Linux gaming benchmark: AMD gains, Nvidia loses ground in Gothic Remake
Our latest Linux benchmark test shows clear differences between AMD and Nvidia GPUs. Under CachyOS, Radeon cards perform strongly, while Geforce models lose noticeable ground.
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Linux gaming has come a long way. These days, the question is often no longer whether a game launches at all, but how well it actually runs compared to Windows. PCGH's recent Gothic Remake benchmark on CachyOS is a good example. The Unreal Engine 5 game seems to run without obvious Linux-specific issues, but the performance results are quite different depending on the GPU.
Nvidia has the rougher showing. The Geforce RTX 5090 is clearly slower on Linux than on Windows: 81.2 vs. 108.1 Fps in Full HD, 66.3 vs. 84.7 Fps in WQHD, and 46.5 vs. 53.6 fps in Ultra HD. The RTX 4080 Super also loses a noticeable amount of performance, especially at higher resolutions. There is another odd detail: performance drops on the 4080 Super after several savegame loads, which could hint at a memory-related issue, though that is not confirmed.
AMD looks much steadier. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is only slightly slower on Linux, with 75.8 vs. 79.5 Fps in Full HD, 53.5 vs. 55.7 Fps in WQHD, and 29.4 vs. 30.3 Fps in Ultra HD. The RX 7900 XTX is even a little faster on Linux in some cases, reaching 80.6 vs. 78.0 Fps in Full HD and 57.1 vs. 55.9 Fps in WQHD. In Ultra HD, it is basically tied at 31.5 vs. 31.4 Fps. This outcome is nothing new; RDNA 3 seems fully optimized under Linux, while RDNA 4 still appears to have a few bubbles in the pipeline.
That does not mean that AMD Radeon works flawless in Gothic Remake. Frame-time consistency is reportedly a bit worse on some Radeon cards, and that can be felt while playing. Still, the overall result looks much more consistent than Nvidia's. The takeaway: Gothic Remake runs on Linux, but that alone does not tell the full story. In this benchmark, AMD delivers a fairly stable Linux experience, while Nvidia shows larger and more unpredictable performance losses. For more information, check our "Lindex" - the GPU Performance Chart.
