Windows 11 benchmarks: high gaming performance with AMD and Nvidia in the preview

0
449

How fast do games run in Windows 11 Insider Preview compared to Windows 10 21H1? Benchmarks with AMD Radeon and Nvidia GeForce in ten games and two resolutions provide the answer: already surprisingly good today. Brave testers should look out for the right driver.

Table of contents

  1. 1 Windows 11 came out of nowhere
  2. Benchmarks with Windows 11, two AMD and one Nvidia drivers
    1. Excursus: What does WDDM 3.0 actually bring?
  3. Benchmarks in full HD and Ultra HD
    1. In Ultra HD the differences are smaller
  4. The Windows 11 Insider Preview is something for gamers
    1. Win 11 driver from AMD, normal GeForce driver from Nvidia

Windows 11 came out of nowhere

At first it sounded improbable, then suddenly it happened very quickly: Microsoft, quite surprisingly, announced Windows 11 and already put a first preliminary version (“Insider Preview”) on the Internet for testing. The final version of Windows 11 is expected to see the light of day and inherit Windows 10 as early as the holiday season, i.e. early November.

A third of ComputerBase readers are already testing Windows 11, and a good half are planning to release it. The question of the performance in games, which arises with every new version of Windows, already arises today. Windows 11 is aimed explicitly at gamers, among other things, but improvements such as Auto HDR or DirectStorage are not yet available in the preview. But is there a performance boost, or should the use of the Insider Preview on gaming PCs be discouraged?

Even if neither Windows 11 nor the appropriate graphics card driver from AMD and Nvidia have been completed, the editors are already taking a look at the gaming performance of the first Windows 11 Insider Preview to answer this question.

Are you testing Windows 11?

  • Yes
  • No, but I still have it before
  • No
  • Abstention (show result)

Please log in to vote!

Benchmarks with Windows 11, two AMD and one Nvidia driver

All tests were carried out on the current graphics card test system. Windows 10 benchmarks (21H1) have been recreated for this article; Windows 11 uses Windows Insider Preview Build 22000.51. All settings within the operating systems were identical.

A total of three different graphics card drivers were used. This includes the Adrenalin 21.30.00.17 provided for AMD GPUs by Windows 11, which supports the new WDDM 3.0 for Windows 11, but does not come with a functioning Radeon software. The Adrenalin 21.30.00.17 was completed on June 8th, so it's a fairly new driver. In addition, the freely available Adrenalin 21.6.2 with WDDM 2.7 (and Radeon software) was tested on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

  1. Windows 11 driver on a Radeon graphics card

Image 1 of 2

Windows 11 drivers on a Radeon graphics card
Windows 11 driver on a GeForce graphics card

Windows 11 also has a driver for Nvidia graphics cards on board via Windows Update, but it is very old at the beginning of July 2021. It is the GeForce 456.71 from the end of September 2020. ComputerBase has therefore ignored this driver as it is not an interesting alternative. The benchmarks were carried out on both operating systems with the current GeForce 471.11, which relies on the new WDDM 3.0 under Windows 11.

Excursus: What does WDDM 3.0 actually bring?

Whether or not a driver supports WDDM 3.0 has no effect on games. The new “Windows Display Driver Model” can handle dynamic refresh rates on the Windows desktop, but it is not about “Gaming VRR” like Adaptive Sync or G-Sync, but simply a simple switch between 60 Hz and to Example 120 Hz, depending on whether the screen content is moved via touch input or not. The feature only works with notebooks and is supposed to save energy there. In addition, WDDM 3.0 also supports some Linux features for programs with a graphical user interface.

The reference variants of the Radeon RX 6800 XT and the GeForce RTX 3080 from AMD and Nvidia are installed as graphics cards in the test system. The editors decided on 1,920 × 1,080 and 3,840 × 2,160 resolutions, in order to shift the load a little towards the CPU and the other time towards the GPU. The ten games used are a partial selection from the graphics card test course.

Benchmarks in Full HD and Ultra HD

Windows 10 and the first Insider Preview of Windows 11 run very similarly in games, if not the same. The differences are primarily to be found in the individual titles and not in the average. For example, the GeForce RTX 3080 in Full HD shows an average of 1 percent higher speed under Windows 11 than under Windows 10, the percentile FPS, on the other hand, are 1 percent worse. Or to put it another way: On average, both are equal.

It looks similar with the Radeon RX 6800 XT, whereby the assumption arises that AMD (currently) primarily optimizes the driver offered by Windows 11 for Windows 11 and not the freely available Adrenalin 21.6.2. With the average FPS, the Windows 11 driver is only 1 percent faster than the Adrenalin 21.6.2 in 1,920 × 1,080, but with the percentile FPS it is at least 3 percent – in ten tested games this is no longer just measurement inaccuracy .

«Previous performance rating – AVG-FPS, 1,920 × 1,080Performancerating – percentile-FPS, 1,920 × 1,080 Next»

While some games run almost at the same speed under Windows 10 and Windows 11 (1 percent difference), other titles show somewhat greater differences, sometimes in favor of one, sometimes in favor of the other operating system. In CoD: Black Ops Cold War, big differences can be seen, especially with the Radeon. The Adrenalin 21.6.2 obviously doesn't like the game too much, the Radeon RX 6800 XT loses 3 percent of the average FPS and 11 percent of the percentile FPS under Windows 11. The Windows 11 driver, on the other hand, has increased significantly; the performance is 5 and 15 percent better than with the freely available driver. As a result, Windows 11 suddenly runs 2 and 3 percent faster than Windows 10. The GeForce RTX 3080 then delivers equally good average FPS with Windows 11, but 5 percent slower frame times.

