RadeonSI Benchmarks On Budgie, GNOME Shell, KDE Plasma 5, LXDE, MATE, Unity, Xfce

[AsuMagic]

I'm using radeonSI mesa 13 and it seems to be pretty much random on which screen the panel shows up and selecting a primary monitor only sometimes puts it on the desired one.
It has been like that for several releases and i have not found a workaround yet.
Well i guess i'll keep using gnome for a while longer...

I had the same issue before saving to the X.Org config IIRC. You can maybe try to hardcode that. Maybe I'm missing something, though. I've had the same issue on Kubuntu before moving to Arch.

[bug77]

I've been using Kubuntu 16.04 with backports PPA for awhile and with an Nvidia graphics card it works fantastic. It is a premium experience on Linux for sure. Extreme customization along with ease of usage. I do think on Ubuntu Discover is crap and hardly works though. Also the calculator is not very good. Install Qalculate. It is much better and actually has a square root function.

Hint: you can do calculations straight from KRunner. Alt+F2 and start typing the formula.
KRunner is a hidden gem, it will autocomplete bookmarks, emails and whatnot (I still haven't figured it all out).

[Masush5]

You tried drag the actual panel to the screen you want or you tried to create a new panel? I just tried and Plasmashell crashes when you create a new panel. Run it again and the new panel is on the top of the main screen. Just dragging it where you want and it stays there.

That is the problem for me when connecting a external display in a Intel GPU Thinkpad.

Dragging manually is not preserverd across reboots for my, if the correct screen lights up at all...

I had the same issue before saving to the X.Org config IIRC. You can maybe try to hardcode that. Maybe I'm missing something, though. I've had the same issue on Kubuntu before moving to Arch.

Hardcoding in x.org.conf seems rather unelegant but i might give it a shot. I'm on arch too btw.

[dungeon]

@Article Before reading too much into the GNOME Shell and Budgie results, don't be too concerned by the reported number. GNOME Shell / Mutter seems to have an issue with Source Engine games when triggered via the Phoronix Test Suite that they lose focus and seem to have thing the window is not responding. That bug is why the reported frame-rate is much lower. If running the games normally, the frame-rate should be in line with the other desktops not posing this problem.

OK, so phoronix suite have a bug with Source games... good to know

[theriddick]

Interesting result for KDE, I had heard its recent versions are quite good. Maybe time to give that a go since Budgie I feel needs a bit more time to catch up.

[andrebrait]

Compositing is OK when using the Intel DDX driver or NVIDIA's proprietary, but using the modesetting DDX makes any game run as 10 fps, tops. It has some weird issue with compositing. Disabling compositing makes it OK again. It also happens when the game runs on NVIDIA's drivers using primusrun/optirun, if the Intel card is using the modesetting DDX.

Running Arch right now. Happens with KDE and XFCE + Compton. I haven't tested other DEs.

[ElectricPrism]

Too bad Budgie didn't keep their panel and App Launcher on the bottom. Android, iOS and Windows all have app launcher on the bottom so its become expected IMO.

Tried to get into KDE Plasma and while having bizare features is nice their UX leaves much to be desired in my appraisal of simple and concise.

Stock Gnome is pretty dull but Gnome with Extensions really turns it into a fast, efficient and no bullshit Desktop Shell for me. Great for work & productivity. Panther Launcher, Places, Dash to Dock, Volume Mixer, Recent (Items), Trash, Clipboard Indicator all take a simple core & tailor it into a custom pro Tux.

[eydee]

Good results, people can freely choose now. Just a few years ago, when the linux gaming hype started, you either ran some light stuff with no compositing, or games suffered greatly.

[Amarildo]

Which is not the point of this article at all. [i](And who cares about 2 or 3 seconds more per login when the usability is way better on KDE than XFCE anyways)

I think the main conclusion here is: it doesn't matter which DE you use anymore. XFCE "better for gaming"? Those days are gone (if they ever existed at all). KDE slow for games when compositing is enabled? Gone.

Use whatever you want, whatever you like, whatever fits your needs.

[spstarr]

If you use Intel iGPU and AMD dGPU KDE kwin composite is broken kills frame rates severely disable Composite mode or you will have problems. You can keep vsync as automatic.