(Credit: Jon Martindale)
In its October patch release, Microsoft is set to enable Memory Integrity in Windows 11 by default, Windows Latest reports. That might harm your gaming frames per second, but the security boost is almost certainly worth the trade-off.
Memory Integrity is a core isolation feature that uses a virtualized environment to verify kernel-mode drivers before they execute, ensuring they're safe. It prevents malware from exploiting an older, vulnerable driver to reach the system kernel, where it can do whatever it wants.
In the early days of Windows 11, turning this off or never enabling it was one method to boost gaming FPS, as software calls on older hardware for this feature could cause performance dips. But from Intel's 7th generation and AMD's Ryzen 2000 generation onwards, hardware-level acceleration means there's almost no performance difference with this feature enabled.
That's especially relevant for this new patch, because it's going to turn Memory Integrity on for a range of platforms, but only those that meet the minimum system requirements. And those are all modern enough to have the hardware acceleration to avoid FPS drops. Memory Integrity requirements include:
Intel 8th-generation processor or newer
AMD Zen 2 processor or newer
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8180 SoC or newer
At least 8GB of RAM on x64 systems
At least 64GB of SSD storage space
A BIOS with virtualization enabled.
That pretty much describes any PC purchased in the past five or six years, and even some that are older than that. So if you aren't already running Windows 11 with memory integrity enabled, you can certainly do so, and the patch update will likely enable it if it isn't already.
The only instance in which this won't happen is if you have already explicitly disabled Memory Integrity via the registry or a Windows Group Policy change. If you use older drivers for legacy devices, you may still want to do that since there's a chance Memory Integrity can break older drivers that need to interact with memory in insecure ways. Just be aware of the security trade-off you're making before doing so.
How to Check if Memory Integrity Is Enabled
There's a good chance you already have memory integrity enabled, in which case you won't notice this rollout. To confirm your status, navigate to Windows Security > Device Security > Core Isolation details. There, you'll see a heading titled "Memory integrity." If it's set to On, it's enabled. If it's off, you can either turn it on manually now or wait for the patch. If you really don't want it enabled, you can always return here and disable it after the update.
About Our Expert
Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He's written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he's a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.Â
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon's gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That's all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
- Utah Experiments With Having AI Prescribe Meds for Acne
- Norway Eyes Crackdown on Recording in Public Spaces With Smart Glasses
- Nvidia-Backed Startup Builds Open-Weight Model to Challenge Chinese Labs
- Trump's SI Rebrand Results in Flurry of .SI Domain Registrations
- Windows 11 26H2 Boosts App Launch Times, Reduces Memory Usage
- More from Jon Martindale
