Microsoft's Security Push Could Tank Your Frame Rates

Microsoft is prioritizing the 'secure by default' mantra over raw performance, and if you're a gamer, you might feel the hit in your FPS.

As The Verge first reported, Microsoft is preparing to expand the rollout of a Windows 11 security feature known as memory integrity to more devices starting next month. Peter Waxman, a group program manager at Microsoft, stated that Windows quality updates will begin enabling this protection on eligible devices. Waxman noted that these updates will also enable Virtualization-based Security (VBS) to ensure additional security capabilities are available.

**Opinion: Security vs. Speed** While kernel-level protection is great for the enterprise, it's often a headache for those of us trying to squeeze every single frame out of a rig. Microsoft is essentially betting that the average user prefers a locked-down system over a high-performance one, but for gamers, that trade-off is rarely worth it.

As The Verge reports, the feature is designed to block malicious drivers or code from running on the system by only allowing trusted kernel-mode code. However, this comes with a performance cost. While users with modern CPUs may see a negligible difference, those running older processors may experience a noticeable drop in framerates in certain games.

**How to Kill the Lag** If you want to protect your gaming performance, you need to check your settings. The Verge explains that you can search for 'Core Isolation' in the Windows search bar, open the result, and toggle memory integrity off within the Windows security app.

Crucially, Microsoft will not automatically re-enable the feature next month if you have already disabled it. However, Microsoft does recommend that users re-enable memory integrity once they have finished their gaming session to maintain system security.