Windows 11 Update Sparks Gaming Performance Concerns
Recent updates to Windows 11 have stirred discontent among gamers, as reports emerge of frame rate drops following the October security and feature patch (KB5066835). This latest update, which introduced a host of changes, has been criticized not only for its intrusive CoPilot AI and persistent prompts to switch to Edge or utilize OneDrive but also for its potential negative impact on gaming performance.
Digital Foundry’s recent testing has shed light on the issue, revealing that the update significantly hampers performance in at least one popular title, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Utilizing an AMD Ryzen 9800X3D paired with an Nvidia RTX 5090, the site recorded “remarkably low” frame rates prior to applying a hotfix from Nvidia. This hotfix specifically addresses performance issues that arose after the Windows update.
After the installation of the hotfix, the results were striking. Although Digital Foundry did not provide precise figures for the average frame rate, their comparative screenshots indicated a notable improvement—from 34fps to 72fps at the same point in the game. Without the hotfix, gamers could experience a performance decline ranging from 33% to 50% in this particular title.
While these findings are compelling, they are based solely on one game. However, anecdotal evidence from another user on X (formerly Twitter) suggests that the hotfix may also enhance performance in Counter-Strike 2, reporting an 11% increase in 1% lows after applying the update. Nvidia’s documentation confirms that the hotfix addresses issues in “some games,” hinting at a broader impact across various titles.
One lingering question remains: does this performance issue affect only Nvidia GPUs, or is it also impacting AMD graphics cards? Further testing is necessary to clarify the scope of the problem. For those utilizing recent Nvidia graphics cards and noticing performance dips post-update, downloading the hotfix could be a prudent step to mitigate any adverse effects on gaming experiences.
