Left 4 Dead 2 Runs Faster on Linux Than Windows, According to Valve

Last month, Valve announced that it had been hard at work bringing Steam and a few of its games over to the Linux platform, starting with none other than one of the company’s most popular titles, Left 4 Dead 2.

Interestingly enough, not only does Linux come with an endless supply of cute penguin backgrounds to look at, it, according to Valve, runs Left 4 Dead 2 much faster than Windows. During the mid-development process, Valve stated that it has L4D2 clocked at nearly 315 frames per second on Linux, with the standard Windows speed clocked nicely at 270.6 frames per second.

Past a certain point, however, the frame speed doesn’t really matter – the human eye can really only perceive up to a certain degree before it’s simply too quick to differ from. However, Valve says this shows the potential of Linux and Steam working hand-in-hand, and the overall speed of the system. This advancement has benefitted the Windows development of the game as well, as Valve says the team has been able to speed up the OpenGL version of Windows to a significantly faster 303.4 frames per second, now not far behind Linux.

To get a more in-depth analysis of what’s going on behind-the-scenes on both platforms from Valve’s perspective, check out the Valve Linux blog.