tech
December 7, 2025
SteamOS tested on dedicated GPUs: No, it’s not always faster than Windows
Ars testing shows SteamOS fares better on iGPUs than powerful graphics cards.
TL;DR
- Testing shows Windows typically outperforms SteamOS on dedicated GPUs, especially in games with VRAM limitations.
- Games hitting the 8GB VRAM limit on dedicated GPUs exhibited significantly larger performance gaps between Windows and SteamOS.
- On integrated graphics, SteamOS performed similarly or better than Windows in benchmarks like Forza and Cyberpunk.
- Valve is actively developing memory management improvements for SteamOS to address performance issues with 8GB GPUs.
- The performance gap between Windows and SteamOS on dedicated GPUs suggests that the upcoming Steam Machine may face challenges.
- SteamOS is considered a work in progress when run on hardware other than the Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion Go.
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