Windows 11 offers new updates to help games run smoother

Let's take a look at 3 outstanding improvements of Windows 11 in optimizing the gaming ability of your computer.

DirectStorage

DirectStorage (literally) is a technology that allows NVMe SSDs to transfer game data directly to the graphics card, bypassing the CPU bottleneck and delivering fast rendering speeds without long load times. For gaming, this means saying goodbye to slow loading screens and enjoying faster, smoother gameplay.

It's important to note that this technology will only work with NVMe SSDs, and while it's compatible with PCIe 3.0 SSDs, PCIe 4.0 SSDs will provide the best experience by taking full advantage of the new generation SSDs' speeds.

Whether you choose to stick with Windows 10 or upgrade to Windows 11, it seems like now is the perfect time to upgrade to an NVMe SSD to see the benefits of DirectStorage. Combined with a memory upgrade and increased speed and storage capacity for your rig, these improvements can provide an opportunity to increase performance and therefore your overall gaming experience.

Auto HDR

Windows 11 will reward gamers with a superior graphics experience thanks to Auto HDR. Auto HDR is a technology that automatically improves the visuals of game content without any input from the user. Windows 11 will automatically detect HDR-enabled displays and enhance the colors of games built on DirectX 11 or later with dynamic range enhancements. Auto HDR is the way to go for the best-looking gaming experience.

Gaming Tab

The Windows 11 Settings app has a dedicated gaming tab that you can switch to Game Mode. This will automatically reduce the use of background apps to free up CPU for games.

As for Game Mode, it's a feature that was developed to help improve the performance of games when they're launched on Windows 10 PCs and continues to update on Windows 11. Microsoft says that Game Mode "helps achieve more consistent frame rates depending on the specific game and system configuration settings."

Technically, Game Mode works by recognizing specific games and giving them priority access to your computer's resources. This means that the game you're focusing on gets more CPU and GPU resources, while other background apps and processes get less. Of course, this only happens if the system recognizes that you're playing a specific game.

It's rare for Game Mode to cause performance issues for your system. Don't worry, Game Mode only activates when Windows 11 detects that you're playing a game.

Jessica Tanner

Update 16 January 2025