I recently watched a comparison of RAM usage and gaming performance between Linux Mint and Windows. One of the tested games, Expedition 33, used around 12 GB of RAM on Linux but ran somewhat worse than it did on Windows, where it used over 18 GB. Since the game was designed for Windows, could the performance difference be caused by Proton or Wine, and are there settings or fixes that might reduce stuttering and improve frame rates?
3 Answers
Some performance loss and stuttering are fairly normal when running a Windows game through Proton, but it is not guaranteed to be slower. A game can occasionally perform as well as or even better than it does on Windows. Linux graphics-driver efficiency, shader compilation, pipeline-cache reuse, and cache validation can all affect smoothness, especially during the first few runs.
The result in that comparison may have been affected by the decision not to tune either system. Trying a different Proton version, enabling or disabling specific compatibility options, and checking known game-specific fixes can sometimes improve frame pacing or frame rate. However, those changes would no longer represent a completely out-of-the-box comparison, which was apparently the point of the test.
Proton is a compatibility layer, but it does not mean the game is being forced to use 32-bit instructions. The game can still run as a 64-bit application; Proton translates Windows APIs such as Direct3D into Linux-compatible interfaces. That translation can introduce overhead, although the exact performance impact depends heavily on the game, GPU drivers, Proton version, and graphics API.
Checking a compatibility database for reports from other players can be useful, since it may list recommended Proton versions, launch options, or fixes for known stuttering problems.