Ryzen CPUs receive a performance bump with the Windows 11 24H2 Release Preview version — impact varies

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update is now available on the Release Preview Channel, and some users have confirmed that this update did indeed deliver increased performance on Zen 4 and Zen 5 Ryzen PCs. Reviewer Hardware Unboxed showed an average of 10% faster performance on the 7700X and 11% on the 9700X at 1080p resolution from Windows 23H2 to 24H2, with nearly all tested games generally showing an uplift.

Another test done by Hardwareluxx showed a performance improvement of up to 23.5%, depending on the game title. However, its tests also saw some games show no improvement, and some even lost performance after the update, meaning the update is somewhat of a mixed bag for now.

This update is good news for AMD, after its launch of the Ryzen 9000 processors has been marred by negative reviews that cannot replicate the performance uplifts the company claimed. The company claimed that one reason behind this was that it ran its tests using the “Admin” Windows profile, which differs from most users' use. This profile could unlock additional performance through branch prediction optimization, and the company is working with Microsoft to ensure that all users will get this additional performance in future Windows 11 updates.

With the Windows 11 24H2 update now available for Release Preview members, many users have shown that it delivers some performance improvements. More surprisingly, it didn’t just show improvements for the Ryzen 9000 processors: even Ryzen 7000-series chips benefitted from the update. This means that AMD users with Ryzen 7000 and 9000 processors could potentially get some performance bump when the latest Windows update officially arrives later this year.

However, don’t expect this to be an across-the-board performance gain. While Hardware Unboxed generally saw a zero up to 35% improvement, depending on the title, Hardwareluxx had a different experience. Although most games it reviewed did get some improvement, some titles, like F1 24 and Baldur’s Gate 3, showed a drop in FPS instead.

At the moment, Tom’s Hardware is still working on its own benchmarks, but we hope to release our findings on the impact of Windows 11 24H2 on the Ryzen 9000 chips soon. At the very least, this news of performance improvements is a promising sign for AMD users.

Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

  • mv31040
    Is the implication that we have been paying for a crippled OS? Or an epic FU from AMD?
    Great that a fix/tweak has been found, but this also means my Ryzen 7900 has been underperforming ever since I installed it.
    Reply
  • stuff and nonesense
    mv31040 said:
    Is the implication that we have been paying for a crippled OS? Or an epic FU from AMD?
    Great that a fix/tweak has been found, but this also means my Ryzen 7900 has been underperforming ever since I installed it.
    Perhaps that Windows has been (inadvertently) favouring Intel? With this Ryzen release Windows is finally giving AMD some TLC.
    Reply
  • mv31040
    Silly idea that Windows has multiple levels of super user: simple user, admin user and hidden God.mode...
    I buy a PC, buy Windows, buy a CPU, have certain expectations (best CPU ever, superior performance) and still I have to cope with a suboptimal OS that prohibits me from using my own hardware?
    Do I have to burn extra energy to get the performance I expected? Is MS paying my bills? Or AMD?
    No, they just publish their message that over time it will get better. Yet, that will just be what I initially expected from AMD's own hyperbolic Zen4 presentations.
    Reply
  • mitch074
    mv31040 said:
    Is the implication that we have been paying for a crippled OS? Or an epic FU from AMD?
    Great that a fix/tweak has been found, but this also means my Ryzen 7900 has been underperforming ever since I installed it.
    First case, more than likely, as promised performance for Zen5 was available under Linux since day one. Had it been an AMD fsck-up, it would have impacted Linux too, at least a little.
    Reply
  • NinoPino
    I cannot understand how an amministrator account could "increase branch predictions performance" of a CPU. Somebody knows technical details about it ?
    The only thing I can think is that the OS use differently compiled parts based on user privileges, maybe for security reasons.
    Reply
  • jeremyj_83
    mitch074 said:
    First case, more than likely, as promised performance for Zen5 was available under Linux since day one. Had it been an AMD fsck-up, it would have impacted Linux too, at least a little.
    Makes you wonder how much performance is still being held back by Windows if this low hanging fruit of an update enabled 10% on average better gaming performance already.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    mv31040 said:
    Is the implication that we have been paying for a crippled OS? Or an epic FU from AMD?
    Maybe neither.

    Possibly just that someone found a better/more efficient way of doing one little thing in there.

    Rarely is a product released with zero possibility of improvement as time goes on.
    Reply
  • jp7189
    mv31040 said:
    Is the implication that we have been paying for a crippled OS? Or an epic FU from AMD?
    Great that a fix/tweak has been found, but this also means my Ryzen 7900 has been underperforming ever since I installed it.
    You paid for and got a processor that performed as advertised at the time. Now you're getting a free unexpected performance boost. Sounds like a great thing to me!
    Reply
  • mhmarefat
    jp7189 said:
    You paid for and got a processor that performed as advertised at the time. Now you're getting a free unexpected performance boost. Sounds like a great thing to me!
    WTF?! He's been artificially handicapped by Spyware 11 because their priority is collecting user data rather than actually optimize their OS! Now after all that time he's able to unleash the true potential of his CPU (right? his CPU power still is not being held back... right?!) and you are saying he should be grateful to these greedy filthy corporations for the "free performance boost"?! Holy God you are a shill. Adding you to my permanent block list.
    Reply
  • TheHerald
    mhmarefat said:
    WTF?! He's been artificially handicapped by Spyware 11 because their priority is collecting user data rather than actually optimize their OS! Now after all that time he's able to unleash the true potential of his CPU (right? his CPU power still is not being held back... right?!) and you are saying he should be grateful to these greedy filthy corporations for the "free performance boost"?! Holy God you are a shill. Adding you to my permanent block list.
    He bought the CPU based on the performance shown on windows 11 prior to this patch.
    Reply