The major Windows 11 24H2 update includes a major overhaul of the driver display model that will bring significant benefits in terms of acceleration of NPUs (neural processing units) and GPUs.
This new version 3.2 of the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) will come with the 24H2 update and a Microsoft support document, discovered by Windows Latest, describes several driver-related improvements it will implement.
This WDDM update will focus heavily on NPU optimization for devices that have an integrated NPU, of course, which includes Copilot+ PCs (a fast NPU is a requirement for the latter). This will mean faster AI processing, so features like Recall (the controversial supercharged search feature that Microsoft has temporarily discontinued) or other AI workloads will run more quickly. It will also offer GPU-related measures that could improve gaming performance.
Helping Copilot+ PCs fly higher
WDDM 3.2 will arrive with a lot of new things in terms of advancements in NPU powering. A number of features highlighted by Windows Latest promise to boost the 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 a bit more battery life when it comes to a Windows 11 laptop.
Microsoft is also rolling out a “dirty bit tracking” feature, which speeds up data transfer rates when migrating virtual machines between two systems.
It's not all about AI, though, and PC gamers can look forward to some GPU-related optimizations with WDDM 3.2. Windows Latest again points to some potential benefits, including a suggestion that it could help with lag issues (though we'd take that with a pinch of salt).
We can apparently expect smoother frame rates and better overall performance to some extent when gaming thanks to WDDM 3.2, but it's unclear exactly how much of an impact to expect – temper your expectations, as always.
You can see the Full details of all changes related to WDDM 3.2if you are curious, as many improvements have been applied here. Windows Latest also created a very useful table We explain how various driver-related improvements for both AI and gaming will boost your PC's performance when Windows 11 24H2 is released. However, in many cases these may turn out to be relatively minor improvements – we'll have to wait until then.
Please note that certain AI features (such as Recall) will unfortunately be available only on Copilot+ PCs, though all Windows 11 PCs will receive the 24H2 update and these WDDM 3.2 improvements when the big update rolls out later this year. Copilot+ PCs are, of course, the devices with the most powerful NPUs, and will therefore benefit most from the AI-related tweaks applied by WDDM 3.2, perhaps making a more compelling argument for AI on these machines.
Microsoft's push into AI hasn't been particularly well-received by users so far, and Copilot has had a notable struggle to establish itself on the Windows 11 desktop so far (and on Windows 10, for that matter).