Death Stranding also shows bigger differences. The GeForce RTX 3080 is 3 or 5 percent slower with Windows 11, but increases by 8 percent each to compensate for it in Doom Eternal. With the Radeon RX 6800 XT, Adrenalin 21.6.2 is again not in good shape under Windows 11 in Death Stranding and loses 1 and 8 percent of the FPS. With the Windows 11 driver, the speed increases again and the gap to Windows 10 is shortened to 1 and 2 percent.

«Previous Assassin's Creed Valhalla – 1,920 × 1,080Borderlands 3 – 1,920 × 1,080COD Black Ops Cold War – 1,920 × 1,080Cyberpunk 2077 – 1,920 × 1,080Death Stranding – 1,920 × 1,080Doom Eternal – 1,920 × 1,080F1 2020 – 1,920 × 1,080 Horizon Zero Dawn – 1,920 × 1,080 Serious Sam 4 – 1,920 × 1,080 Watch Dogs Legion – 1,920 × 1,080 Next »

  • FPS, 0.2% percentile: < ul class = "chart__group-body">
  • RX 6800 XT, Win 11 driver @ Win 1161,6
  • RX 6800 XT, 21.6.2 @ Win 1159,8
  • RX 6800 XT, 21.6.2 @ Win 1057,9
  • RTX 3080, 471.11 @ Win 1150,1
  • RTX 3080, 471.11 @ Win 1050.0
  • FPS, 0.2% percentile: < ul class = "chart__group-body">
  • RTX 3080, 471.11 @ Win 1080,6
  • RX 6800 XT, Win 11 driver @ Win 1179,6
  • RTX 3080, 471.11 @ Win 1179,6
  • RX 6800 XT, 21.6.2 @ Win 1077,3
  • RX 6800 XT, 21.6.2 @ Win 1177,3

    • In Ultra HD the differences are smaller

    In Ultra HD, the differences between the two operating systems are a bit smaller, but they still exist. The GeForce RTX 3080 in 3840 × 2160 still increases by 1 percent in the average FPS with Windows 11, with the percentile FPS there is a tie. In the Radeon RX 6800 XT, the Windows 11 driver again does better than the Adrenalin 21.6.2, with the former, the AMD GPU is as fast under Windows 11 or up to 2 percent faster in the high resolution than with Windows 10.

    «Previous performance rating – AVG-FPS, 3,840 × 2,160Performancerating – percentile FPS, 3,840 × 2,160 Next»

    In the individual games, CoD: Black Ops Cold War stands out again, with Windows 10 remaining the fastest in Ultra HD. On the GeForce RTX 3080, however, the differences are minor, with the Radeon RX 6800 XT, Windows 10 is 2 and 3 percent faster compared to the Windows 11 driver. The Adrenalin 21.6.2 is then 5 and 3 percent behind the other Windows 11 driver.

    The GeForce RTX 3080 in Full HD doesn't like Death Stranding on Windows 11 that much. In Ultra HD, the picture suddenly turns around and the performance increases by 1 and 4 percent with the new operating system. Doom Eternal also does well. The Radeon RX 6800 XT also cuts a fine figure in Doom Eternal. With the Windows 11 driver, the new OS is 2 and 4 percent faster than Windows 10. With the Adrenalin 21.6.2, the lead is smaller. Serious Sam 4 is also faster with Windows 11, especially the percentile FPS increase by up to 6 percent.

    «Previous Assassin's Creed Valhalla – 3,840 × 2,160Borderlands 3 – 3,840 × 2,160COD Black Ops Cold War – 3,840 × 2,160Cyberpunk 2077 – 3,840 × 2,160Death Stranding – 3,840 × 2,160Doom Eternal – 3,840 × 2,160F1 2020 – 3,840 × 2,160 Horizon Zero Dawn – 3,840 × 2,160 Serious Sam 4 – 3,840 × 2,160 Watch Dogs Legion – 3,840 × 2,160 Next »

    The Windows 11 Insider Preview is something for gamers

    If you really want to use Windows 11 now and thus a few months before completion, you can do so without any problems, at least from a gaming point of view. Because even if you still notice a few bugs and unfinished features as a gamer when using Windows 11, everything already looks like it does under Windows 10 when playing games.

    The editors did not notice any kind of gaming problems during the test; everything went like clockwork on both an AMD and an Nvidia graphics card. Only the missing driver menu in the Windows 11 driver for AMD graphics card was negative – if you absolutely need it, you should stay with Windows 10 or use the official driver, which then offers a little less performance.

    Win 11 driver from AMD, normal GeForce driver from Nvidia

    In terms of performance, Windows 11 is almost identical to Windows 10. Some games run a little faster than under the old version, while others run a little slower or at the same speed. This applies to both the GeForce RTX 3080 and the Radeon RX 6800 XT and thus probably also to all other current graphics card models.

    For performance reasons, however, it makes sense to use the driver supplied with Windows 11 on a Radeon, since the freely available Adrenalin 21.6.2 apparently contains fewer optimizations for Microsoft's latest development . There are no problems with the adrenaline either, but the speed is sometimes a little worse. With a GeForce, however, you should always use the latest downloadable driver. Because the Nvidia driver that comes with Windows 11 is currently simply old.

    Was this article interesting, helpful, or both? The editors are happy about it any support from ComputerBase Pro and deactivated ad blockers. More about advertisements on ComputerBase.