Comparison of Linux Desktops OpenGL Performance

With Steam officially being released for Linux I took some time out this evening to run a few benchmarks on my Ubuntu 12.04 based Bodhi system to see how a few of the different modern Linux desktops compare in terms of OpenGL performance with the source engine. Please do not take my numbers to be anything super scientific or precise. I simply recorded a short demo using Team Fortress 2, loaded TF2 from Steam under each of the Linux desktops with no other background applications running and ran the demo through a built in source engine bench marking tool.

The benchmarks were run on my very modest gaming laptop which sports an i7 processor, 6GB of RAM, and an nVidia 330m GT graphics card. I utilized the Steam recommended nVidia 310 driver for these tests. All the desktop setups I used were "stock" from the Ubuntu 12.04 repos, minus E17 which is using the E17.1 snapshot and Bodhi's laptop profile with compositing enabled.

Lets get right to the data shall we? You all love charts I hope!

It is clear from the bar graph that E17 came out towards the top and Gnome Shell was near the bottom. Here are the numbers to a single decimal place:

• Gnome Shell - 51.5 FPS
• KDE   - 55.0 FPS
• XFCE - 55.7 FPS
• Unity  - 60.5 FPS
• KDE, Disable Compositing on Full Screen - 63.2 FPS
• LXDE - 66.5 FPS
• E17     - 66.7 FPS

I was not surprised when I saw E17 and LXDE had the best performance, they are after all some of the best light desktops today. What did shock me though was that XFCE - which claims to be fairly light - was very low in terms of performance! 

Based on the above numbers XFCE performed around 17% slower than both LXDE and E17, while Unity was around 9% slower than the lighter desktops, and Gnome Shell was a staggering 23% behind.  One other thing worth noting is that KDE has a HUGE performance difference when you check the "disable compositing on full screen applications" box in your Kwin settings. In fact ignoring this setting loses you around 13% in performance:

Obviously someone should run some further tests (I know I plan to when I get some more time), but from my initial small test it is obvious - if you are looking to game on Linux your choice of desktop very clearly matters!

~Jeff Hoogland

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Eight Tech Signs the World really might be coming to an End

You have all heard the jokes that the end of the Mayan calender on December 21st 2012 might bring about "the end of the world" in some type of cataclysmic event. Regardless of whether or not this is necessarily true, there have been more than a few technology releases/announcements in the past couple years that many of us thought would never happen.

8. Starcraft 2 releases (and runs on Linux!). This is one many gamers have been waiting on for some time. After Starcraft Ghost turned into vaporware I think some of us where wondering if Blizzard was ever going to release anything other than WoW expansions ever again. Starcraft 2 is finally here and it was worth the wait, easily one of the best RTSes I have ever played.

7. Microsoft releases a decent desktop operating system. After their Vista fiasco that left many consumers running back to Windows XP, Microsoft took their time getting Windows 7 from beta to a release stage. The result is truly their best desktop operating system. Sure it is not as resource friendly as some alternative operating systems, but if you are coming from XP or Vista - Windows 7 truly does simplify your PC.

6. Broadcom releases open source drivers. The bane of Linux users for many years now has been Broadcom wireless chipsets. Sure, distros such as Ubuntu have made it easier in recent years to install the closed source driver - but a fully open source driver is by far a best case scenario. Once these drivers make it into the mainstream kernel releases, modern Linux distributions will support most all internal wifi chips OOTB.

5. Steam client comes to OSX. Easily the most popular digital distribution system for games on Windows, Steam has been released for OSX. In addition to this Valve company, the one behind Steam, is also re-releasing all of their source engine games (CSS, TF2, L4D, ect.) re-written to use OpenGL for Apple's platform. Something such as this could allow OSX to one day challenge Microsoft's dominance in the PC game market.

4. Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights till 2020. This one might not signal the end of the world exactly, but I think it makes those of us who work on Windows wish the end would come a little sooner. Even though Windows 7 has done so many things correctly the business world is always afraid of change, meaning we will be dealing with this now decade old operating system for another ten years (at least).

3. Microsoft contributes 20,000 lines of code to the Linux kernel. In a move that shocked many Microsoft submitted code that allows Linux virtual machines to perform better when running on a Windows Server 2008 host system. Keep in mind that while 20,000 lines sounds like a lot, it is simply a drop in the bucket of the millions of lines of code that comprise the Linux kernel.

2. Enlightenment E17 libraries reach beta. After ten years and several rewrites later of being defined as "alpha" software, E17 has finally reached a beta stage. It is yet to be seen if we will see a 1.0 release any time soon, but for the time being a beta release is a step in the right direction. If you would like to easily check out the E17 beta, take a peek at Bodhi Linux.

Finally, drum roll please...

