driver. Game and benchmarks featured Counter-Strike 2, Dirt Rally 2.0, Batman: Arkham Knight, Hitman 3, Strange Brigade, GravityMark, 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, Unigine Heaven 4.0, GPUScore: Breaking Limit 1.0, Tesseract, and Xonotic 0.8.6.

Phoronix Ubuntu 25.10 vs Ubutnu 26.04 RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 — (Image credit: Phoronix)

The first few games showed minor improvements (if any) with Ubuntu 26.04. Counter-Strike 2 was 8% faster with 26.04 on the RTX 5090, but achieved performance parity with 25.10 on the RTX 5080. Dirt Rally 2.0 saw the same thing on both the 5090 and 5080. Batman: Arkham Knight saw a 3% performance improvement on the RTX 5090 with 26.04 and none on the 5080.

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Hitman 3 saw some noteworthy gains for the RTX 5090 of 11% on the RTX 5090 and Ubuntu 26.04, but just 4% on the RTX 5080. Strange Brigade showed identical performance on both GPUs with both Linux versions. GravityMark saw a 5% performance upgrade on the RTX 5090 in 26.04, and 3DMark WildLife Extreme saw a 6% improvement on the RTX 5090 with 26.04, but none on the 5080. 3DMark Solar Bay also achieved performance parity on both GPUs on both Ubuntu versions.

Unigine Heaven 4.0 saw a 2% advantage for the RTX 5090 with 26.10, but no improvement on the RTX 5080. Similarly, GPUScore: Breaking Limit 1.0 saw only a 3% advantage for the RTX 5090 with 26.10 and none for the 5080. Tesseract saw a 5% improvement in 26.10 with the 5090 only, and Xonotic saw up to a 10% improvement only on the 5090 as well. Overall, Phoronix saw a 4.4% performance improvement with Ubuntu 26.04 compared to 25.10 on the RTX 5090.

Ubuntu 26.04 is loaded with changes under the hood that contribute to its better gaming performance; it's the first Ubuntu OS to feature Mesa 26, which comes with a load of performance optimizations and bug fixes. Notably, it features ray tracing optimizations for Vulkan. Ubuntu 26.04 also comes with Gnome 50, which has seen a plethora of optimizations, upgrades, and fixes as well. Specifically on the Nvidia side, Gnome 50 comes with various workarounds (according to Phoronix) that unlock extra performance from Nvidia's Linux 580-series drivers.

The only disappointing aspect of this release is that the aforementioned performance improvements appear to only be beneficial on the fastest GPU hardware available, the RTX 5090. It's likely that other Nvidia cards, such as the RTX 5070 Ti and lower, will benefit even less from these optimizations.

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Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

22 Comments Comment from the forums

ezst036

Admin said:
This version of Ubuntu might be worth upgrading to if you are a dedicated Linux gamer.
This version of Ubuntu might be worth upgrading to if you are a dedicated Linux gamer.

There, I fixed it.

The reasons to move to Linux for gaming are nearly pretty much universal. About the only reason left not to move to Linux is the handful of games that do not currently work but can and who knows when they'll be fixed, or the handful of games that can't actually work because of kernel anti cheat, or some specific hardware in which the manufacturer has stubbornly refused to recognize the clear market shift happening right under their feet.

The benefits are greater performance, less memory usage, less spyware, and less windows update interruptions.

And greater customization/personalization - even if you have no plans to change any default settings at all. Its gotten so bad in Windows world anymore that its hard to even call a PC personal. That's "Microsoft's machine" even though it sits on your desk. It's simply not personal just like Macs really aren't personal either. Those are all Apple's computers you've got on loan on your desk.
Reply
habermas

What a shitty, click-bait title. At least write "up to 12%".
Reply
BettieBlue

ezst036 said:
This version of Ubuntu might be worth upgrading to if you are a dedicated Linux gamer.

There, I fixed it.

The reasons to move to Linux for gaming are nearly pretty much universal. About the only reason left not to move to Linux is the handful of games that do not currently work but can and who knows when they'll be fixed, or the handful of games that can't actually work because of kernel anti cheat, or some specific hardware in which the manufacturer has stubbornly refused to recognize the clear market shift happening right under their feet.

The benefits are greater performance, less memory usage, less spyware, and less windows update interruptions.

And greater customization/personalization - even if you have no plans to change any default settings at all. Its gotten so bad in Windows world anymore that its hard to even call a PC personal. That's "Microsoft's machine" even though it sits on your desk. It's simply not personal just like Macs really aren't personal either. Those are all Apple's computers you've got on loan on your desk.
You have 3 "Or's" there. I would add a 4th, Windows apps you need to run that wont run on Linux.

I would love to move full time to Linux. However I use Visio almost every day for work (Network diagrams) and other software that does not play well with Linux or even run at all using Wine. I could use a Windows VM on Linux I guess. However I also play a lot of DCS with a group of friends and my hotas and head tracking hardware has ZERO Linux support.

