Linux Gaming - GNOME vs. KDE Wayland vs. X.Org Radeon gaming performance on Linux across desktops. Benchmarks by Michael Larabel for a future article. GNOME Wayland: Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core @ 3.40GHz (16 Cores / 32 Threads), Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) (3801 BIOS), Chipset: AMD Starship/Matisse, Memory: 32GB, Disk: 1000GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus + 2000GB, Graphics: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 16GB (2475/1000MHz), Audio: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio, Monitor: ASUS MG28U, Network: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE + Intel I211 + Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 OS: Ubuntu 21.10, Kernel: 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME Shell 40.5, Display Server: X Server 1.20.13 + Wayland, OpenGL: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.0-devel (git-222487f 2021-12-25 impish-oibaf-ppa) (LLVM 13.0.0 DRM 3.44 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic), Vulkan: 1.2.199, Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 + Clang 13.0.0-2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 3840x2160 GNOME X.Org: Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core @ 3.40GHz (16 Cores / 32 Threads), Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) (3801 BIOS), Chipset: AMD Starship/Matisse, Memory: 32GB, Disk: 1000GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus + 2000GB, Graphics: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 16GB (2475/1000MHz), Audio: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio, Monitor: ASUS MG28U, Network: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE + Intel I211 + Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 OS: Ubuntu 21.10, Kernel: 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME Shell 40.5, Display Server: X Server 1.20.13, OpenGL: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.0-devel (git-222487f 2021-12-25 impish-oibaf-ppa) (LLVM 13.0.0 DRM 3.44 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic), Vulkan: 1.2.199, Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 + Clang 13.0.0-2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 3840x2160 KDE Plasma Wayland: Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core @ 3.40GHz (16 Cores / 32 Threads), Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) (3801 BIOS), Chipset: AMD Starship/Matisse, Memory: 32GB, Disk: 1000GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus + 2000GB, Graphics: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 16GB (2475/1000MHz), Audio: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio, Monitor: ASUS MG28U, Network: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE + Intel I211 + Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 OS: Ubuntu 21.10, Kernel: 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic (x86_64), Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5, Display Server: X Server 1.20.13 + Wayland, OpenGL: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.0-devel (git-222487f 2021-12-25 impish-oibaf-ppa) (LLVM 13.0.0 DRM 3.44 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic), Vulkan: 1.2.199, Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 + Clang 13.0.0-2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 3840x2160 KDE Plasma X.Org: Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core @ 3.40GHz (16 Cores / 32 Threads), Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) (3801 BIOS), Chipset: AMD Starship/Matisse, Memory: 32GB, Disk: 1000GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus + 2000GB, Graphics: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 16GB (2475/1000MHz), Audio: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio, Monitor: ASUS MG28U, Network: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE + Intel I211 + Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 OS: Ubuntu 21.10, Kernel: 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic (x86_64), Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5, Display Server: X Server 1.20.13, OpenGL: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.0-devel (git-222487f 2021-12-25 impish-oibaf-ppa) (LLVM 13.0.0 DRM 3.44 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic), Vulkan: 1.2.199, Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 + Clang 13.0.0-2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 3840x2160 Xfce X.Org: Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core @ 3.40GHz (16 Cores / 32 Threads), Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI) (3801 BIOS), Chipset: AMD Starship/Matisse, Memory: 32GB, Disk: 1000GB Sabrent Rocket 4.0 Plus + 2000GB, Graphics: Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 16GB (2475/1000MHz), Audio: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio, Monitor: ASUS MG28U, Network: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE + Intel I211 + Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 OS: Ubuntu 21.10, Kernel: 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Xfce 4.16, Display Server: X Server 1.20.13, OpenGL: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.0-devel (git-222487f 2021-12-25 impish-oibaf-ppa) (LLVM 13.0.0 DRM 3.44 5.16.0-051600rc5daily20211214-generic), Vulkan: 1.2.199, Compiler: GCC 11.2.0 + Clang 13.0.0-2, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 3840x2160 Batman: Arkham Knight Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Quality: High Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 255.11 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 241.22 |=============================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 245.48 |================================================ KDE Plasma X.Org ... 240.07 |=============================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 239.48 |=============================================== Batman: Arkham Knight Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Quality: High Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 109.10 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 106.65 |================================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 106.82 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 106.48 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 104.61 |================================================ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Renderer: OpenGL Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 316.84 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 307.92 |================================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 311.60 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 310.19 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 305.96 |================================================ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Renderer: Vulkan Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 364.81 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 350.77 |================================================ KDE Plasma Wayland . 358.17 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 355.56 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 350.81 |================================================ DiRT Rally 2.0 Resolution: 3840 x 1600 - Graphics Preset: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 414.35 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 376.80 |============================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 362.03 |============================================ KDE Plasma X.Org ... 