As I promised, my own Cyberpunk testing of Windows Vs Linux on mostly the same hardware (they are on different SSDs, but I don’t think that’ll have a drastic impact).

TLDR: Windows framerates seem inconsistent, it’s first benchmark I ran (the first Ultra without DLSS) was way faster with no explanation. Aside from that and Ray Tracing: Overdrive, Linux seems to win, and by a large degree (+28 FPS average on the Low preset seems ridiculous).

I don’t think these results are broadly applicable to more machines. You probably won’t get +28 FPS by switching to Linux.

My best guess is that the performance difference may have a lot to do with different power/thermal targets, or that Windows was doing a lot in the background (it was running an update, but I didn’t expect a huge impact).

I’m guessing that on most hardware the performance difference will be pretty small.

Hardware: ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR Laptop Ryzen 9 5900HS, 16 GiB DDR4 RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 2560x1440 screen, up to 165 Hz

All benchmarks: plugged into OEM power supply. I held the laptop vertically so there were no restrictions to its airflow.

Game: Cyberpunk 2077 V2.3 with Phantom Liberty DLC, fullscreen 2560x1440. Values are given as Min / Average / Max FPS displayed by the game’s built in benchmark.

Linux (Bazzite 42): NVIDIA driver 575.64.05 Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSD Performance power profile

Low Preset ( no upscaling): 57.49 / 68.42 / 83.86 FPS

Ultra Preset(no upscaling): 32.91 / 39.27 / 49.71 FPS

Ultra (DLSS Transformer model, Auto): 41.11 / 48.70 / 61.30 FPS

Ray Tracing: Low Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 44.12 / 51.70 / 61.63 FPS

Ray Tracing: Ultra Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 29.24 / 34.26 / 39.81 FPS

Ray Tracing: Overdrive Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 15.03 / 17.71 / 20.45 FPS

Windows (Windows 11 Home 23H2): GeForce Game Ready Driver 580.88 SK Hynix HFM001TD3JX013N SSD “Turbo” power profile (in ASUS Armoury Crate)

Low Preset (no upscaling): 35.68 / 40.68 / 45.17 FPS

Ultra Preset(no upscaling): 40.53 / 52.88 / 65 FPS

Ultra Preset (no upscaling, Round 2): 29.68 / 35.63 / 39.94 FPS

Ultra (DLSS Transformer model, Auto): 36.71 / 47.20 / 55.32 FPS

Ray Tracing: Low Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 28.55 / 32.41 / 35.85 FPS

Ray Tracing: Ultra Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 22.23 / 27.25 / 30.86 FPS

Ray Tracing: Overdrive Preset (DLSS transformer model, Auto): 17.74 / 19.96 / 22.64 FPS

Thank you very much, kind graphics wizard. I will put this knowledge to good use saving my ears from that fan. This is exactly what I was looking for!

I’ll have to look into seeing if I can mess with that! It’s a laptop 3070, so they:'ve already made some changes (fewer cores, lower boost clocks). My laptop sets a 100 W max TGP for it.

TBH though I’ve found myself caring more about the convenience of playing games (comfort, portability, ease of interrupting) more than graphics settings. Yeah it’s very pretty with ray tracing and all, but I’m totally fine with playing on medium or high.

Thanks for the ideas! Hopefully I can push the graphics up without turning into a pile of lava. I need to figure out how to record graphics power consumption for me to reference to evaluate changes.

“Teehee, we’ve been hard at work squashing bugs to provide the best experience for you!” And then they’ve removed some useful feature, added more invasive tracking, added more ads, etc.

What happened to motivate this rule change? It took them a really long time since chess came out.

I am not sure, as I’ve actually only played it under Linux. I have a laptop with an RTX 3070. It’s able to handle the raytraced low setting at 1080p, but I just run High instead so that the fan isn’t as loud. And in my opinion that even looks pretty good. I might try start it under windows and run its benchmark because I’m curious now! I’ll update here if I remember to do this test.

Stuck on a NEMA 5-15 outlet, can’t draw much more continuously. I think like 1200W is the highest continuous load you’re allowed on a 15 A circuit here in the US, but I am not an electrician so I could be wrong

At some point you realize that the slushee has melted in the face of your system’s 1000 W TDP…

What a mess. Fortunately, the frequency thing is less of an issue with modern power supplies, like my laptop charger is rated for 100-240V 50-60 Hz, so it Just Works. But I imagine that was more of a pain before these were widespread.

I have a Google smart speaker that I got as a freebie. I used to use it (>3 years ago) for timers, alarms, etc. and had few problems, I just stopped when I moved and didn’t set it up. I put them back up a few months ago and it sure seems worse to me. Always triggering on random conversations, or to dialog on TV. Anyway they are permanent residents of the closet now. They suck.

Still better this than to be the person who weaves across three lanes of traffic to go after their exit, or who sees the exit lane diverging and chooses… Neither, then they just stop there.

Plus, Google can normally install apps on your phone without any permission or notification.

• Cyborgs every time a Windows update comes out

That name may be taken, depending on how you look at it! Game developer Tim Cain wrote an OS abstraction library called GNW (GNW’s not Windows). That allowed games like Fallout to be built for DOS, Windows, and Mac without major changes. I highly recommend his Youtube channel!

I feel like it may be more visually poetic - standing there, as a breeze blows dust past you, a dollar bill flies into your hand, somehow inexplicably preserved. Any archeological record of paper currency is long gone, so even if there was a human civilization, this strangely ornamented picture of a man’s head with various shapes around it would be alien.

Clearly the better choice. (Edit: vs. $5m in a year, not paper vs. a server.)

It’s been reported that a lot of cuts to Xbox studios were due to losses in MS’s AI business.

I had always viewed Xbox game studios and game pass as a platform dominance thing. Like, keeping players on Windows/Xbox products and keeping a large amount of the games industry under their control.

In general, just trying to keep players on the Windows ecosystem.

Spaceship Georg, whose body is 5.7×10⁹ miles from Earth, is an outlier and should not be counted.

(A portion of Clyde Tombaugh’s remains are on the New Horizons spacecraft about this far from Earth). Edit: but this of course is useless for place of death statistics.

Scooters definitely need more regulations. My experience as someone walking in a city with them hasn’t been very positive.

They’ve been frequently tossed on the ground after their use. It’s a rental, and people don’t care what happens to it because it’s not their problem.

They frequently block curb ramps for wheelchairs. Sometimes it’s even the company putting them there (all lined up nicely, just to block the way). Sometimes it’s just people tossing a scooter there after use.

My partner uses a wheelchair so scooters have been a pain in the ass for them.

Safety wise there are problems. The scooter app will tell you to wear a helmet and never ride on the sidewalk (to cover their asses) but no one wears a helmet on them.

A scooter rider hit my partner, then a stationary car once. At another time a scooter hit me and knocked me over (they were speeding down the sidewalk late at night).

But “stupid drivers” also applies to bikes, and cars. And the potential for harm with an F-150 is a lot greater than a scooter

Those World War 2 movies as well - like, we already had millions die during the war, and now we’re doing it again to make a movie out of it? (/s)

Since you’re in a roundabout, you just need a large funnel into the gas tank. Every time around, someone standing at the side pours a bit of fuel in while you pass, so you get a splash of fuel per lap!