

Microsoft claims to have received feedback from users and noticed that having both Memory Integrity and Virtual Machine Platform enabled can degrade performance. Neither option was activated on my Windows 11 PC, which is slightly concerning since their main purpose is to improve security.

The job of Virtual Machine Platform is to "provide core virtual machine jobs for Windows." This feature is also not enabled automatically unless you were to freshly install Windows 11. The second tip provided is to disable Virtual Machine Platform. Microsoft assures that this feature will be automatically activated on all new Windows 11 PCs, but not on computers already running Windows 11, so you may have to enable it in that case. According to Microsoft, "Memory Integrity helps prevent attackers from injecting their own malicious code and helps ensure that all drivers loaded onto the OS are signed and trustworthy." Though some claim Memory Integrity can be used to block ransomware attacks, so use this tip at your own risk.

Microsoft's first solution is to disable HVCI, also known as Memory Integrity. This week, Microsoft released a guide specifically to help gamers regain those extra few frames, simply by restricting two features within Windows. This led many consumers to downgrade to Windows 10. Numerous gamers report that Windows 11 also affects their in-game performance, even after attempting fixes such as disabling VBS, which we discovered could improve frame rates rather consistently. And overall, some people believe Windows 11 simply feels less "snappy" than Windows 10 did (myself included). A number of Nvidia buyers noticed significant frame drops following the recent 22H2 update in September. Early on AMD processors were affected, sometimes losing nearly 15% of its performance, but that only lasted for a couple of weeks right after launch. Windows 11 hasn't had the smoothest first year, but your mileage will vary. Over a year later, Microsoft has published a guide to help users regain their frames. TL DR: Ever since Windows 11 was released about a year ago, some gamers who made the jump found that their gaming performance had dropped off slightly compared to Windows 10.
