benchmarks Archives

AppWizard

March 24, 2026

Crimson Desert Guide: Best PC Settings for Optimize Gameplay

Pearl Abyss has developed Crimson Desert using its BlackSpace Engine, which requires careful configuration for optimal performance on different hardware setups. The game features customizable graphics options, but not all behave as expected; for example, switching from the Cinematic preset to Low may not improve performance and could worsen frame rates. Performance settings differ for low-end PCs, high-end PCs, and Mac users, with Mac users advised to use low-end configurations and disable Ray Tracing for better performance. To enhance performance beyond in-game settings, players should install the game on an SSD, disable startup apps, update GPU drivers, and enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling. Minimum hardware targets suggest that an RTX 4070 or RX 7700 XT is needed for 60 FPS at 1440p High preset, while an RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX is recommended for 60 FPS at 1440p Ultra/Cinematic. For GPUs below the RTX 4070 tier, dropping to 1080p and using DLSS or FSR upscaling is advised. Running the game in Fullscreen mode and keeping V-Sync off can also improve performance.

Winsage

March 23, 2026

Microsoft blocks registry trick that unlocked performance-boosting native NVMe driver on Windows 11 — workarounds still exist to enable support, however

Microsoft has disabled a registry modification that allowed Windows 11 users to activate native NVMe support. This change was noted in the latest Insider builds of Windows 11. The registry trick had previously improved random write performance by up to 85% and enhanced random I/O across various drives and CPUs. However, it caused compatibility issues with third-party SSD management tools and could trigger recovery prompts from BitLocker. Users can still enable native NVMe support using a third-party utility called ViVeTool, which requires an elevated command prompt and a system reboot. The timeline for official native NVMe support in Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 26H2 is uncertain.

AppWizard

March 21, 2026

Xbox Project Helix Specs Leak: Why Microsoft’s New Console is Amazing

Microsoft's gaming console, codenamed Project Helix, integrates console and PC ecosystems, featuring a custom AMD System on Chip (SoC) with a 3nm process, and a GPU based on AMD's RDNA 5 architecture. It reportedly rivals Nvidia’s RTX 5080 in rasterization and outperforms the RTX 5090 in ray tracing. The console includes a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for enhanced AI capabilities, supporting both Xbox and PC games natively. It utilizes AMD’s FSR Diamond technology for near-native 4K visuals and incorporates DirectStorage technology for faster load times. Project Helix supports four generations of Xbox games and is expected to have alpha development kits available in early 2027, with a consumer launch in 2028, priced between ,000 and ,200.

AppWizard

March 16, 2026

Crimson Desert gets the edge on PC with a transformative graphics upgrade

Crimson Desert, developed by Pearl Abyss, features ray tracing options on PC that enhance lighting quality and visual fidelity. Digital Foundry's Alex Battaglia highlighted these advancements in a dedicated video, noting that ray tracing significantly improves the game's lighting across platforms and optimizes performance even on less powerful systems. Players can utilize AMD's FSR Ray Regeneration or Nvidia's DLSS Ray Reconstruction if their hardware supports it. The optimizations yield a notable boost in visual fidelity, with a 14% average frame rate drop on an RTX 5080 in 4K performance mode when Ray Reconstruction is enabled, and a 24% decrease on an RX 9070 XT with FSR4's Ray Regeneration. The system requirements for Crimson Desert are accessible, allowing players to customize settings for their builds, but the introduction of Denuvo DRM has sparked controversy among some players. Pearl Abyss has confirmed that performance benchmarks were conducted using the same Denuvo implementation that will be present in the launch build.

Winsage

March 11, 2026

New Windows-native NVMe driver benchmarks reveal transformative performance gains, up to 64.89% — lightning-fast random reads and breakthrough CPU efficiency

