Windows or Linux

[Grippen]

If I had the choice for Windows or a Linux based OS like Ubuntu which one would you recommend at this moment.

I read a thread from 2011 where it said Dolphin in Linux systems was slower mostly due to the OpenGL/Graphic drivers

Well more then 1 year passed and since I find everything based on Linux much more dynamic in terms of development I wonder if this is still the case or if a system like Ubuntu is now as fast as a Windows one (to what Dolphin is concerned) or who knows even faster.

I agree that the lack of proper drivers development is the bottleneck otherwise everything would be faster for sure. Linux is a much more optimized and clean OS in CPU activity.

[Starscream]

Windows 7 x64 is generally better.

[Shonumi]

Windows 7 x64 is generally better.

Like a lot of things, I think the better answer is that "it depends" :p

About OpenGL vs D3D9/11, a lot of people seem to get the impression that since OGL is one of the slowest backends on Windows, OGL performance must likewise be as slow on Linux. This isn't true exactly. Firstly, hardware and drivers are notable factors to backend performance. Generally, the OGL backend on Linux can hold it's own against D3D9/11 on Windows. The GLSL-master branch may even make OGL faster overall across all OSes, but we'll have to see how its development turns out.

Also, drivers from Nvidia or AMD are very solid for Linux. Back with ATI, their drivers used to be crap, but AMD has turned that around rather significantly. There are open source versions for each, but the ones for Nvidia weren't recommendable when I tried it, yet AMD's open source driver seems workable for Dolphin based on some accounts. The proprietary drivers are still good and I'd advise you to check them out first.

Really, it depends. Are you more comfortable with Ubuntu or Windows? Even if Ubuntu is the greatest thing since sliced bread in the eyes of some, if you can't get used to it, look at another OS for your needs. Do you like PC gaming? You'll need to dual-boot, run software like Crossover Games, wait for Steam on Linux to get more games, or learn to enjoy OSS games like SuperTux Kart and Xonotic. Got any Windows-only programs that you just can't find a decent OSS equivalent? Again, you'll need to dual boot or use WINE.

If Dolphin is your only concern, and since you seem to genuinely favor Linux, there aren't a lot of reasons not to choose Linux as your OS. It performs just as well as on Windows, and my experience over the past year has been top-notch. If you can live Linux-only, go for it. Note, before I tried Dolphin, I'd been using Linux as my sole OS for about 3 years.

[Grippen]

I think you answered me. Actually on daily basis I don't use Ubuntu or any Linux system but I worked with them and they are quite light in many of the tasks. The issue about other games is relevant however my question had per basis the fact that I've been thinking of assembling a small PC for the living room where I would run Dolphin and PCSX2 emulators only, no other SW would be required and I would still keep my desktop PC. It was just to know if it pays off or not if the performance ingame is pretty much the same I will decide at the time but probably would like to go with the Ubuntu approach. Oh ye the other task for the PC would be to use it has Media Center with XBMC but that is also covered with a Linux based version.

So basically that was the reason for my question. Probably it is completely irrelevant since the mini PC will be something rather mid/high-end with i5 processor and a 7xxx series ATI card when compared to the current media center PC I have a Revo with Ion platform. Running Win 7 Starter is much slower then the previous live version I had from XBMC.

Anyway all of this is pending and it will depend if I will manage to make Time Crisis 2 and 3 work with the Wiimote serving as lightgun something I couldn't achieve until now for several reasons

[Shonumi]

About PCSX2 on Linux, you can get it to work on 64-bit systems, but it's somewhat involved. Currently, the OpenGL hardware accelerated plugins in PCSX2 don't work well with a lot of games. At least, that's my experience, and if someone were to point out what I've been doing wrong all this time, I'd appreciate that. Kingdom Hearts II and Tales of the Abyss are some of the few games I've gotten zzogl to properly work with. Everything else needs software rendering from Gsdx. That means everything is in native resolution. SW rendering isn't as demanding as it sounds, and a lot of games can reach decent speeds if you mess around with frameskipping. Note, frameskipping on systems like the PS2 can't be done accurately, so some games will glitch if you mess with it.

In my opinion, PCSX2 on Linux is sub-par in comparison to the Windows version, chiefly because no one's doing a great deal of work on the OpenGL plugin for Linux (some work is being done, which is better than none). Games that run flawlessly in HD on Windows aren't always possible with Linux. This is quite unalike to Dolphin's situation. Play around with it yourself and see if the games you're interested in work fine for you on Ubuntu.

[Starscream]

So yeah, walk all of that back and say that gaming on Linux leaves something to be desired and that gaming on Windows is "generally better". Got it.

If you want more hassles, want to jump through more hoops and not have things just work, use Linux. Even then after you're done jumping through all the hoops, it may still not work. Sounds good to me.

[Shonumi]

So yeah, walk all of that back and say that gaming on Linux leaves something to be desired and that gaming on Windows is "generally better". Got it.

That was about Dolphin and only Dolphin. That's what the OP seemed to be talking about the most, and for both OSes, Dolphin is pretty much even in terms of performance and features. The only outstanding missing feature that comes to mind is 3D support, which only comes with the D3D9 backend, and that's hardly a game-breaker for a majority of users. Linux is better for me because I absolutely do not care about PC gaming, and I have no Windows-only apps that I rely on. Again, it depends on your needs.

If you want more hassles, want to jump through more hoops and not have things just work, use Linux. Even then after you're done jumping through all the hoops, it may still not work. Sounds good to me.

For Dolphin on Ubuntu, you need only download the .deb file and double-click it to install. Dolphin stability on Linux has been pretty much solid for years as well. If you have needs further than Dolphin (games and applications) WINE and CrossOver games are mature enough to handle a lot of what you can throw at it (even Skyrim works on Ubuntu for CrossOver Games). Recently, I had an old application (circa Windows 98) that refused to run on XP or 7, but ran just fine in WINE :p

[delroth]

As a Dolphin on Linux user, graphics drivers are considerably worse on Linux than on Windows and I easily get +100% performance when using Windows, both with my Intel GPU and my Radeon HD6770. When I want to play with emulators, I play on Windows. When I want to do anything but playing, I do it on Linux.

I can't talk about PCSX2 on Linux as I never actually managed to get it to boot a game without crashing. Yeah.

[Shonumi]

As a Dolphin on Linux user, graphics drivers are considerably worse on Linux than on Windows and I easily get +100% performance when using Windows, both with my Intel GPU and my Radeon HD6770. When I want to play with emulators, I play on Windows. When I want to do anything but playing, I do it on Linux.

You using the Open Source drivers or the proprietary? At any rate, that's what you get for not using Nvidia :p

I can't talk about PCSX2 on Linux as I never actually managed to get it to boot a game without crashing. Yeah.

That's a shame, but then again, PCSX2 is only a novelty for me. My PS2 is already hooked up to the TV in the loft, and it's just faster/more enjoyable to boot up the old girl than it is to do the same on any of my PCs. They (the PCSX2 team) seriously need some more folks over there with some OGL know-how though.

[delroth]

Intel has no closed source graphics drivers and Catalyst has issues with corrupted textures in Dolphin. You can't seriously use something that unreliable when trying to debug stuff, so I'm using the free radeon driver. I wouldn't consider the proprietary Catalyst driver usable with Dolphin.