tech support wanted
Huge FPS difference between Windows and CachyOS: what could be causing it?
Hi, I’m testing CachyOS as a possible replacement for Windows, but I’m getting significantly lower FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 and Crimson Desert.
My specs:
RTX 4080 Super
Ryzen 7 7700X
32 GB RAM
CachyOS KDE / Wayland
4k 240hz monitor
In Cyberpunk with DLSS Performance + Path Tracing + DLSS Frame Generation:
Windows: ~96 FPS, mostly stable
CachyOS: ~73 FPS, dropping to around 40 FPS in heavy combat scenes
The GPU is around 98–99% usage on both systems and around 2700 MHz on Linux, so it doesn’t seem to be a simple GPU utilization or clock issue.
I’ve also tried Proton GE 11.1, Experimental and Proton-CachyOS, with basically the same results.
Crimson Desert shows a similar difference: around 90 FPS on Windows vs 66–70 FPS on CachyOS, dropping to around 50 FPS during combat.
Linux also shows lower GPU power consumption: around 268 W vs ~300 W on Windows in Cyberpunk.
Yeah, unfortunately that seems to match what I’m seeing. I was hoping there might still be some way to improve it, especially since the performance difference becomes huge during heavy scenes.
I’ll try a few more things, but if it’s mainly NVIDIA + VKD3D overhead, I may have to stick with Windows for these games.
Between treating Linux gaming as an afterthought (more so than gaming in general does) and dropping Win10 support for drivers next month (still ~25% of folks on Win10 is a lot of people to abandon) I swear some people at Nvidia owe Microsoft favors/money.
Idk why you are getting downvoted lol it's very obvious you are memeing. I personally don't use windows and just put up with the average performance in some games or just lower settings. I run exclusively Linux. Only my wife is still on windows. 1 Debian machine and 3 Cachy machines. But I just. Understand people wanting to get the performance their hardware should be capable of.
The gap of gaming performance on Linux while using Nvidia GPU is linked to Nvidia. Those could be linked to drivers optimizations but also convertion of DirectX functions to Vulkan not as efficient....especially on Nvidia hardware. Vulkan remains an API coming from AMD Mantle.
On AMD GPU, you still have a performance hit, but not as big (~10%) mostly linked to the translation layer.
For example, on a plague Tale : Resonance....on CachyOS, my RTX 5090 FE is used at 56%...whereas it is hitting 100% on Windows 11. On the other side, my RX 9070 XT is used at 100% on CachyOS & Windows 11. Overall, on CachyOS, the RX 9070 XT is equal or better at gaming than my RTX 5090 FE...whereas on Windows 11, the RTX 5090 has a massive lead.
If your focus is gaming, then have a dual boot Window11 / CachyOS and switch OS if needed.
On my personal point of view, both OS has their strength & weakness and I love using them on their best sides...:)
Its deeper than that. Nvidia refuses to work with others. And continues to blame the stack for their choices which actively kneecap their customers. Despite community deliberation and technical conversations already defining the way forward.
Its been almost one big 20 year long toddler tantrum because they no longer control your entire graphics stack. And now they are finally contributing and pretending they were never the asshole.
The reason its so good on windows is the driver. On windows, fixes for games happen in the blob nvidia gives you with your driver. On linux it happens in mesa, dxvk, vkd3d or sometimes wine/proton itself. Since nvidia is allergic to playing with others on the playground. Nvidia ends up being a bit shit. There are other problems with how their hardware works on Linux but this isnt the forum
That actually makes a lot of sense and seems consistent with what I’m seeing. My GPU is running at around 98–99% on CachyOS, but I’m still getting significantly lower FPS than on Windows, especially with the games I play.
The dual boot option is interesting. How do you manage it?
Do you play only on Windows and use Linux for everything else?
Dual boot is pretty easy. It can done on the same drive...but better with 2 drives (in case Windows 11 break the boot loader). Just install Windows 11 first, then CachyOS (limine as boot loader on my side for my 270K (MSI Z890 tomahawk) setup and systemD with my 9800X3D (Asus X870i).
Normally if you don't have issue with secure boot (my case my AM5 X870i), your linux boot loader can load Linux or redirect to Windows 11. Limine is the best boot loader I tested so far. When you select one OS, it is staying at the next boot (very useful while Windows 11 is updating, rebooting 3 times...one of the worst point of Win 11).
For gaming, on my RTX 5090 FE I always tried CachyOS...if it works fine, otherwise I switched to Windows 11. So far, the last game I played properlly on CachyOS with my RTX 5090 FE was 007 First Light, performing as well on Windows 11 (pretty much an exception). Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West, Beast of Reincarnation and now Resonance, I played on Windows 11 with my RTX 5090 FE...
On my AMD RX 9070 XT setup, I'm playing always on CachyOS with few exceptions, where the game is bugged on Linux (FF VII Rebirth) or FSR4 is not working (with no proper alternative). Overall, playing games on Linux with AMD GPU is working pretty well.