1. Duke Nukem Forever gets a release date (again). First announced on April 28, 1997 Duke Nukem Forever seemed to be eternally delayed. This makes for it's 5th (6th, 7th?) release date. This one appears to be a solid one though (so much in fact that there are "early access keys" being advertised on Steam). Hopefully this one will not disappoint when it finally releases after almost 14 years.

Where there any other advances in technology or releases in recent years you thought would never happen?

~Jeff Hoogland

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Wine vs Native - 3D Performance Benchmarks

In the past I've done Wine on Linux versus native Windows 7 benchmarks for 3D applications. Source engine games are some of my favorite benchmarking applications. Since Valve ported Steam to OSX earlier this year and I recently acquired an OSX PC I figured this would be an opportune time to see how Wine performance measures up to a native client, not only on the same hardware - but on the same operating system.

My benchmarking tools this time around will be Counter Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2, as they both run native on OSX. For Wine software I used the recently released Crossover Games 9.1

Scores:
Counter Strike: Source

• 1680x1050, Wine - 44.16fps
• 800x600, Wine - 48.59fps
• 1680x1050, Native - 54.02fps
• 800x600, Native - 56.22fps

Team Fortress 2

• 1680x1050, Wine - 43.88fps
• 800x600, Wine - 49.58fps
• 1680x1050, Native - 50.56fps
• 800x600, Native - 58.47fps

As you can see - the numbers are fairly close (at least closer than they are with the Windows vs Linux Wine benchmarks). With CSS Wine scored 81% the speed of the native version and in TF2 Wine was 86% the FPS native version. It is fantastic the progress the Wine project has made over the past few years, to the point where it can almost keep up with a native version of modern games - even so I would love to see native ports of these games to my favorite operating system.

~Jeff Hoogland
Please note while these benchmark scores presented are accurate to the best of my abilities, they only represent my personal hardware and software configurations. Your results on your own system(s) may vary (and if they do, please share them!).

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CXGames 9.0 - Hands on Review

Back on October of last year I did a comparison of Cedega and CXGames. As of yesterday Codeweavers launched their CXGames 9.0. If we had heard any news or updates from Cedega in the last five months this would be an updated comparison, but since Cedega has not changed I simply am going to be reviewing the newly released CXGames.

The first thing you will notice when using CXGames 9.0 if you had used past versions is that the GUI has under gone a refreshing change.

Application Installer:

Bottle Manager:One of the key things you will notice when installing a game is that there are now "profiles" built in for games. Officially supported games have a profile as well currently a handful of other games. Similar to how Cedega works people can now submit the Wine settings they use to successfully run a game to Codeweavers so others can replicate these settings with a single click from the installer. With the number of users Codeweavers has accumulated over the years I have no doubt that we will soon see profiles for the multitude of gold and silver rated unsupported applications listed in the Codeweaver's data base.

New GUI, game profiles, what else is new in CXGames 9.0? A much needed Wine version upgrade has been added to this release. CXGames is based off of the recently released Wine 1.1.42. If you are not aware newer Wine versions often times include many bug fixes that can allow applications that had failed to run under Wine in the past to suddenly start working. The benefit of purchasing commercial Wine software such as CXGames is that while you gain all the benefits of an updated Wine version you do not have to worry about experiencing any regressions that may have found their way into the Wine base.

From a gamer's aspect the most important thing about this new release is added support for the recently released Steam GUI. The new interface for the Steam content delivery service I find runs much better under CXGames 9.0 than the old Steam interface ever ran under past Crossover versions. CXGames 9.0 also advertises added support for StarTrek Online and the Starcraft 2 Beta. There is a profile under "unsupported applications" for StarTrek, I am not much of an MMO guy so I have not tested this game yet. Upon searching for an entry for Starcraft 2 you will not find one, on the Crossover forums one of the staff makes the claim that it just works OOTB when selecting "install other application". I can confirm this is not the case. By default SC2 crashes at upon startup, after some tweaking I have it at least showing me a loading screen (even though it freezes with no terminal output).

Finally I always like to mention cost, CXGames 9.0 continues to be 40$ (this includes one year of support and updates). Overall CXGames 9.0 is another great release in a fantastic product line. The GUI updates are for the better, the game profiles work well, and a newer Wine version is always appreciated. If you are a Steam gamer on Linux then CXGames 9.0 is a must have, if Starcraft 2 under Linux is what you are looking for you are going to have to pass on CXGames for the time being - but I have no doubt that by the time SC2 releases at the end of July it will be fully supported under Crossover.

~Jeff Hoogland

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Elive 2.0 - Distro Review

Elive: Where Debian meets Enlightenment

This is Elive's slogan. As I am sure you can guess, it is a Debian based distribution that uses the Enlightenment window manager. I always like to jump in with both feet when it comes to playing with technology, so to get the best feel for what Elive is and how it works I downloaded the LiveCD and installed it as the primary operating system on my Sager Laptop.