Microsoft's native NVMe driver, initially released for Windows Server 2025, is now available for Windows 11, enhancing SSD performance. Users can achieve performance gains through registry tweaks. Benchmark tests showed significant improvements in random read bandwidth and input/output operations per second (IOPS). In a test with AMD EPYC 9754 processors and Solidigm P5316 SSDs, the following results were observed: - 4K Random Read: Non-Native Driver 6.1 GiB/s, Native Driver 10.058 GiB/s (+64.89%) - 64K Random Read: Non-Native Driver 74.291 GiB/s, Native Driver 91.165 GiB/s (+22.71%) - 64K Sequential Read: Non-Native Driver 35.596 GiB/s, Native Driver 35.623 GiB/s (+0.08%) - 128K Sequential Read: Non-Native Driver 86.791 GiB/s, Native Driver 92.562 GiB/s (+6.65%) - 64K Sequential Write: Non-Native Driver 44.67 GiB/s, Native Driver 50.087 GiB/s (+12.13%) - 128K Sequential Write: Non-Native Driver 50.477 GiB/s, Native Driver 50.079 GiB/s (-0.79%) Random read latency decreased significantly, with 4K and 64K read times dropping by 38.46% and 13.39%, respectively. However, 64K sequential write latency increased by 39.85%, while 128K sequential write latency rose by 12.43%. The NVMe driver also showed favorable CPU usage results during sequential read and write operations. It is not enabled by default in Windows 11, requiring users to make registry changes to activate it.

Winsage

March 11, 2026

Microsoft flips Windows Autopatch to default hotpatch security updates

Microsoft will automatically enable hotpatch security updates for Windows devices managed through Microsoft Intune or the Microsoft Graph API starting with the May 2026 Windows security update. This feature allows security fixes to be applied without requiring a device restart, improving compliance efficiency. Devices that install the April 2026 baseline security update will begin receiving hotpatch updates in May 2026, but this will only apply to devices not already assigned to a quality update policy. Organizations can opt out of hotpatch updates for specific device groups or their entire tenant starting April 1, 2026.

Winsage

March 6, 2026

Broken Windows: How Microsoft Loses Its AI Premium

As of March 6, 2026, Microsoft is facing significant challenges, including a quarterly expenditure of .5 billion on data centers and chips, and a decline in cloud margins from 70% to 67%. The adoption rate for its AI assistant, Copilot, is only 3.3%, raising concerns about its future revenue. Additionally, Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI is under scrutiny due to projected losses of billion for OpenAI this year. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is expected to increase operational costs for Azure due to rising energy prices and potential shipping delays for server components. If growth slows and margins continue to decline, Microsoft's stock could drop to around per share based on historical valuation averages. The Trefis High Quality Portfolio has outperformed major benchmarks with returns exceeding 105% since its inception, emphasizing the benefits of a diversified investment strategy over individual stocks.

AppWizard

March 6, 2026

Google says these AI models are best at coding Android apps

Google is testing various AI models for Android app development through a new platform called “Android Bench,” which evaluates the performance of leading AI language models (LLMs) against benchmarks specific to Android development. The benchmarks assess capabilities in areas such as Jetpack Compose, asynchronous programming, data persistence, dependency injection, navigation migrations, Gradle/build configurations, and interaction with Android components. Google has identified Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview as the top-performing model with a score of 72.4%, followed by Claude Opus 4.6 at 66.6% and OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 Codex at 62.5%. Gemini 2.5 Flash scored the lowest at 16.1%.

Winsage

March 6, 2026

Windows Server 2025 Native NVMe: Storage Stack Overhaul and Benchmark Results

On December 15, 2025, Microsoft announced native NVMe support in Windows Server 2025, marking a significant evolution in data management and access. The new architecture replaces Disk.sys with NVMeDisk.sys, allowing direct communication from the filesystem to hardware via StorMQ, eliminating latency and enhancing performance. Testing revealed increased read speeds, particularly in random 4K and 64K benchmarks, with significant reductions in average read latency and lower CPU usage during sequential operations. Write operations showed modest improvements. A registry modification is required to enable this feature, and caution is advised due to potential complications with NVMe drives when deduplication is enabled.

AppWizard

March 5, 2026

Xbox CEO confirms next-gen ‘Project Helix’ console will play PC games

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced details about Microsoft's upcoming console, codenamed “Project Helix,” which is designed to excel in performance and run both console and PC games seamlessly. Sharma's announcement follows her recent appointment and comes at a time when Microsoft’s gaming division has faced challenges. She plans to share more information at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week. The announcement raises questions about whether Project Helix will be a high-performance PC in a console form and what hardware specifications it will have. The timing is significant as there are rumors of a potential delay for the PlayStation 6, potentially giving Microsoft an opportunity to lead in the hardware race.