Microsoft releases bug fix for stuttering game performance in Windows 11 22H2

Windows 11 2H22 update screenshots
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft has released a fix for the bug causing poor or stuttering game performance in the 22H2 update for Windows 11. Known as KB5020044, the fix also addresses a range of other issues and adds numerous features.

The main event for gamers involves that stuttering issue in the 22H2 update, highlighted by Microsoft itself as "lower than expected performance in some games." A fair old way down the release notes for the new bug fix comes this critical entry:

"It addresses an issue that affects some games and applications. This issue is related to GPU performance debugging features. This lowers the expected game performance."

As we reported previously, some games and apps were inadvertently enabling GPU performance debugging features that are not intended for consumers.

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It's been a fairly complex issue, with earlier reports suggesting that the issue was related to GeForce Experience software on PCs with Nvidia GPUs, with Nvidia noting that, "Windows 11 22H2 added new graphics debugging tools which are inadvertently getting triggered and this is leading to some users to see lower performance in games. We are working on a fix."

Nvidia even issued an updated version of GeForce Experience designed to solve the problem back in September. 

Happily, Microsoft has now issued a global fix for the stuttering problem. If you're running the latest 22H2 build of Windows 11, therefore, and you've been suffering any performance issues, now's the time to hop into Windows Update on your PC and  make sure it's set to download the latest updates.

Jeremy Laird
Hardware writer

Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.

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