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Dota 2: How Does Ubuntu 13.04 Compare To Windows 8?

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Hey there folks!

Today there are two tests to showcase. One is showcasing Dota 2 on a GTX 680 in both Operating Systems, and the other is showcasing Dota 2 on an Intel HD 4600 iGPU in both Operating Systems.

The first video showcases the test running with the GTX 680:
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The second video showcases the test running with the Intel HD 4600:
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In case you want to skip, and just grab the important details:
I start summarizing the test in the Nvidia video at about 7:20.
I start summarizing the test in the Intel video at about 7:06.

For the Nvidia tests, both systems were running the latest 331 drivers. Ubuntu had 331.13 and Windows had 331.40.
For the Intel tests, Ubuntu was using Mesa 9.3 and Windows was using the 9.18.10.3165. To my knowledge, these were the latest drivers available for both platforms.

With both these tests, we can see the difference of how a discrete graphics solution performs against an integrated solution on Ubuntu or Linux in general. They aren't representative of an entire community of hardware and configurations, but at least it should help provide us with a point of reference.

In the Nvidia tests, Dota 2 was maxed out at 1920x1080. In the Intel tests, Dota 2 was set to lowest possible settings at 1920x1080.

The tests were done on relatively some of the latest hardware available in the market, with the key components being:

CPU  - Intel i7-4770 3.4GHz Haswell
iGPU - Intel HD 4600
GPU  - Nvidia GTX680 GDDR5 2GB

AMD discrete and integrated graphics users may experience vastly different results. Older Intel integrated solutions may also experience very different results.

As always, please help correct me if I made any mistakes and advice is always welcome. Thank you to all who have given me corrections or advice in the past, they have helped me make better videos. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Distro:    Ubuntu
Channel: Youtube Ubuntu Gaming
Country: Malaysia
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18 comments

dimko Oct 7, 2013
Please clarify which Ubuntu you got? Did you use unity? I am guessing you are loosing performance than and there.
minj Oct 7, 2013
It would be nice to see intel GPU performance comparison for a pure OpenGL title.
tuxayo Oct 7, 2013
Thanks for doing those tests, they are very interesting for knowing the state of the drivers.
But can you try to compare WITH otherS desktop environmentS? Because unity seems to be the most penalizing out there, a comparison with XFCE, Openbox, LXDE or even KDE would be relevant, at least try with one please.
Sabun Oct 7, 2013
Please clarify which Ubuntu you got? Did you use unity?
Ubuntu 13.04 with Unity.
It would be nice to see intel GPU performance comparison for a pure OpenGL title.
Do you have any demanding games in mind that can easily be benchmarked, or at least keep the timing as close as possible? I'm thinking of doing an Unvanquished test, since it seems to be a pure OpenGL title (correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe even tuxkart if I can figure out a proper testing procedure.
But can you try to compare WITH otherS desktop environmentS?
I would like to, but I'm trying to keep each video focused. It takes quite a bit of time to set up these tests and ensure things are as similar as possible. Took me 4 days to do this one, but I do hope I can do more tests in the future with different DEs. I did test L4D2 with Unity and LXDE. LXDE gained quite a bit of fps during heavy scenes compared to Unity, so it's true Unity is a bit of a resource hog.
Kamil Oct 7, 2013
The tests are helpful, thanks. But could you please start providing the results in the text description? Searching through the video just find a two number comparison is quite annoying. Thanks.
sw Oct 7, 2013
Thanks for doing those tests, they are very interesting for knowing the state of the drivers.
But can you try to compare WITH otherS desktop environmentS? Because unity seems to be the most penalizing out there, a comparison with XFCE, Openbox, LXDE or even KDE would be relevant, at least try with one please.

Yes, it would be nice to have some results with really lightweighted WM like Openbox and without any compositor (Compton etc.).

Great tests nonetheless.
tweakedenigma Oct 7, 2013
Yes, it would be nice to have some results with really lightweighted WM like Openbox and without any compositor (Compton etc.).

Great tests nonetheless.

I am not sure this would actually provided any tangible difference, compiz is already set up to Unredirect Fullscreen Windows By Default, So Unity and Compiz are basically already being by passed when playing a game in full screen. 


So performance should be pretty much the same either way. 
Sabun Oct 8, 2013
I'm enjoying the videos quite a lot, and they're improving each time. Nice to see, keep it up! If you want an all opengl game, ET:QW. I'm sure there's better options, but it's just off the top of my head.
Thank you mirv :)
I don't have ET:QW and it seems to have been removed from Steam, but I do have Quake 4. If I can figure out how to install that then I'll see how feasible it is to do a good test.

Might take a rest from doing the test videos for a couple of days though, since my hands are hurting quite a bit now.
tweakedenigma Oct 8, 2013
I don't have ET:QW and it seems to have been removed from Steam, but I do have Quake 4. If I can figure out how to install that then I'll see how feasible it is to do a good test.

Might take a rest from doing the test videos for a couple of days though, since my hands are hurting quite a bit now. 
I have an old copy of ET:QW on disk if you want it. 
Sabun Oct 8, 2013
I have an old copy of ET:QW on disk if you want it.
That's a very generous offer tweakedenigma, thank you :)
I'm not sure how I'd take it though, since I'm pretty sure we live pretty far from one another. I don't want you to have to do anything illegal either (uploading it for redistribution or anything that's against it's EULA).

If there's anywhere I might be able to purchase it online for a reasonable price, that might be a better route to take.
tweakedenigma Oct 8, 2013
That's a very generous offer tweakedenigma, thank you :)
I'm not sure how I'd take it though, since I'm pretty sure we live pretty far from one another. I don't want you to have to do anything illegal either (uploading it for redistribution or anything that's against it's EULA).

If there's anywhere I might be able to purchase it online for a reasonable price, that might be a better route to take.

Well if you want it you can have it, I don't mind shipping it. Just taking up room on my desk.
Sabun Oct 8, 2013
Well if you want it you can have it, I don't mind shipping it.
Really? That would be pretty cool :D
Should I private message you my address? From there you can decide if it's too expensive to do or takes too much time. If you really do ship it to me, that would probably be the coolest gift I get this year! If you decide not to, then there's no harm done :)
Chris Thornett Oct 8, 2013
Thanks! Really interesting results for the Nvidia card.
Lord Avallon Oct 9, 2013
Another great comparison video, thanks for your efforts Sabun!
Sabun Oct 10, 2013
I'm glad you guys enjoy watching them, and thanks again for the kind words Lord Avallon :D
LostParadise Mar 30, 2014
guys i found out that unity on idle state uses about 300mb of ram, while the is not any way of disabling composite while playing.so to low-end or older computers this reduces the performance alot (in my case with a 8800gts with 512VRAM on ubuntu dota used to crash! Now with mate i can play with everything maxed except shadows with very stable fps) . I also found many performance fixes since the October (when the video released)
dddux May 8, 2014
guys i found out that unity on idle state uses about 300mb of ram, while the is not any way of disabling composite while playing.so to low-end or older computers this reduces the performance alot (in my case with a 8800gts with 512VRAM on ubuntu dota used to crash! Now with mate i can play with everything maxed except shadows with very stable fps) . I also found many performance fixes since the October (when the video released)

Just imagine what it would be like with LXDE or Xfce. ;) LXDE works so much better for me for everything.
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