Windows 11’s big 24H2 update includes an important revision of a driver display model which will usher in important benefits in terms of speeding up NPUs (Neural Processing Units) and GPUs.
This new Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 will come with the 24H2 update and a support document from Microsoft, spotted by Windows Latest, outlines various driver-related improvements that it’ll implement.
This WDDM update will have a weighty focus on NPU optimization, for devices that have an NPU on-board, of course, which includes Copilot+ PCs (a speedy NPU is a requirement for the latter). This will mean faster AI processing, so that features such as Recall - the controversial supercharged search functionality Microsoft has temporarily put on ice - or other AI workloads, will happen in a swifter fashion. It will also deliver GPU-related measures that could improve gaming performance.
Helping Copilot+ PCs fly higher
WDDM 3.2 is set to arrive with a lot of goodies in terms of taking strides forward in powering up the NPU. A range of features that Windows Latest highlights promises to beef up performance levels of some AI tasks, ensuring they run more smoothly, as well as achieving better power-efficiency for the Neural Processing Unit during these tasks. The latter could mean eking out a bit more battery life when it comes to a Windows 11 laptop.
Microsoft is also implementing a “dirty bit tracking” feature, which accelerates data transfer speeds when virtual machines are being migrated between two systems.
It’s not all about AI, though, and PC gamers have some GPU-related optimizations to look forward to with WDDM 3.2. Windows Latest again points out some possible benefits including a suggestion that it could help with lag issues (we’d take that with a heavy pinch of seasoning, though).
We can apparently expect smoother frame rates and overall performance to some extent when gaming thanks to WDDM 3.2, but it’s not made clear exactly how much impact to expect - temper your expectations, as ever.
You can see the full details of all the changes related to WDDM 3.2, if you’re curious, as there are plenty of enhancements applied here. Windows Latest also created a handy table explaining how the various driver-related improvements for both AI and gaming will boost your PC’s performance when Windows 11 24H2 comes out. These may, however, turn out to be relatively minor improvements in many cases - we’ll just have to see when the time comes.
Note that, unfortunately, certain AI features (like Recall) will be for Copilot+ PCs only - although all Windows 11 PCs will get the 24H2 update and these WDDM 3.2 improvements, when the big upgrade rolls out later this year. Copilot+ PCs are, of course, the devices with the beefiest NPUs, and so will benefit the most from the AI-related tweaks that WDDM 3.2 applies - perhaps making a more convincing case for AI with these machines.
So far, Microsoft’s push with AI hasn’t been especially well-received by users, and Copilot has notably struggled to define itself on the Windows 11 desktop so far (and Windows 10, for that matter).
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