--- title: CachyOS beats SteamOS on my ROG Ally X, and Windows 11... description: After cycling through Windows 11 and SteamOS on an Asus ROG Ally X, the author settled on CachyOS Handheld Edition and found it outperforms both. A benchmark... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-steamos-on-my-rog-ally-x-and-windows-11-isn-t-even-in-the-running-anymore-iob9oxk7r twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: CachyOS beats SteamOS on my ROG Ally X, and Windows 11 isn't even in the running anymore | daily.dev og:description: After cycling through Windows 11 and SteamOS on an Asus ROG Ally X, the author settled on CachyOS Handheld Edition and found it outperforms both. A benchmark... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-steamos-on-my-rog-ally-x-and-windows-11-isn-t-even-in-the-running-anymore-iob9oxk7r og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Iob9OXK7r.png og:image:alt: CachyOS beats SteamOS on my ROG Ally X, and Windows 11 isn't even in the running anymore og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # CachyOS beats SteamOS on my ROG Ally X, and Windows 11 isn't even in the running anymore **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 5 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary After cycling through Windows 11 and SteamOS on an Asus ROG Ally X, the author settled on CachyOS Handheld Edition and found it outperforms both. A benchmark comparison showed the Z1 Extreme chip on CachyOS matching or beating the newer Z2 Extreme on Windows 11 in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. CachyOS offers the same low-level scheduler and compiler tuning as SteamOS but without the immutable filesystem restrictions, letting users continue customizing. The author acknowledges some rough edges and that Linux can't fix the ROG Ally X's higher power draw compared to the Steam Deck, but concludes CachyOS delivers the best handheld gaming experience they've had, aided by Btrfs snapshots and dual-boot as safety nets. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Does CachyOS run faster than Windows 11 on gaming handhelds like the ROG Ally X? Yes, CachyOS's Handheld Edition outperformed Windows 11 in a direct comparison on the ROG Ally X. Shadow of the Tomb Raider averaged 44 FPS on High using the Z1 Extreme chip under CachyOS, versus 43 FPS on the newer Z2 Extreme chip running Windows 11 on the ROG Xbox Ally X, despite the older, less powerful chipset. _Comparing handheld gaming OS performance data like this is easier to track on daily.dev._ ### What is the main difference between CachyOS and SteamOS for handheld gaming? CachyOS is an Arch-based, performance-tuned Linux distribution that gives users full access to change scheduler and compiler tuning, while SteamOS applies similar tuning once, by Valve, then locks it behind an immutable filesystem. CachyOS's Handheld Edition lets users keep customizing beyond what SteamOS or Bazzite permit, at the cost of a less sealed, more tinker-heavy setup. _Weighing Linux gaming distros against each other gets easier with daily.dev around._ ### Does switching to Linux improve battery life on the ROG Ally X compared to SteamOS? No, switching to CachyOS did not improve battery life on the ROG Ally X; its 80Wh battery still drains faster than a Steam Deck's. The Z1 Extreme chip in the ROG Ally X was tuned for performance rather than power efficiency, so software optimization on Linux cannot overcome that hardware limitation. _Handheld gamers chasing real battery and performance trade-offs can follow this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@ajaychoudhary80** · 1 upvotes > Btrfs snapshots make experimenting with different setups much less risky. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [CachyOS is dethroning Windows at the one thing it owned for decades](https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-is-dethroning-windows-at-the-one-thing-it-owned-for-decades-uv8xp5kpe) · XDA Developers · 35 upvotes · 4 comments - [CachyOS proved that SteamOS's biggest limitation isn't the Steam Deck — it's the philosophy behind it](https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-proved-that-steamos-s-biggest-limitation-isn-t-the-steam-deck-it-s-the-philosophy-behind-i-ymyordnic) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CachyOS Outperforming Windows 11, Ubuntu & Fedora On AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470](https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-outperforming-windows-11-ubuntu-fedora-on-amd-ryzen-ai-9-hx-470-0dfj4rl4a) · Phoronix · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CachyOS beats Windows 11 in Cyberpunk 2077 and Space Marine 2 in a new gaming benchmark](https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-windows-11-in-cyberpunk-2077-and-space-marine-2-in-a-new-gaming-benchmark-zkck5ak8v) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#gaming](https://daily.dev/tags/gaming), [#steamos](https://daily.dev/tags/steamos) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-steamos-on-my-rog-ally-x-and-windows-11-isn-t-even-in-the-running-anymore-iob9oxk7r) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"CachyOS beats SteamOS on my ROG Ally X, and Windows 11 isn't even in the running anymore","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-steamos-on-my-rog-ally-x-and-windows-11-isn-t-even-in-the-running-anymore-iob9oxk7r","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/cachyos-beats-steamos-on-my-rog-ally-x-and-windows-11-isn-t-even-in-the-running-anymore-iob9oxk7r"},"datePublished":"2026-07-11T00:02:38.022Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:48:52.194Z","description":"After cycling through Windows 11 and SteamOS on an Asus ROG Ally X, the author settled on CachyOS Handheld Edition and found it outperforms both. 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