How well will Zen 5 perform on Windows 11 24H2? AMD promises big

AMD announced that Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update will boost up the performance of its new Zen 5 CPUs, addressing earlier concerns that the Ryzen 9000 series didn’t meet expectations.

The update will optimize AMD-specific code, to which the company predicts a 13% performance boost for its 9950X CPU in Far Cry 6 and a 7% increase in Cyberpunk 2077 with the update. Zen 4 and Zen 3 CPUs will also benefit, though the exact improvements are unclear.

This comes after reviews showed the new Ryzen 9 9950X only marginally outperformed its predecessor, the 7950X, raising questions about its value.

“Zen 5 will see the biggest boost, but this Windows update will improve performance for Zen 4 and Zen 3 as well. We’re collaborating with Microsoft to roll out this optional update to all Windows 11 users soon,” the company mentions.

Windows 11 24H2 is the upcoming, biggest, most AI-friendly version of the popular operating system, with September or October release windows for the stable channel.

The update gets a lot of interesting new features in the pipeline, including the controversial all-knowing Recall feature that periodically captures snapshots of your desktop so you can “recall” things you do on the computer.

Launched in August, AMD has delayed the release of its new Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs, originally set to launch on July 31st, by one to two weeks to ensure product quality.

The delay is due to some units not undergoing all necessary testing, though no issues were found with the chips themselves. Some said it was due to a “typo” that mislabeled some chips, though.