I can spend 15min on a new Windows 11 install and make it my "Personal Computer". Install Pro, local account, remove OneDrive, Xbox and a handful of other apps I will never use. Use one of the many free debloat/tweak tools out there, I like WinAero and have a super solid Windows 11 build. While I care about privacy, the whole world is tracking you all the time. Cell phone, credit cards, taxes, voting, car insurance, etc..etc..etc. Using Linux to "protect" my privacy is like a exhaling into a hurricane.

Microsoft maybe take that away some day...and hopefully I can do everything I want from Linux at that time.
Reply
LordVile

ezst036 said:
This version of Ubuntu might be worth upgrading to if you are a dedicated Linux gamer.

There, I fixed it.

The reasons to move to Linux for gaming are nearly pretty much universal. About the only reason left not to move to Linux is the handful of games that do not currently work but can and who knows when they'll be fixed, or the handful of games that can't actually work because of kernel anti cheat, or some specific hardware in which the manufacturer has stubbornly refused to recognize the clear market shift happening right under their feet.

The benefits are greater performance, less memory usage, less spyware, and less windows update interruptions.

And greater customization/personalization - even if you have no plans to change any default settings at all. It’s gotten so bad in Windows world anymore that it’s hard to even call a PC personal. That's "Microsoft's machine" even though it sits on your desk. It's simply not personal just like Macs really aren't personal either. Those are all Apple's computers you've got on loan on your desk.
Aside from there’s not a clear market shift and the games that don’t work are amongst the largest titles.

Linux is also a larger PITA if you don’t have hours to tinker which most people with lives, families and jobs don’t have. Having an OS that requires no work to get working is better than one that’s slightly less invasive but you have to spend half a day diagnosing and fixing an issue.

Also “spyware” means nothing. This website spies on you and you’re still here.
Reply
ezst036

BettieBlue said:
I can spend 15min on a new Windows 11 install and
You would spend less time installing Winboat and then you would be free of it all.

BettieBlue said:
While I care about privacy, the whole world is tracking you all the time. Cell phone, credit cards, taxes, voting, car insurance, etc..etc..etc. Using Linux to "protect" my privacy is like a exhaling into a hurricane.
I'm well aware of all the defeatist mantras.

I can't control thing 1 so I might as well surrender and not control anything that is within my power to control. Make it make sense. It does not.
Reply
ezst036

LordVile said:
Aside from there’s not a clear market shift and the games that don’t work are amongst the largest titles.

Linux is also a larger PITA if you don’t have hours to tinker which most people with lives, families and jobs don’t have. Having an OS that requires no work to get working is better than one that’s slightly less invasive but you have to spend half a day diagnosing and fixing an issue.

Also “spyware” means nothing. This website spies on you and you’re still here.
You promote too many myths and hoaxes.
Reply
LordVile

ezst036 said:
You promote too many myths and hoaxes.
You’re literally the one promoting them. Pretending things don’t exist and reality isn’t a thing which is why you didn’t counter w single point I made
Reply
ezst036

LordVile said:
You’re literally the one promoting them. Pretending things don’t exist and reality isn’t a thing which is why you didn’t counter w single point I made
Promoting myths and hoaxes isn't equivalent to making points that can be countered.
Reply
LordVile

ezst036 said:
Promoting myths and hoaxes isn't equivalent to making points that can be countered.
Aside from you’re the one promoting myths and hoaxes. The fact is a lot of large titles do not work on Linux and will not work due to kernel level anticheat being the only effective means of policing competitive games as other methods are just too slow and ineffective.

The “greater performance” is only true if you can get the software to work properly and you actually get around to doing it rather than fiddling with the OS.

Just because you have time in your hands doesn’t mean everyone else does and a solution that requires more time to maintain than to actually use is not a solution.

Just becaure you want that level of personalisation doesn’t mean everyone does and you can customise windows or macOS to a degree where it is a “personal comouter” even though your definition isn’t actually what a PC is by definition. Ironically under the actual definition Linux is the worse OS.
Reply
ezst036

LordVile said:
Aside from you’re the one promoting myths and hoaxes. The fact is a lot of large titles do not work on Linux and will not work due to kernel level anticheat being the only effective means of policing competitive games as other methods are just too slow and ineffective.

The “greater performance” is only true if you can get the software to work properly and you actually get around to doing it rather than fiddling with the OS.

Just because you have time in your hands doesn’t mean everyone else does and a solution that requires more time to maintain than to actually use is not a solution.

Just becaure you want that level of personalisation doesn’t mean everyone does and you can customise windows or macOS to a degree where it is a “personal comouter” even though your definition isn’t actually what a PC is by definition. Ironically under the actual definition Linux is the worse OS.
Most Linux users install without spending hours customizing, leaving defaults in place.

Thanks for proving me correct about the myths and hoaxes. I appreciate your assistance in this matter.

"Why do most linux users retain default installation settings?"
https://gemini.google.com/app/4d23978026df3560
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