Key Takeaways
1. The Lenovo Legion Go S performs better on SteamOS than on Windows, showing higher FPS and better battery life.
2. In testing, the Legion Go S achieved significantly lower performance on Windows, especially in demanding games like Returnal.
3. Windows background processes are believed to consume CPU resources, negatively impacting gaming performance compared to SteamOS.
4. Lowering resolution and graphics settings on Windows improves FPS, but SteamOS still outperforms it at all settings tested.
5. Microsoft is working on a specialized version of Windows for gaming devices that minimizes background tasks to enhance performance.
Back in May, we shared that the Lenovo Legion Go S performed better in games when using SteamOS instead of Windows. According to testing by Dave2D, SteamOS not only boosted FPS but also enhanced battery life for the handheld gaming device. Ars Technica also did their own benchmarks comparing Legion Go S on SteamOS with the Windows version, and the findings are quite surprising.
Testing Details
Ars Technica evaluated both the Legion Go S with SteamOS and Windows, using graphics drivers from Lenovo and Asus. They found that the performance of the Legion Go S on Windows was consistently lower than on SteamOS, sometimes by significant amounts.
Among the five games tested, Returnal struggled the most on Windows. The Legion Go S could only achieve an average of 18 FPS and 24 FPS at a resolution of 1920×1200 with “High” settings when using Windows with Lenovo and Asus drivers, respectively. In contrast, it managed to run the game at 33 FPS with the same settings on SteamOS.
Performance Comparison
When the resolution was decreased to 1280×800 and graphics settings were lowered to “Low,” the FPS increased to 30 on Windows and 47 on SteamOS. Ars Technica observed a similar trend in Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom: The Dark Ages, though the difference in performance between the two operating systems was not as significant.
So, what could be causing this?
It looks like the many background processes running on Windows are stealing CPU time from the games, leading to these performance discrepancies. Windows is known for its numerous background tasks, such as managing the Desktop, which takes away valuable CPU resources. The kernel assigns a block of CPU time to handle these processes.
Understanding the Bottleneck
At lower resolutions and settings, the CPU performance tends to be the main limitation for most games. Therefore, Windows is using critical CPU resources that could be better spent on gaming, creating a noticeable drop in performance. In contrast, SteamOS appears to be less demanding in terms of CPU-intensive tasks, which may explain why it outperforms Windows in some situations.
Luckily, Microsoft seems to be addressing this problem, as seen with the ROG Xbox Ally handheld console, which runs a specialized version of Windows. This “Xbox” edition of Windows reportedly minimizes background tasks, like loading the Desktop, enhancing performance and energy efficiency. As this gaming-focused version of Windows is likely to appear on more portable consoles, we hope Microsoft will resolve these issues permanently.
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