Windows generally outperforms SteamOS on dedicated GPUs, but results vary. Integrated GPUs show SteamOS catching up. Game performance fluctuates across platforms.
Windows usually beats SteamOS on dedicated GPUs.
Performance gaps can reach 30% in some games.
For integrated GPUs, SteamOS shows improvement.
Many games perform similarly on both OSes.
Ray tracing favors Windows by 15-20%.
Results vary by specific games and hardware.
This article compares the performance of SteamOS and Windows on various GPUs, highlighting where each shines.
Performance Comparisons on Dedicated GPUs
When running the same hardware, Windows consistently outperforms SteamOS on dedicated GPUs. Results show significant advantages in certain games.
For instance, a game from 2019 runs 20-30% better on Windows. Benchmarks indicate that Windows 11 25H2 mostly edges out SteamOS 3.9 across the board, regardless of VRAM limitations.
Integrated GPU Performance Insights
SteamOS fares better on integrated GPUs like the Radeon 780M and RX 8060S compared to Windows. In some cases, it surpasses Windows in performance.
Specifically, SteamOS slightly outperforms Windows on the 780M in ray-traced games. Though The 8060S does close the performance gap, Windows still leads in dedicated setups.
Overall Performance Trends
There are various scenarios where the two platforms are nearly tied, often within a small margin of error.
This highlights the nuances of gaming performance across competitive platforms. As gaming technology moves forward, these distinctions may evolve.
Luca Fischer is a senior technology journalist with more than twelve years of professional experience specializing in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and consumer electronics. L. Fischer earned his M.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University in 2011, where he developed a strong foundation in data science and network security before transitioning into tech media.
Throughout his career, Luca has been recognized for his clear, analytical approach to explaining complex technologies. His in-depth articles explore how AI innovations, privacy frameworks, and next-generation devices impact both industry and society.
Luca’s work has appeared across leading digital publications, where he delivers detailed reviews, investigative reports, and feature analyses on major players such as Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, Intel, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity AI.
Beyond writing, he mentors young journalists entering the AI-tech field and advocates for transparent, ethical technology communication. His goal is to make the future of technology understandable and responsible for everyone.
Ars Technica was launched in 1998 by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes as a space where engineers, coders, and hard-core enthusiasts could find news that respected their intelligence.
From the start it rejected shallow churn, instead publishing 5 000-word CPU micro-architecture briefs, line-by-line Linux kernel diffs, and forensic GPU teardowns that treat readers like fellow engineers rather than casual shoppers.
Condé Nast acquired the site in 2008, yet the newsroom retained its autonomy, keeping the beige-and-black design ethos and the Latin tagline “Art of Technology.”
Today its staff physicists, former network architects, and defunct-astronaut hopefuls explain quantum supremacy papers, dissect U.S. spectrum auctions, benchmark every new console, and still find time to live-blog Supreme Court tech policy arguments.
The result is a community whose comment threads read like peer-review sessions: voltage curves are debated, errata are crowdsourced overnight, and authors routinely append “Update” paragraphs that credit readers for spotting a mis-stated opcode.
