When it comes to gaming performance, the battle between SteamOS and Windows on dedicated GPUs is a complex one, but Windows seems to have a slight upper hand. And this is where it gets interesting!
Take Borderlands 3, a 2019 game without ray-tracing. It runs smoothly on SteamOS, but Windows takes the lead, consistently outperforming SteamOS by up to 30%. That's a significant gap for gamers.
Now, let's talk about ray-tracing. In games like Forza Horizon 5 and Cyberpunk 2077, Windows shines again, offering a 15-20% performance boost with ray-tracing enabled on 16GB GPUs. But here's where it gets controversial: Valve's SteamOS holds its ground in certain scenarios.
In our tests, we found several games where SteamOS and Windows were neck-and-neck. Games like Cyberpunk (without ray-tracing), Returnal, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla showed minimal performance differences, sometimes within the margin of error. Is SteamOS catching up in these cases?
The story changes with integrated GPUs. The Radeon 780M and RX 8060S, despite their differences, showcase SteamOS's strength. Borderlands aside, SteamOS outperforms Windows on these GPUs, especially with ray-tracing. It's a surprising twist, right?
So, while Windows may have an edge overall, SteamOS is not to be underestimated. Are these performance differences enough to sway gamers' OS preferences? Or is there more to the story? Share your thoughts below!
