AMD’s Ryzen 9000 (Zen 5) processors and some previous Ryzen generations will soon get a performance boost thanks to an update to Windows 11.
An optional patch that Microsoft will roll out “soon,” according to AMD, will deliver faster frame rates in games (and overall performance elsewhere) for Ryzen 9000, 7000, and 5000 processors — but the biggest gains will come to the new Zen 5 CPUs.
This news was received via a blog post that AMD published about the differences between its internal Ryzen 9000 benchmarking and the findings of many gaming benchmark reviewers – and that is the main reason for implementing this patch.
AMD’s internal testing found that Ryzen 9000 CPUs had a 9% generational improvement when gaming at 1080p resolution over Ryzen 7000 CPUs, but reviewers found more modest percentage improvements (closer to 5% than 10%).
AMD discussed the reasons for this in its post, including variations in PC and Windows configurations and, crucially, the use of a “hidden administrator account” in its internal testing, something Team Red has already addressed (at least indirectly).
AMD tells us in the post, “The Zen 5 architecture includes broader branch prediction capability than previous Zen generations. Our automated test methodology was run in ‘Admin’ mode, producing results that reflect branch prediction code optimizations that were not present in the version of Windows reviewers used to test Ryzen 9000 Series.”
AMD notes that this “optimized AMD-specific branch prediction code” will be delivered as part of the incoming Windows 11 24H2 update. However, since Ryzen processor owners will likely be eager to see this speed boost, as previously mentioned, AMD is working with Microsoft to release an optional Windows 11 update soon that will incorporate said performance improvements.
Analysis: Don’t forget the nature of optional updates
Please note that this performance improvement, as an optional update, comes with its own risks. These updates for Windows 11 are previews and still in testing, so they may have unexpected side effects.
Either way, all Windows 11 users will get the fully-finished patch to boost Ryzen CPUs in the 24H2 update, which could theoretically arrive as early as September, but likely won’t arrive until later in 2024. (And when you think about it, the fact that an optional patch is being deployed here – to help Ryzen gamers – strongly suggests that 24H2 is still a while off.)
It’s also important to note that while Ryzen 9000 processors are getting the biggest boost, the update will also improve the performance of Ryzen 7000 and 5000 chips – just not by as much. That said, Hardware Unboxed’s previous testing suggests that Ryzen 7000 CPUs will see pretty close to the same benefit as Ryzen 9000 (based purely on switching to admin mode in Windows 11 at this point – not something we recommend doing, we should hasten to add, for previously discussed security reasons).
AMD provides some numbers in its post comparing Windows 11 24H2 (preview) to the current 23H2 release version, and there is indeed quite a difference in the framerates achieved in some games using a Ryzen 9 9950X – as much as 13% with Far Cry 6, and 7% with Cyberpunk 2077. (Which in the latter case, incidentally, was the same percentage uplift that Hardware Unboxed found).
However, some games showed little to no change (3% for Hitman 3 and no difference at all with Watch Dogs: Legion), so this won’t be a silver bullet for noticeably better framerates across the board – but some titles will clearly see a boost, and the average gains we’re looking at are certainly worth it.
Via KitGuru, Video cardz