Copilot+ PCs for Gaming? Microsoft’s Controversial Advice

Ask any PC enthusiast what the most critical component for gaming is, and they will almost certainly say “the graphics card” — but Microsoft begs to differ.

In a controversial update to its official Windows Learning Center, the tech giant is now aggressively positioning its AI-centric Copilot+ PCs as the ‘ideal’ hardware for gamers, recommending a staggering 32GB of RAM and a neural processing unit (NPU) as the new standard for high performance.

Is this advice actually about achieving higher frame rates, or is Microsoft simply trying to upsell AI capabilities that most modern games don’t even use yet?

Microsoft’s Offload-Theory

Microsoft argues that the neural processing unit (NPU) is a game-changer. The logic goes something like this: Windows can delegate background AI tasks to the NPU, so that the processor and the graphics card have more resources available for rendering games.

This, according to Microsoft, results in smoother gameplay and higher frame rates compared to traditional Windows PCs without an NPU.

To support this claim, Microsoft has updated the specifications for gaming on Windows.

• RAM: While 16 GB remains the minimum, Microsoft now strongly recommends 32 GB of RAM as the “sweet spot” for high-performance gaming.
• Storage: A fast NVMe SSD with at least 512 GB to 1 TB of space to handle modern game file sizes and ensure fast load times.
• Processor: A CPU with an NPU-chip (like the Snapdragon X series, AMD Ryzen AI 300, or Intel Core Ultra).

The company leans heavily on Auto Super Resolution (Auto SR) to hammer home its argument. It is an upscaling technology that is exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. Like other technologies of its kind, it is promising higher frame rates and thus a smoother gameplay experience.

This technology allows Copilot+ PCs, which are mostly light laptops without dedicated graphics cards, to run demanding games at acceptable frame rates, according to Microsoft.

Here is a critical breakdown of the arguments

Microsoft’s recommendation for 32 GB sounds good on paper, until you realize that Copilot+ PCs usually do not include a dedicated graphics card.

Traditional PCs have system RAM and dedicated video RAM (if they have a dedicated graphics adapter). Most Copilot+ PCs do not have the latter, which means that all components share the system memory.

If a modern game requires 8 GB of video memory, Copilot+ PCs have to use system RAM for that. Selling 32 GB as high performance is misleading therefore.

While offloading some tasks to the NPU may reduce CPU usage somewhat, it is highly doubtful that this is making big impacts on the performance of games.

Finally, Auto SR is a necessary feature as it boosts game resolutions and frames on laptops that would otherwise be too weak for higher resolutions or frame rates.

The feature competes directly against Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR, two mature technologies that improve systems with dedicated graphics cards. Even mid-range dedicated video cards should provide better and smoother game plays than Auto SR on systems with NPU but no dedicated cards.

Closing Words

Most gamers won’t buy a Copilot+ PC at this time, unless it comes with a dedicated graphics card. Traditional systems with video cards will outperform Copilot+ PCs without one in gaming, there is little doubt about that. This may change once Copilot+ PCs and laptops with dedicated video cards become available on scale. For now, Microsoft is making a recommendation that is not in the best interest of most Windows gamers.

While many games do run on ARM already, there are still holdouts, including many popular multiplayer games that run anti-cheat software on the system.