Should you upgrade to Windows 11 for gaming?
Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system has been out for almost two weeks at this point. The operating system is available via Windows Update on compatible devices only, but can also be downloaded and installed on devices that do not meet Windows 11's minimal system requirements. Windows 11 is a free upgrade for genuine Windows 10 devices.
The current version of Windows 11 suffers from a list of known issues, and several that Microsoft has not confirmed officially, some of which may affect gaming on the device.
Is Windows 11 better for gaming?
As a gamer, one question that you may have is, whether it is a good idea to upgrade to Windows 11 for gaming. Is it beneficial to run Windows 11, or is there no real advantage to upgrading to Microsoft's new operating system.
The answer requires a quick comparison between Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows 11 is an updated version of Windows 10. It shares many features with Windows 10, and there are just a few differences that are of interest to gamers.
Microsoft introduced two new gaming related features in Windows 11: Auto HDR and DirectStorage.
- Auto HDR requires a HDR-capable display. Basically, what it does is enable HDR in games automatically that don't support it natively.
- DirectStorage is an API that Microsoft introduced on Xbox originally. It is designed to speed up the loading of games and game assets significantly. Without going into details, the loading is designed to bypass the processor to speed up the operation. Downside to DirectStorage is that it requires a fast NVMe drive. Another downside is that Microsoft announced that DirectStorage will also be made available on Windows 10. Last but not least, games need to implement the API to make use of it.
What does this mean for gamers? Currently, gamers may not notice much of a difference, if at all, when they upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Ashwin ran Windows 11 game performance tests and concluded that Windows 11 runs games as good, or as bad, as Windows 10.
One of Windows 11's new APIs, DirectStorage, is coming to Windows 10 as well, and that leaves Auto HDR as the only feature that is exclusive. It does require a display that supports HDR, and may not be as visually impressive as native HDR in games.
Closing Words
There is no real difference currently when it comes to games. Windows 10 is supported until 2025, Windows 11 will be supported for longer. Microsoft plans to release one major feature update for Windows 11 each year, and new features will land in Windows 11 but not necessarily Windows 10. New gaming related features, if any are in the pipeline, will definitely be introduced in Windows 11.
Games will run fine on Windows 10 and on Windows 11 in the coming years. There is a chance that Microsoft will introduce new gaming features in Windows 11, but nothing has been confirmed at this point.
Gamers may want to wait with the upgrade. Microsoft is working on a fix for AMD devices, as these are affected by issues currently that drop performance on Windows 11. A fix is expected to be released later this month. Still, Windows 11 has issues, and it is a good idea to wait until the major ones do get resolved before any device is upgraded to the new operating system.
There is no rush to upgrade to Windows 11 from a PC gaming point of view, because the gain is minimal, at best at this point.
Now You: do you play games? Which is your operating system, and why?
There is not still W11 23H2 and these instructions are nonsense by now. :[
It worked for me just fine. You’re probably not following the instructions clearly.
Just tried the password option and the OOBE option and didnt work.
Worked perfectly. Thank OP.
Worked perfectly for me just now. Specifically, the regedit option.
Is this cut and paste from a Microsoft PR paper, because it 1000% BS:
“By listening to user insights, Microsoft has demonstrated its commitment to refining the Windows experience based on real-world needs.”
Windows 11 is proof they don’t give a s*it.
Worked for me just now
I agree! Windows 11 was a downgrade to me and I kept all 8 computers in our family on Windows 10 as a result. They didn’t listen to any customers. The taskbar was THE main reason I stayed away from Windows 11. With 6 monitors, it is impossible to navigate so many browser tabs, without the feature. I will try the new version in the virtual box to see if it is worth it yet.
Microsoft did a terrible job with this implementation.
They simply need to employ the creator of StartAllBack to fix Windows. He is smarter and more talented than the entire campus of Microsoft employees.
lol
Thank you so much! I work in IT and this is extremely useful information!
Thanks man. The second method worked great!
I used the second method, and i got exactly what i expected.
Using the Bypass 2: Use a banned email address email worked fantastically as I had gone to far to use the bypass 1.
I will be back when I next have a problem.
Keep you the great work
W11 File Explorer is the worst crap ever done. W11 is the biggest shame ever.
Just one more reason for me to go to Linux when Windows 10 ages out.
@ MarineRecon,
Be careful which Linux distro you choose. Some of them don’t include the Wayland protocol which is a security issue i.e. apps can copy, paste and inject data without user interaction.
It’s included in Fedora: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/latest/system-administrators-guide/Wayland/
How about a DARK MODE for your website? That would be oh so nice.
Something like this : [https://img.justpaste.me/image/8617] maybe?
Done with ‘Dark Reader Extension for ? Firefox’ [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/]
This comment was written on [https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-installation-has-failed-how-to-fix-this-upgrade-error/#comment-4573155}
Definitely NOT! Once you get older and your eyesight starts to fail you’ll positively loathe dark mode.
Microsoft completely ruined File Explorer by converting to XAML/WinUI/whatever new bloated modern garbage. Its worse than it ever was.
i tested it on win10 current edition. speeds up explorer like a charm
SO what is the priority numbers to give preference to ethernet over wireless?
Worked very well happy to have Windows Photo Viewer back in action in Windows-11
Worked for me (registry option) thank god, I can use the search option to find things on my computer again. Thank you so much!
Install Everything Search and dispense with Microsoft’s crappy search tool. https://www.voidtools.com/
Martin wrote an article on it: https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/09/add-everything-search-to-the-windows-taskbar-for-even-faster-searches/
I presume the text “WindowsCopilot,,” is a typographical error (2023/09/17/how-to-disable-windows-copilot-in-windows/). The broken comment system unfortunately looks like it is populating itself via AI autopilot.
Hopefully, this Windows Copilot nonsense fails even more spectacularly than Cortana. Who requested this? We want all of the UX features removed back in 11, not this copilot nonsense.
I really don’t mind all of these Windows enhancement but Microsoft get one thing very wrong. ‘Opt in’, is far better than seek information and work to disable.
Turn off Windows Copilot entirely is not good enough.
How to uninstall Copilot entirely ?
@ ilev,
Use Gpedit or the registry. Explained in this article: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/17/how-to-disable-windows-copilot-in-windows/
With that snake oil salesman Panos gone, hopefully Windows can return to a normal desktop operating system without all the insanity it has right now in Windows 11.
Can we please stop being ‘politically correct’ (lying) and call them ads again instead of ‘suggestions’?