After it came to light that Windows 11 was causing performance problems for computer running AMD processors, Microsoft has updated its new operating system… and it’s made things worse.
According to TechPowerUp, the latest Windows 11 cumulative update released on October 12 has actually increased the L3 cache latency, which then has a direct effect on performance in some games. Meanwhile, another problem pushes threaded workloads onto the fastest core of a Ryzen processor, which could also affect performance in CPU-reliant tasks.
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TechPowerUp’s testing found that before the update Windows 11 running on a PC with a Ryzen 7 2700X CPU had a latency of 17 nanoseconds, whereas normally it posts a latency of 1ns. But post-update, the same testing now sees a latency of 31.9ns.
A patch is in the works, with AMD planning on pushing out a fix for this issue on October 21. Some "customers" can request to get the patch earlier, but this is only likely to apply to enterprise-grade customers.
However, Microsoft is set to release a patch on October 19, which is slated to fix the L3 problem. But the key patch to get is very likely to be the AMD one.
As such, if you’ve been considering getting an AMD Ryzen-based PC, such as those in our best gaming PC list, with the explicit goal of having a Windows 11 machine, you might want to hold fire. The same is true if you’re planning on upgrading your AMD Ryzen PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
While Windows 11 has only been available for a little over a week, it’s launch hasn’t been super smooth. Not only have there been concerns over Windows 11’s TPM requirements, but there are plenty of Windows 11 errors that have caused user problems, though these come with some easy fixes.
One way to avoid such a problem is to check out our selection of the best Windows 11-ready laptops, though those might not be ideal for people who want the best gaming performance.
