When evaluating gaming potential, people often focus on the processor, video card, RAM capacity and cooling system. However, Ars Technica has decided to investigate the claim that SteamOS is superior to Windows in terms of gaming capabilities.
To test this hypothesis, the publication's experts tested current versions of both operating systems. The test configuration includes a computer with a Ryzen 7 7700X processor and four AMD video cards – Radeon RX 7600, RX 7600 XT, RX 6800 and RX 9070. The purpose of the test is to determine the expected performance of future Steam Machine devices equipped with a video subsystem with 8 GB of memory.
The results show that SteamOS 3.9 is more likely to encounter video memory limitations. Returnal, Forza Horizon 5, and Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing enabled showed significant frame rate drops. However, in Windows 11 version 25H2, the same RX 7600 graphics card delivers 60-70% faster performance. The 16GB model (RX 7600 XT) virtually eliminates performance differences between platforms.
However, the advantages of one operating system over another vary widely depending on the specific project. For example, in Borderlands 3, Windows consistently runs 20-30% faster, while in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and many traceless scenarios, Valve's operating system operates at comparable speeds. An interesting picture is observed when using integrated graphics.
On the Radeon 780M and high-end RX 8060S, SteamOS was surprisingly ahead of Windows – even in games with ray tracing, the Linux version was able to beat the competition, and in the rest of the test it delivered more stable frame rates.
Valve recognizes the video memory shortage and has begun optimizing the memory manager in SteamOS. These changes are extremely important as new Steam Machines are expected to only have 8GB of VRAM. Additionally, Valve is developing driver, Proton, and power system updates to minimize crashes when running demanding games and improve the performance of discrete graphics cards.
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