AMD Ryzen users are in for a pleasant surprise as the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update promises significant performance improvements for their processors. Early testing reveals substantial gains in gaming and productivity tasks, breathing new life into both current and previous generation Ryzen CPUs.
Unexpected Performance Boost
The Windows 11 2024 update (24H2), currently available in preview channels, has been found to deliver an average gaming performance boost of 11% for AMD's latest Ryzen 9000 series processors. This improvement comes at a crucial time for AMD, following a challenging launch of their Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs that initially received lukewarm reviews due to modest gains over predecessors.
Widespread Benefits
Importantly, the performance uplift isn't limited to just the newest chips:
- Ryzen 7 9700X: Average 11% improvement in games
- Ryzen 7 7700X: Average 10% improvement in games
- Older Ryzen 5000 series: Also expected to see benefits
The Technical Side
The performance boost stems from optimized AMD-specific branch prediction code. AMD has stated that while Zen 5 architecture (Ryzen 9000 series) will see the most significant improvements, Zen 4 (Ryzen 7000) and Zen 3 (Ryzen 5000) will also benefit.
Mixed Results and Caveats
While the overall trend is positive, it's important to note that the impact varies:
- Some games show improvements of up to 35%
- A few titles may see no change or even slight performance drops
- Content creation tasks are also expected to improve, with office benchmark suites showing a 6% uplift
Intel Users Left Out
This optimization is specific to AMD processors. Testing on Intel CPUs, such as the Core i5-14600K, showed no performance improvements from the update.
Availability
The Windows 11 24H2 update is expected to be publicly released in September or October 2023. However, eager users can access it now through the Windows 11 Insider Program.
The Bottom Line
This unexpected performance boost strengthens AMD's position in the CPU market, particularly in gaming scenarios. While it doesn't dramatically alter the landscape between Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series processors, it does provide a compelling reason for users to consider AMD over Intel for their next system build or upgrade.
As always, it's advisable to wait for comprehensive, independent benchmarks across a wide range of applications before making purchasing decisions based on these early results.