First Impressions:

Booting the LiveCD for the first time gave me one of those "wow" moments. This was the first time I had ever used a distro that used the Enlightenment window manager. It is stunning, to say the least. (minus my function+mute, all of my hardware worked OOTB).
Taking a step back a moment, I'd like to mention the start process for the live environment. I like the way Elive boots up. It asks a few simple questions about your system at start up that help things to run smoothly. By asking for resolution, it allows Elive to have a seamless X loading (no black flickering or things of that sort like most distributions). The live system also loaded the appropriate closed source driver for my nVidia card on its own (I know this is a turn off for some FOSS people, but I like to use my hardware to its full extent).

Booting from a flash drive using the live system is smooth and flawless and the UI is easy to use. Located at the bottom of the screen is a dock bar for loading commonly used applications. Just to the right of this is a dock bar for battery, wifi, and audio controls. In the upper right hand corner of the screen, you can switch quickly between your multiple work spaces. (additionally, alt+fX keys switch between each of the twelve desktops).

Installation:
Located on that handy dock bar is the installer button. Before I go any further, I feel I should mention something that sets Elive apart from many other distributions (and keeps it from making the top ten on DistroWatch IMO). It is, that in order to install Elive on your system you have to acquire an online "installer" module. How does one obtain one of these modules? By making a donation to the project of course.

That is right: You have to pay to install Elive.

It's not a large cost. For a minimum of 15 dollars (USD - payed via paypal) you can receive the installer module. I logged into paypal, sent the funds, and was on my way. Other than a brief system hang at one point in the installer (which only took a moment to recover from) the install went flawlessly. Again, I would just like to mention the unique feel the installer has (like the rest of the system). A particular feature that is kind of small, but worth mentioning, is the descriptions the installer has for each of the file-systems before formatting. Like I said, small feature, but useful, I feel, none the less.

Using the System:
Elive only offers a 32bit image. My system has 4gigs of RAM. As such, one of the first things I do when installing a 32bit distribution on it is obtain a kernel that supports my memory in the 32bit environment. Enter another feature that is unique to Elive (and almost worth the donation all in itself):

Nurse Mode

Equatable to Window's system recovery mode, "Nurse Mode" allows the user to perform a number of recovery/restore options on the system. Among these is a one click install for different system kernels, among which include a "highmem" kernel to allow up to 64gb of RAM on the 32bit operating system.

After a restart, I was quickly loaded into my Elive system. Using enlightenment as a window manager took some getting used to at first, but after a couple of hours I had grown accustomed to it, and I must say, I like how enlightenment handles itself as a whole. There are only two issues I had with Elive. The first was some stability issues (Elive uses a mix of e16 and e17, the latter of which is the testing branch of enlightenment), and the second was purely visual - there was no way I could easily find what appeared in my applications menu (all the guides I found online were for e16 and the files they referenced did not exist on my Elive system). Beyond this, I also experienced this bug, which was rather annoying.

Two final notes about the system. I'm a gamer off and on and I run Steam through CXGames on my Linux system. Under all other window managers I have used thus far, the Steam GUI has this pesky habit of "jumping" from workspace to workspace so it is always visible in your active one (regardless of its settings). Under enlightenment all my Steam windows stayed where I left them. And lastly, while it is an easy fix: by default there are no source repos enabled under Elive. Meaning apt-get build-dep does not work OOTB.

Software:
The default software configuration on Elive is strange, to say the least. For starters, there is "demo" software installed on the system. Very "Windows Like" IMO. No open office. Abiword is installed, however I prefer the former of the two. There is no pidgin or multi-messenger client by default, but there is a Linux "amsn messenger". A fun idea is that solitaire is installed by default and it auto-loads it for you to play when you begin the system install.

Lastly, I use Google's Chrome browser on all my systems. Chrome did not play friendly with enlightenment. It did not want to add itself to my application launcher at the bottom of the screen and it had no idea what to do with any of the files it downloaded by default (.deb files didn't open with gdebi and "open containing folder" out-right failed).

Final Thoughts:
Also worth mentioning is that the Elive community as a whole is rather small(which is a shame, it's a wonderful distro). The two threads I posted are still unanswered some three days later, so if you do run into an issue with the system, best of luck finding help solving it!) Had enlightenment been a bit more stable as a window manager Elive would have stayed as the staple distro on my Sager for some time, but as of now my Sager is moving back to Debian Squeeze.

All in all, if you have never personally used the enlightenment window manager, I highly recommend you, at the very least, download the Elive LiveCD and give it a test drive. Once e17 fully matures, Elive will easily be one of the best distros out there.