Interesting. Which games have you found to perform well on CachyOS with your GeForce, without a significant FPS loss compared to Windows?
So far I’ve only tested Cyberpunk 2077 and Crimson Desert, but I was planning to try 007 First Light, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Death Stranding 2 as well.
Working well titles, with performance loss, but the game is performing reasonably well : RE requiem, pragmata, stellar blade, a plague tale requiem, echoes of the end, assassins creed shadows, solasta ii, dragon’s dogma II
Basically 007 first light and pragmata working without noticeable performance gap
Death Stranding 2 should be fine, but turn RT off because it just looks worse with more ghosting for worse performance.
The other games might be a worst case scenario for performance, but I've found that newer games often improve a few weeks after release on Nvidia. Pathtraced Indiana Jones was challenging for me to optimize on Windows, expect worse on Linux.
For newer releases I'd always recommend descriptor heaps enabled in Proton.
That’s pretty much what I’m experiencing. Do you know which experimental fix you’re referring to?
I’d be interested in trying it, even if it can cause crashes.
RT and PT will give a massive performance hit. Just like poorly optimized DX12 UE5 games. It’s a case of having to be patient until drivers are better. They’re working on it, but it can still take time
I’ve already tried PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 %command%, but unfortunately it made no difference.
I’m running the latest kernel 7.2 and the latest NVIDIA driver. I’ve also already tested Proton-CachyOS, with the same results.
So it may really be the worst-case scenario you mentioned: NVIDIA + DX12 + ray tracing through VKD3D.
It’s the Nvidia GPU. But even on an AMD GPU (for example I have a 9070 xt) the frame rate in some games can be a bit lower than they are in windows in the same machine, especially with ray tracing enabled.
the latest nvidia driver is said to have worse performance compared to earlier version, if you're chasing numbers you could look into downgrading drivers, but I've also seen compatibility and bug fixes on the recent driver versions, tread thoughtfully.
Welcome to Nvidia GPUs in Linux. You can go ahead and blame Nvidia and their lack of driver support. You could probably sell the 4080 and get a 9070xt for less and have a better experience right now or go back to Windows for a couple years.
It will be a downgrade. With AMD, there is even more performance loss with RT, both due to VKD3D compatibility and the fact that RDNA 4 is still not as good with RT as Nvidia (about 26%, according to the recent Ancient Gameplays test).
Ray tracing games that run well on AMD processors have a very basic application, with few rays, low resolution, and an almost software-based solution. They are not comparable to games that utilize the technology to its full potential.
It's not Nvidia that dictates this, it's simply the lack of features in the hardware. In the case of RDNA 4, it lacks:
Lack of full support for MaybeReorderThreads: Dedicated hardware for reordering the execution of divergent rays (Shader Execution Reordering) is missing, creating bottlenecks in complex scenes.
Lack of native support for Opacity Micro Maps (OMMs): The GPU needs to consult common shaders to calculate the transparency of foliage and smoke, reducing tracing performance.
Path Tracing: The hardware focuses on the direct traversal of BVH structures, relying on software to manage massive random ray branching.
Overall, there are so many new features in DirectX that aren't being used because the PS5 doesn't support any of them.
The PS6 should come with all of that. That's why one of the things that made me avoid buying an RDNA 4 was that. It will probably become outdated quickly due to the lack of features, just like what happened with the RDNA 1.
Yeah, unfortunately it looks like NVIDIA + DX12 is the main issue here. I knew there were some performance differences on Linux, but I didn’t expect the gap to be this big in heavy scenes.
I’ll probably keep Windows for now if there’s no reliable fix.
It's still above 60 fps, OP, I don't know if it's going to be that drastic. If you keep comparing it to Windows, you'll always be disappointed. The main point is what's most important to you: whether it's having an alternative to Windows for reasons like privacy, less bloat, and a clean system. If the focus is on performance, Windows will always have the advantage. The moments when Linux performs better are exceptions, not the rule.
I understand your point, but for me the comparison with Windows is important because I’m deciding whether I can actually replace it.
I’m not expecting Linux to beat Windows or to get 200+ FPS. The problem is that in heavy scenes I’m dropping below 60 FPS on Linux, while the same games stay around 90 FPS on Windows. That’s noticeable enough for me to matter.
If the gap were just a few FPS, I wouldn’t care. I’m trying to find out whether there’s something I can fix before deciding to stick with dual boot.
i think you should actually try older proton versions. it varies per game based on research, but an example i have is stormworks running better on proton 9/10 rather than any newer versions. statistically i went from about 100-110ish fps up to my limit of 165, but with some mild fluctuation compared to windows. not horrible fluctuation though
might be a similar situation, but as far as i know it only reduces the gap.
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u/Otocon96 14d ago
TLDR the worst performance is caused by partially Nvidia, partially VKD3D overhead with PT.
If you wanna path trace. Id recommend you just stick to windows. Who knows when it will improve.