AMD’s Ryzen 9000 processors may get a mild performance uplift with a future Windows update. The chipmaker explains in a blog post that AMD-specific branch prediction optimizations will be available in Windows 11 24H2. The Windows Insider Program (Release Preview Channel – Build 26100) can be used to access the update before the official release, or by downloading the ISO here.
| Ryzen 9 9950X 24H2 | Ryzen 9 9950X 23H2 | % Gain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far Cry 6 | 183 | 162 | +13% |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 200 | 188 | +7% |
| Hitman 3 | 358 | 347 | +3% |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 165 | 165 | No change |
| Cinebench 2024 Single Thread | 140 | 140 | No change |
| Procyon Office | 10,288 | 9,829 | +6% |
AMD’s internal testing reveals a 3-17% performance gain with Windows 11 24H2 (over 23H2). I know first-party benchmarks mean nothing but these numbers coincide with our testing of the Ryzen 7 9700X. Unfortunately, this means that all our testing has been for naught.
If you’re wondering why an OS update is required to leverage the upgraded Zen 5 branch predictor, here’s why. The Zen 5 front-end is dual-ported with a 2x 4-wide decoder, 2x 6-wide op-cache, and the capability to predict 2 taken branches per cycle with up to 3 prediction windows per cycle. For the first time, we have two (largely) independent instruction fetch streams feeding the branch predictor, allowing for 2-ahead taken branches.
Interestingly, this wider branch predictor also requires applications to be run in “Admin” mode to get the full performance output. This is why gaming benchmarks have varied to a notable extent across reviewers.
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 7000 processors are also expected to enjoy a performance upgrade with Windows 11 24H2, but the Ryzen 9000 family will benefit the most. We’ll try to get these numbers to you as early as possible, but that may take a while.