382.92 |============================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 359.14 |=========================================== F1 2020 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Preset: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 196 |===================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 194 |==================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 195 |==================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 197 |===================================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 194 |==================================================== F1 2020 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Graphics Preset: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 148 |===================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 144 |==================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 146 |==================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 144 |==================================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 142 |=================================================== HITMAN 2 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Quality Level: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 130.97 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 122.48 |=============================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 36.71 |============== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 50.55 |=================== Xfce X.Org ......... 122.11 |=============================================== HITMAN 2 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Quality Level: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 92.43 |=================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 90.58 |================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 74.49 |========================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 70.93 |======================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 89.06 |================================================= Half-Life 2: Episode Two Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Renderer: OpenGL Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 501.95 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 494.10 |================================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 495.13 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 497.33 |================================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 491.81 |================================================= Left 4 Dead 2 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Renderer: OpenGL Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 286.67 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 284.49 |================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 286.77 |================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 283.22 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 281.41 |================================================= Left 4 Dead 2 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Renderer: Vulkan Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 374.59 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 364.92 |================================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 369.47 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 365.88 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 362.91 |================================================ Shadow of the Tomb Raider Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Preset: Highest - Anti Aliasing: Off Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 208.6 |=================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 201.1 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 201.5 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 195.8 |================================================ Shadow of the Tomb Raider Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Graphics Preset: Highest - Anti Aliasing: Off Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 76.9 |==================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 74.7 |=================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 74.7 |=================================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 73.1 |================================================= Strange Brigade Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Setting: High Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 152.6 |============================================= GNOME X.Org ........ 154.3 |============================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 157.3 |=============================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 154.8 |============================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 172.5 |=================================================== Strange Brigade Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Graphics Setting: High Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 144.7 |=================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 140.5 |================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 143.3 |=================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 140.0 |================================================= Xfce X.Org ......... 139.4 |================================================= Strange Brigade Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Setting: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 156.6 |=============================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 157.4 |=============================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 165.6 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 163.0 |================================================ Xfce X.Org ......... 171.7 |=================================================== Strange Brigade Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Graphics Setting: Ultra Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 136.7 |=================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 133.2 |================================================== KDE Plasma Wayland . 136.4 |=================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 133.0 |================================================== Xfce X.Org ......... 131.4 |================================================= Tesseract 2014-05-12 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 822.93 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 803.34 |================================================= KDE Plasma Wayland . 438.29 |=========================== KDE Plasma X.Org ... 798.00 |================================================ Xfce X.Org ......... 791.78 |================================================ Total War: Three Kingdoms 1.0.1 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Preset: High - Scenario: Battle Benchmark Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland .... 180.8 |===================================================== GNOME X.Org ...... 173.2 |=================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org . 177.2 |==================================================== Xfce X.Org ....... 170.7 |================================================== Total War: Three Kingdoms 1.0.1 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Graphics Preset: High - Scenario: Battle Benchmark Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland .... 52.4 |====================================================== GNOME X.Org ...... 51.4 |===================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org . 51.5 |===================================================== Xfce X.Org ....... 50.7 |==================================================== Total War: Three Kingdoms 1.0.1 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - Graphics Preset: Ultra - Scenario: Battle Benchmark Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland .... 123.3 |===================================================== GNOME X.Org ...... 121.0 |==================================================== KDE Plasma X.Org . 119.9 |==================================================== Xfce X.Org ....... 118.9 |=================================================== Xonotic 0.8.2 Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - Effects Quality: Ultimate Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better GNOME Wayland ...... 429.80 |================================================== GNOME X.Org ........ 412.89 |================================================ KDE Plasma Wayland . 423.86 |================================================= KDE Plasma X.Org ... 415.56 |================================================ Xfce X.Org ......... 414.13 |================================================