Meltdown and specter: does patching impact game performance?
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Much has been written about the Meltdown and Specter vulnerability, especially with the results after its patching, if it reduces the performance of Intel processors by 35% and how that affects the servers that use that architecture. One of the most recurring questions is if the patch that solves these security problems affects games.
Does the Meltdown and Specter patch impact game performance?
To answer this question, DigitalFoundry has been running some tests with various current games to check for real performance loss. The results are revealing.
| Win10 Unpatched | Win10 Meltdown Patch | Win10 Meltdown + Microcode Patch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3, Ultra, No HairWorks | 139.8fps | 128.3fps | 126.6fps |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider, Very High, DX12 | 121.6fps | 117.2fps | 121.6fps |
| Far Cry Primal, Ultra | 128.4fps | 127.0fps | 126.2fps |
| Crysis 3, Very High | 129.3fps | 129.2fps | 126.8fps |
| Ashes of the Singularity, CPU Test | 35.3fps | 35.5fps | 35.6fps |
| Assassin's Creed Unity, Ultra High | 131.1fps | 131.2fps | 130.3fps |
The pricey differences with the patched and unpatched Windows 10 operating system show that there is virtually no performance loss, except for one game, The Witcher 3. With the operating system patched, the performance loss in The Witcher 3 is 10 fps, this is less than 10% performance loss.
The other games tested are Ashes of Singularity, Asassins Creed Unity, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Crysis 3 and Far Cry Primal, all of which have remained more or less in the same numbers or with negligible drops.
The equipment used was the Intel Core i5 8400 with the Maximus 10 Hero motherboard based on the Z370 chipset.
The question we ask ourselves is because The Witcher 3 if it falls in its performance and not other games, does it have to do with the use of the CPU? We know that there are games that are more dependent on the CPU than others and it is possible that those games could be affected, but until they have data to corroborate it, it is only speculation.
We will keep you informed.
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