When AMD launched the Ryzen 9000 series, the expectations were sky-high, especially among the gaming community. However, the initial reviews were underwhelming, showing minimal improvement over the previous generation and falling short of AMD’s own benchmarks. The company attributed this to differences in testing environments, promising that a forthcoming Windows 11 update would reveal the true potential of these processors.
That update, Windows 11 24H2, has now entered the Windows Insider preview phase, and early adopters can install it immediately. Hardware Unboxed, a well-known tech YouTube channel, has already tested the Ryzen 7 9700X and the previous-gen Ryzen 7 7700X using the new Windows build, comparing the results to those on the older build.
The findings are striking: with the 24H2 update, Ryzen 9000 series CPUs exhibit substantial gaming performance improvements, averaging around 10 percent across a broad range of over 40 games. Some titles saw increases of 20 percent or more, with a few outliers reaching a 30 percent boost. While certain games, like Counter-Strike 2, showed only marginal gains (2 percent), the overall enhancement is significant and widespread.
AMD explained that the initial discrepancy in performance was due to their testing using a Super Admin mode, which provided greater access to advanced functions that particularly benefited the Zen 5 architecture. This mode isn’t recommended for regular users, but the Windows 11 24H2 update effectively unlocks these performance gains for everyone while maintaining system security.
The roughly 10 percent improvement in gaming performance makes the Ryzen 9000 series a much more attractive option for consumers and a more justifiable upgrade. Additionally, the Windows 11 24H2 update also enhances the performance of the older Ryzen 7 7700X, adding further value to last-gen hardware. Gamers are now eagerly awaiting the X3D variants, which promise even greater gaming prowess.