~Jeff Hoogland

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Steam Client and Source Games Porting to OSX

So the devil called me this afternoon and said they where having a snowstorm in hell.

In other news Valve announced that their revolutionary "content delivery service" known as "Steam" is being ported to OSX and will be available as early as April 2010. No really its true, straight from the horse's mouth. In addition the actual client and "Steam-works" being brought to Apple's operating system Valve also plans to port all of the Source Engine games, these include:

• Half Life 2 Series
  
• Counter Strike: Source
• Team Fortress 2
• Left 4 Dead Series
  
• Day of Defeat: Source

All I have to say is: Microsoft has to quaking in their boots. For some time Microsoft's Windows operating system has been the standard for gaming on the PC. With Valve making the push into OSX this means more than just trouble for Microsoft's operating system. It also means their famed DirectX API that is Windows only may be in jeopardy. I say this because as stated in Valve's official announcement in order to port their engine/games to OSX they will be reimplementing them in OpenGL. After the porting of these past released source games Valve plans to treat OSX as a "first tier" operating system. Meaning that all future releases of source games will occur simultaneously for OSX, Windows, and Xbox 360.

Not a fan of Valve's flag-ship gaming engine? Not a problem, take a peak at these other titles already for sale on Steam that have a native OSX client:

• Aliens versus Predator (original)
  
• Altitude
  
• And Yet It Moves
  
• Ankh: Battle of the Gods
  
• Ankh: Heart of Osiris
  
• Aquaria
  
• BioShock
  
• Braid
  
• Brainpipe
  
• Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
  
• Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
  
• Call of Duty
  
• Call of Duty: United Offensive
  
• Call of Duty 2
  
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
  
• Championship Manager 2007
  
• Championship Manager 2008
  
• Championship Manager 2010
  
• Civilization IV
  
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
  
• Civilization IV: Colonization
  
• Civilization IV: Warlords
  
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  
• Darwinia
  
• DEFCON
  
• Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
  
• Deus Ex
  
• Doom
  
• Doom 3
  
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
  
• Doom II: Hell on Earth
• Dragon Age: Origins
  
• Elven Legacy
  
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
  
• Eschalon: Book I
  
• Europa Universalis III
  
• Europa Universalis: Rome
  
• FlatOut 2
  
• Final Doom
  
• Football Manager 2009
  
• Football Manager 2010
  
• Football Manager Live
  
• Freedom Force
  
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
  
• Harvest: Massive Encounter
  
• Hearts of Iron II
  
• Hearts of Iron III
  
• Heretic
  
• Heroes of Might and Magic V
  
• Hexen
  
• Hexen II
  
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  
• Jade Empire
  
• LEGO Batman: The Videogame
  
• LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
  
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
  
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
  
• Loom
  
• Luxor
  
• Luxor 2
  
• Luxor 3
  
• Machinarium
  
• Multiwinia
  
• Osmos
  
• Peggle
  
• Peggle Nights
  
• Penguins Arena
  
• Penumbra: Black Plague
  
• Penumbra: Overture
  
• Penumbra: Requiem
  
• Plants vs. Zombies
  
• Prey
  
• Prince of Persia (2008)
  
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
  
• Quake
  
• Quake II
  
• Quake III Arena
  
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
  
• Rome: Total War
  
• Samorost 2
  
• Shaun White Snowboarding
  
• Sid Meier’s Pirates
  
• SiN
  
• Spore
  
• Star Wars: Force Unleashed
  
• Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
  
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
  
• Star Wars: Dark Forces
  
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  
• Tales of Monkey Island
  
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  
• The Dig
  
• The Graveyard
  
• The Path
  
• TOCA Race Driver 3
  
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
  
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary
  
• Torchlight
  
• Unreal
  
• Unreal Tournament
  
• Unreal Tournament 2004
  
• Uplink
  
• Virtual Families
  
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
  
• World of Goo
  
• X²: The Threat
  
• X³: Reunion
  
• X³: Terran Conflict

Phew! Who was it that said you couldn't game on a non-Windows operating system? Well truth be told thanks to wonderful software like CXGames some of us have been enjoying source games on the operating system of our choice for some time now. (Food for thought and maybe a future topic: What do you think this announcement is going to do to Codeweaver's bottom line?)

What brought this seemingly sudden announcement from Valve? Well a few months back a rumor had surfaced that a lead Steam developer had posted looking for people with experience porting Windows software to OSX and Linux.

Yep, that is right and Linux.

While there is still nothing official about the latter of these two operating systems from Valve, all I have to say is that the porting of Source Engine to use OpenGL only makes the eventuality of them running without emulation on Linux much more likely (not to mention in the mean time Windows games that run under OpenGL tend to perform better under Wine).

~Jeff Hoogland

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