Some prebuilt PCs might cause gaming performance issues in Windows 11
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Key notes
- Windows 11 has for weeks been advertised as the best OS for gamers.
- It now seems Microsoft will be enabling security features by default that could affect gaming performance.
- With GPUs hard to come by, this move could seriously affect gamers.
Microsoft has been at the frontline over the last few months how Windows 11 is the OS gamers have been waiting for to address all their gaming needs. See here for the top gaming features in Windows 11. So far, the gaming features have been enticing but it seems this will soon come crashing with the latest update.
The future prebuilt PCs with the new OS factory installed may be the latest stumbling block as it enables additional security features by default. It has since been discovered that one of these features could have serious effects on gaming performance.
More pain ahead
If you thought TPM 2.0 restrictions were a stretch, brace yourselves for more pain. An average of 28% drop in average frame is expected. This makes it worse because it is becoming harder to find GPUs. If Microsoft moves to hobble the performance of the chip in your newly updated machine, you will barely last a minute before frustration kicks in.
Virtualization-Based Security
It appears that Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), which was introduced into Windows 10 is the issue. It aims at enhancing the security of your system by creating an isolated subsystem and preventing malware from your PC.
All this is great but the main issue is during upgrade. If you are upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 you have no worries with VBS being enabled. However, if you were previously running the older enterprise version of the OS, you might face problems.
If your machine has previously had an OEM build of Windows 11 installed on it, you are in for a surprise.
Tests done
A test on a selection of games has been carried out with VBS off and VBS enabled and there is obviously an effect.
Some of the games such as Horizon Zero Dawn dropped by 25%, Metro Exodus by 24%, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider by 28%. It therefore proves that VBS causes a performance drop. VBS is automatically enabled when you install Windows 11.
In a twist of tales, this does not occur when you are making the upgrade from Windows 10.
Although enabling VBS has no known impact on the speed of the hardware, there is a power draw drop for both processor and graphics card. It is insinuated that the performance drop is originating from elsewhere.
At the moment, when you install WIndows 11, VBS is not enabled by default. Therefore, there is no cause for alarm yet. What is unclear is whether the big PC manufacturers when releasing new devices will have VBS enabled.
Have you checked to see whether your PC is VBS enabled after installing Windows 11? If so, have you experienced any performance issues while gaming? Let us know in the comment section
