Steve from the YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed has tested a bunch of games on Windows 10 and 11 to find out the best OS. It seems that Microsoft’s ageing system will continue holding its throne for a little longer.
Though available for nearly three years, Windows 11 still has a hard time attracting users, including gamers who prefer their tried and tested Windows 10. Thanks to its lower requirements, the latter remains the go-to operating system for many. So, are you leaving performance on the table by not upgrading to the latest version? That’s what Steve tried to answer.
To do so, Steve tested 13 titles on both Windows versions and found that games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Last of Us Part 1 saw no performance difference between Windows 10 and 11. Others, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and A Plague Tale: Requiem, ran up to 10% faster on Windows 10. AMD’s Ryzen 7 7800X3D seems to be the one benefiting the most from Windows 10, as other chips claim lower gains.
Of the 13 games tested, five saw a noticeable advantage on Windows 10. This is different from previous benchmarks, which showed Windows 11 in a brighter light. The reason could be a Windows 11 system or driver update messing things up or that Microsoft has bloated its latest OS too much with all the AI shenanigans.
Hardware Unboxed ran these tests on the latest Windows, chipset, and driver updates, using AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X and 7800X3D plus Intel’s Core i7 12700K and 14700K alongside an RTX 4090. All tests stuck to 1080p, so there might not be quite as substantial of a performance difference at higher resolutions.
Lastly, keep in mind that the benchmarks didn’t use Windows 11’s Memory Integrity, which aims to prevent attacks from inserting malicious code. Windows 10 disables this security feature by default. If you’re careful about the websites and files you open, this option is better turned off as it can reduce performance by up to 7%, depending on the game.
What you should take from these benchmarks is that Windows 10 is best if you are looking for the highest framerates, which is particularly important if you play competitive games. However, if you’re just along for the ride on a modern machine, pick the OS that suits you the most. Personally, I’ll keep using Windows 10 until I have no choice but to upgrade. Not due to performance but simply because there is no reason to touch a perfectly working machine. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.