Windows 10 May 2020 vs. Linux Performance On AMD Ryzen Threadripper

Given the recent release of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, here are some fresh benchmarks showing how the latest Windows 10 software update paired with the latest AMD drivers performs against the latest 2020 Linux distribution releases. This testing was done on an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X box given the interesting performance differences we have seen in the past to Linux's advantage with these HEDT processors. The Linux distributions tested against Windows 10 May 2020 Update were Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Arch-based Manjaro 20.0.2, Clear Linux 33250, and Fedora Workstation 32.

This article is intended to provide a fresh look at the Windows 10 (May 2020 Update) performance against the latest Linux distributions for Threadripper (Zen 2). Additional Windows 10 benchmarks on other hardware is forthcoming including a fresh look at the WSL/WSL2 performance out of this big Microsoft update.

The same system was obviously used throughout testing in the same manner and included the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X, 4 x 16GB DDR4-3600 memory, 1TB Corsair Force MP600 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and Radeon RX 5500 XT at stock speeds. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Clear Linux 33250, Manjaro 20.0.2, and Fedora Workstation 32 were all tested in their default configuration with the stock packages.

Via the Phoronix Test Suite a wide range of Windows vs. Linux benchmarks were carried out.