The arrival of Windows 11 means a lot of changes when it comes to PC gaming but fear now, Microsoft has recently put together a handy guide on everything you need to know for the future of gaming.
According to Microsoft, “Windows 11 gaming became faster, more portable and more visually immersive” in 2025 thanks to the arrival of the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X as well as DirectX advances that increased ray tracing performance by up to 2.3x, paving the way to neural rendering.
However, Microsoft does not aim to stop there and has recently shared its plans for the future of its hardware.
In a blog post centered around helping its users optimise their gaming PC setups, Microsoft explains how Windows can best be utilised in order to see your favourite video games look and run better than ever before.
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More specifically, to begin with, Microsoft has detailed the best CPU and GPU to have to best optimise the future of PC gaming with Windows 11.
What’s Next For PC Gaming With Windows 11
Minimum and recommended specs:
- Entry-level gaming (1080p, medium settings)
- CPU: At least a modern quad-core like AMD Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400
- GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super or AMD Radeon RX 6600
- Mid-range gaming (1440p, high settings)
- CPU: 6-core or better, such as AMD Ryzen 5 7600 or Intel Core i5-13600K
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti / 4060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
- High-end/4K gaming
- CPU: 8-core or better, like AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i7-13700K
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4080 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
With the GPU widely considered as the most important component of any PC, as it is responsible for rendering images, effects, and animations, greatly improving the look of your game, it is worth spending the extra money here.
However, with the CPU being the “brain” of the PC, it is no less important.
Additionally, you could pair your GPU with your monitor’s refresh rate and luckily, Microsoft also has some recommendations in this department:
- Refresh rate (Hz): How many times the screen updates per second.
- 144 Hz is a solid baseline for smooth play.
- 165 Hz–240 Hz benefits competitive shooters or fast-action games.
- Response time (ms): The time a pixel takes to change color.
- 1 ms–3 ms is ideal for gaming, reducing ghosting and motion blur during fast action.
- Panel types:
- IPS: Excellent color accuracy and wide viewing angles—great all-round choice.
- VA: Deeper contrast and richer blacks, though slightly slower response than IPS.
- OLED: Superb contrast and near-instant response, with true blacks and vibrant colors, but can cost more.
With many AAA games requiring anything between 60-100GB of storage, your PC’s RAM and storage capabilities are also an important feature with RAM acting as your PC’s short-term memory whilst storage focuses more on the long-term side of things.
If you like to hoard games, or have a lot of them stored at the same time, you are going to want to seek out extra storage and Microsoft recommends 16gb as the average, but 32gb “for serious players who run the most demanding titles or use heavy mods.”
The Microsoft blog post delves into all the different components of running a gaming PC in 2025 and beyond, ranging from motherboards to keyboard and mice, the best software to accessories and beyond.
The future of Windows 11 gaming may look expensive, but it definitely looks hopeful nonetheless.