I recently watched a comparison of RAM usage and gaming performance between Linux Mint and Windows. One of the games tested was Expedition 33, which is designed for Windows. On Linux it used around 12 GB of RAM but performed somewhat worse than on Windows, where it used more than 18 GB. Could the performance difference be caused by running the game through Proton or Wine, and are there settings or fixes that might reduce stuttering and improve frame rates?
3 Answers
The results in that comparison may not represent the best possible Linux setup. Trying a different Proton version, launch options, or a community-recommended configuration can sometimes fix frame-time spikes and improve performance. Game-specific compatibility reports are a useful place to look for known workarounds. However, the original test was intended to compare default configurations rather than optimized ones.
Lower RAM usage is not automatically a problem, and it does not explain the whole performance difference. The more likely factors are graphics-driver maturity, Direct3D translation efficiency, shader compilation, pipeline-cache behavior, and how well the game interacts with Proton. A small performance penalty is fairly common, but substantial stuttering may point to a configuration or driver issue rather than Proton alone.
Proton is a compatibility layer, but it does not mean the game is being limited to 32-bit instructions or that Linux is somehow running a weaker version of the operating system. It translates Windows graphics and system calls so the game can run on Linux. That translation can introduce overhead, although some games actually perform as well as or better than they do on Windows.
That does not guarantee a fix, though. Some games still have worse performance or more shader-related stutter on Linux, depending on the graphics card, driver, and game engine.