- Microsoft blog post outlines the strengths of Windows 11 for gamers
- They include AutoHDR mode, DirectStorage tech, and more
- Whether you benefit from some features will depend on your PC setup
Microsoft is keen to push Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11, and the latest part of that drive is persuading PC gamers that they need to make the leap to its newest OS.
Neowin spotted a blog post from Microsoft on how to ‘Elevate your PC gaming experience with Windows 11 this holiday season’ outlining all the perks gamers get with the operating system. (Assuming you can upgrade from Windows 10 – not every PC will meet Windows 11’s more stringent system requirements).
The biggest carrots to make the move to Windows 11, as Microsoft sees it, include the Auto HDR feature, which gives SDR games an HDR makeover (for those with a supporting monitor).
Then there’s also DirectStorage, which turbocharges loading times considerably (and in-game frame rates, too) for those with NVMe SSDs (the caveat being that the game must be coded to support this tech).
Microsoft’s third highlight is Compact Mode for Game Bar, which allows the bar to be downsized to make it more usable on small displays such as the screens on gaming handhelds like the Asus Rog Ally X.
Other major features that have the spotlight shone on them are Dynamic Lighting, which gives you a central hub for controlling all devices with RGB lights, and Windows 11’s optimizations for running games in windowed mode. The latter smooths over lag and screen tearing issues that you might otherwise suffer when playing a game in a window rather than full-screen.
Further, more minor benefits are listed too, including the HDR Calibration app (does what it says on the colorful tin), color filters for colorblind players, and Automatic Super Resolution for upscaling tricks – but that last one is for Arm-based Copilot+ PCs only as it uses the beefy NPU on those machines.
Analysis: A better gaming life on Windows 11?
What’s the reality of these Windows 11 features – do they really make life for PC gamers better? Well, yes, they do, but there are considerations Microsoft doesn’t mention here.
Fair play on Auto HDR, which is a great feature for those with HDR monitors, as it really does elevate the visual quality of SDR games (those that don’t offer native HDR support). You must have an HDR display, though, of course.
DirectStorage is also an excellent feature, but again, there’s a hardware requirement, which is an NVMe SSD. The bigger catch with this game-speeding tech, though, is that it must be supported, and there aren’t many titles that do so (approaching 20 games or so). I should also note that DirectStorage works in Windows 10; it simply works better and speeds things up more in Windows 11, though.
Compact Mode for Game Bar is only useful for gaming handhelds, as already observed, and the rest of the tricks Microsoft brings our attention to in the blog post are helpful but more bonus trimmings than anything meaty.
Anecdotally, Windows 11 doesn’t run games appreciably faster than Windows 10 in the main, but there may be outliers, and of course, DirectStorage will help very much in supported titles. Auto HDR is definitely nice for those with an appropriate monitor, but is all this a compelling argument for a Windows 11 upgrade?
Not hugely, in my opinion, though it depends very much on your PC setup and whether you fall into any of the above categories. That said, upgrading to Windows 11 doesn’t really have any downsides, either – although you might want to stay off the 24H2 update until Microsoft fixes some of the fair few problems that have hit PC gamers who’ve upgraded to the latest version.
One final reason to upgrade that Microsoft doesn’t mention is if you have an AMD Ryzen 7000 or 9000 processor, there’s tuning work in Windows 11 (23H2 and 24H2) that boosts the speed of the CPU for gaming by a hefty amount (something like 10% faster). For those running that silicon in their gaming PC, this could be a compelling reason to make the jump.
At any rate, those on Windows 10 must consider their next move soon, as the operating system will hit End of Life in October 2025.
Expect Microsoft to not shut up about this as next year progresses, so if you’ve been mulling a Windows 11 upgrade, you may as well get on with it soon enough. It’s either that or stumping up the cash to get an extra year’s support for Windows 10 – or switching to an entirely different desktop OS. Linux gaming, however, is a bit of a minefield, albeit somewhat less so these days…