Left 4 Dead 2 runs faster on Linux than on Windows - Valve Blog

[ríomhaire]

Valve's experiments with Linux seem to have been very successful so far. The Valve Linux Blog is reporting through optimising Left 4 Dead to work better the the Linux kernel and OpenGL and through optimising the graphics drivers with the help of the manufactures the team has gotten the Linux port of Left 4 Dead 2, which was originally running at 6 frames per second (FPS) on their benchmark machine, up to a colossal 315 FPS. This is compared to the 270.6 FPS of the original Windows 7 version.

This work may not just be of benefit to players of Valve games though, because Valve is helping nVIDIA optimise its drivers this should help all Linux gamers and game developers to increase performance of their hardware. What may be most impressive of all though is that the Windows version of Left 4 Dead 2 is now running faster on OpenGL than it is on Direct3D; 303.4 FPS versus 270.6 FPS respectively.

These results should be definitely be a hopeful light for Linux gamers and should also be of benefit to Source games on the Mac and PS3, which also use OpenGL. Of course this also means Windows users may have the option of rendering through Direct3D or OpenGL in the future, assuming that Valve don't drop Direct3D entirely over this! Be sure to read the full blog post.

 

[Stigmata]

Linux Steambox.

 

[Danny_ZQ]

Is that picture made by you guys or is it from somewhere else? Curious Dan.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Wow, go Valve. It's about time a big name in gaming drove some progress for Linux-as-a-gaming-platform.

 

[sinkoman]

Awesome news! I'm all for a massive migration to Linux in the coming decades, even though i've been stuck on Windows since the 5th grade.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

OGL ftw. I always fancied a comeback of an open sourced graphics API. Once upon a time it was selectable in many a game title for PC. D3D or OGL (or sometimes software rendering, huehue.) Miss those days!

 

[ríomhaire]

OGL ftw. I always fancied a comeback of an open sourced graphics API. Once upon a time it was selectable in many a game title for PC. D3D or OGL (or sometimes software rendering, huehue.) Miss those days!

I remember UT2k4 ran much much faster on my old PC on softare than than on DX or OGL. Not that I knew what any of those labels meant at the time.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I remember UT2k4 ran much much faster on my old PC on softare than than on DX or OGL. Not that I knew what any of those labels meant at the time.

Must've had one of those fabled 3D DE-celerator cards...though they had long stopped calling them "accelerator cards" by then.

 

[Raziaar]

Must've had one of those fabled 3D DE-celerator cards...though they had long stopped calling them "accelerator cards" by then.

Drawn in 60 seconds.

 

[Stigmata]

Rimfire, you probably just had a really good CPU and a shit GPU at the time.