'Windows 11 25H2 edges ahead of Windows 10 in gaming performance': testing proves newer OS is faster — but there's an elephant-sized BSOD in the room

• TechSpot retested Windows 11 for gaming performance versus Windows 10
• Windows 11 came out victorious, and was notably faster in some games
• The previous test showed Windows 10 was quicker, but 24H2 has improved Windows 11 considerably on the gaming front – but there are other issues to consider here

What's better for gaming: Windows 11 or Windows 10? If you thought – as quite a few people do – that Windows 10 is faster for performance with PC games (despite it being the older OS), well, not according to a new comparison, although there's admittedly a lot of nuance here.

Still, the headline news is that in a TechSpot test comparing gaming performance across a number of benchmarks, the latest version of Windows 11 (25H2) came out ahead of Windows 10 (22H2, the final incarnation) – albeit there wasn't a huge deal of difference.

As TechSpot concluded: "The verdict? Windows 11 25H2 edges ahead of Windows 10 in gaming performance, though your mileage will vary depending on the hardware configuration, and we obviously can't benchmark every configuration imaginable."

This was based on benchmarking with 14 different games and averaging those results across three resolutions. At 1080p, Windows 11 was 4% faster than Windows 10, and it was 5% quicker at both 1440p and 4K.

Notably, this reversed the outcome of a previous test which showed that Windows 10 (22H2) was faster than Windows 11 23H2, back when the latter was the latest release. TechSpot observes that the 24H2 update actually addressed a number of stumbling blocks with gaming performance.

Here come the catches, then. Obviously, this result is based on one hardware configuration, and as TechSpot admits, it's a high-end setup – AMD's Ryzen 9800X3D processor and Nvidia's RTX 5090 GPU. A lower-end gaming rig might well show a somewhat different perspective, and changing the selection of games could obviously skew the results another way, too.

Using an AMD GPU might do the same, although the test did also run a couple of bonus benchmarks (to clarify some issues with particular games) which used an AMD RX 9070 XT and Ryzen 9700X. That's also a more realistic typical gaming setup (though still high-end), and Windows 11 continued to be faster in one test (by 2% to 3%), although it was a dead-heat in the other. So again, it was a slight nod in favor of the newer operating system.

Away from the averages, there were some eye-opening individual results here. Arc Raiders in particular stands out, as Windows 11 proved to be a huge 11% faster at 1080p, and somehow 14% and 15% quicker at 1440p and 4K respectively. Borderlands 4 was between 9% and 13% swifter in Windows 11, too.

Analysis: various catches – and the giant bug in the room

This is an intriguing battery of tests, and it certainly shows that Windows 11 isn't any slower than Windows 10 – which is an oft-cited anecdotal claim on social media. Although that idea is rooted in the past, where Windows 11 was (a bit) slower, according to TechSpot's previous testing.

This is good news for gamers on Windows 11, then, but we need to bear the mentioned caveats firmly in mind – and that overall, there's hardly a huge gulf in gaming performance (save for the noted outliers).

We should also remember that TechSpot notes it "stripped both operating systems down to minimize interference", meaning turning off VBS, memory integrity and core isolation (security features), as well as antivirus and the like – which seems a sensible precaution (but not everybody does so).

Caveats aside, though, my problem – and I suspect the issue for a lot of PC gamers – isn't the performance levels which turned out well for Windows 11 here. It's those bugs.

If you're running Windows 11, you are more likely to hit frustrations with glitches, and while 24H2 may have improved gaming performance nicely as TechSpot explains, it was also crawling with gremlins. It was the start of a bad run of bugs for Microsoft, and we're still seeing Windows 11 get hit by these annoyances in the very first patch of 2026, which has packed some truly nasty issues, including boot failures and also messing up sleep mode for some older PCs. There have been quite a few gaming-related glitches with Windows 11, too.

Okay, so not everyone runs into bugs with Windows 11, and of course it depends on the PC configuration, the apps installed, and for gamers, the specific GPU they have and games they often play, how often they update their drivers, and so on. There are a lot of moving parts, and that includes Microsoft's monthly updates for Windows 11, which can introduce gaming (or other) bugs out of the blue.

Windows 10, on the other hand, is a much more stationary beast. It's only getting monthly security updates, with no new features, and a minimal level of fiddling about with the underlying codebase. It's more stable and dependable, in short, and gamers who are on Windows 10 must surely watch the Windows 11 bug reports and frustrations roll in, and think to themselves, 'well, I won't bother upgrading then.' And can you blame them? Even if Windows 11 is now faster than Windows 10 by all accounts (which it should have been anyway, in the first place).

Of course, the situation is going to change when Windows 10 runs out of extended support in October 2026, because at that point, upgrading decisions (or new PC purchases) will be forced. But meanwhile, I think Microsoft's frustration with a lack of migration to Windows 11 from its older OS – with gamers, and indeed everyday users – is going to continue.

That said, some work is seemingly underway to fix the wonky innards of Windows 11 in terms of the prevalence of bugs, and as I discussed elsewhere this morning, I really hope that this comes off – but I don't have any real conviction that it will. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

The best laptops for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best laptops
1. Best overall:
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4
2. Best budget:
Asus Chromebook CM14
3. Best Windows 11 laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch
4. Best gaming:
Razer Blade 16
5. Best for pros
MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro)

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