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Windows 11 bugs cause app slowdown on AMD chips
The flaws can slow application performance by as much as 15% on high-performance PCs for gaming and other demanding software. AMD said a fix will come this month.
A pair of Windows 11 bugs cause PC applications running on AMD chips to slow by as much as 15%.
In a report published on its website this week, AMD identified two flaws and said a Windows 11 software update would be available later this month. Microsoft released a statement saying it is "actively investigating these known issues."
The expected performance slowdown for most applications is between 3% and 5%. But for apps that require high-performing PCs, such as esports games, the decline could rise to between 10% and 15%.
Users took to Reddit and Twitter to complain about the bugs, with many saying they would not install Windows 11 until Microsoft fixed the bugs.
The bugs affect AMD Ryzen, EPYC and other Windows 11-compatible chips. One flaw causes the cache latency to triple on the chips, while the other causes firmware to fail in scheduling threads on the fastest core. The latter bug impacts systems with more than 8 core processors.
"Applications sensitive to memory subsystem access time may be impacted," AMD said in the statement.
Roughly 180 AMD chips support Windows 11. They range from the AMD 3015e to the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX.
The announcement came days after Microsoft released Windows 11 to the public on Oct. 5. The new OS features many aesthetic changes, but it also includes security updates and Microsoft Teams. Microsoft plans to add support for Android apps eventually.
Windows 11 has a slew of hardware requirements, such as a 1 GHz or faster processor with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip. It also requires at least 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage and a graphics card compatible with DirectX 12 or later.
AMD is the second-largest maker of computer microprocessors after Intel. According to the most recent data from Statista, a company specializing in market and consumer data, AMD chips were in approximately 40% of all PCs worldwide.
Maxim Tamarov is a news writer covering mobile and end-user computing. He previously wrote for The Daily News in Jacksonville, N.C., and the Sun Transcript in Winthrop, Mass. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in journalism. He can be found on Twitter at @MaximTamarov.
