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Game stutter and Memory integrity on Windows 11

Last verified August 2026Tested against Windows 11 24H2, Windows 11 25H2, Windows 10 22H2Good evidence

It depends on your CPU, and Microsoft says so in its own documentation. Memory integrity is cheap on Intel Kaby Lake or newer and AMD Zen 2 or newer, because those chips implement the hardware feature it relies on. Older processors fall back to an emulation Microsoft calls Restricted User Mode, which it says has a bigger performance impact. Check which side you are on before you turn a kernel protection off.

Start here

  1. Find out whether memory integrity is even running
  2. Check your CPU against Microsoft's own hardware note

"Turn off Core isolation for more FPS" is one of the most repeated pieces of PC advice, and it is stated as if it were universally true. It is not. The size of the cost depends on whether your processor has the hardware support memory integrity was designed around, and on modern hardware the difference is often small enough that you would not notice it outside a benchmark. This page is about establishing which case you are in, and what you actually give up if you switch it off.

Symptoms

  • Frame times spike periodically even though average FPS looks fine
  • 1% lows are much worse than the average frame rate suggests
  • The stutter is worst in games that load assets continuously while you move
  • Windows Security shows a warning that memory integrity is off, or the option is greyed out
  • Memory integrity will not turn on and Windows names an incompatible driver
  • Performance changed after a clean install of Windows 11, which turns these features on by default on qualifying hardware

Why this happens

Your CPU lacks the hardware feature memory integrity relies on

Memory integrity runs kernel-mode code integrity inside a virtualized environment. Microsoft states it works better on Intel Kaby Lake and later processors, which have Mode-Based Execution Control, and on AMD Zen 2 and later, which have Guest Mode Execute Trap. Processors without those features fall back to an emulation Microsoft calls Restricted User Mode, and Microsoft says explicitly that this has a bigger impact on performance. That sentence is the whole reason the internet disagrees about whether disabling it helps: on some hardware it genuinely does, and on other hardware it barely registers.

Find out whether memory integrity is even running · Check your CPU against Microsoft's own hardware note

You are attributing the stutter to the wrong thing

Memory integrity is a fixed overhead on kernel transitions. It does not produce the periodic hitching people usually describe, which is far more often shader compilation, asset streaming from a slow drive, a background process, thermal or power limits, or a driver problem. Measuring the same scene twice is the only way to separate them, and it costs less than an hour.

Measure the same scene before and after, and keep the numbers

An old driver is holding the setting off, and you have the security cost without the protection

When an installed driver is incompatible, Windows leaves memory integrity off so the driver can still load. That is a state worth knowing about: you are not paying any performance cost, but you are also not getting the protection, and the driver in question is usually old enough to be worth replacing on its own merits.

Deal with incompatible drivers instead of leaving the feature off

Fixes

Find out whether memory integrity is even running

about 5 min

A surprising number of machines that are supposedly losing frames to this have it turned off already.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2

  1. Press Windows+R, run msinfo32, and read the bottom of the System Summary section. The virtualization-based security lines are there.
  2. For the definitive answer, open PowerShell as administrator and query the WMI class directly.
    Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_DeviceGuard -Namespace root\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceGuard
  3. Read two fields. VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus of 2 means VBS is enabled and running; 1 means enabled but not running. SecurityServicesRunning containing the value 2 means memory integrity is actually running.
  4. If memory integrity is not running, it is not costing you anything and there is nothing here to turn off. Go and look for the real cause of the stutter.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft

Check your CPU against Microsoft's own hardware note

about 5 min

This predicts, before you measure anything, whether disabling memory integrity is likely to be worth it on your machine.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2

  1. Identify your processor: Settings > System > About, or Task Manager > Performance > CPU.
  2. Intel Kaby Lake (7th generation) or newer has Mode-Based Execution Control. AMD Zen 2 (Ryzen 3000 desktop) or newer has Guest Mode Execute Trap. On either, memory integrity runs the way Microsoft intended.
  3. Anything older uses the Restricted User Mode emulation, which Microsoft says carries a bigger performance impact. That is where turning it off is most likely to show up in your frame times.
  4. In the Win32_DeviceGuard output from the previous step, AvailableSecurityProperties containing the value 7 means MBEC or GMET is present on this system.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft

Deal with incompatible drivers instead of leaving the feature off

about 30 min

If a driver is what is keeping memory integrity off, replacing it gets you the protection back without any performance decision to make.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2

  1. Open Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details. If memory integrity is off because of a driver, Windows names it there.
  2. Look for an updated driver — through Windows Update first, then the hardware manufacturer's own download page. That is the route Microsoft recommends.
  3. If no compatible driver exists, consider whether you still need the device or software that installed it.
  4. Do not delete driver files to force the setting on. Microsoft advises against it, and a half-removed driver causes worse problems than the one you started with.
  5. If a driver does load but the machine becomes unstable after enabling memory integrity, update that driver through Device Manager rather than reverting everything.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, Microsoft

Measure the same scene before and after, and keep the numbers

about 45 min

Average FPS hides stutter. Frame times do not. Without a measurement you are trading a security feature for a feeling.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2

  1. Pick a repeatable scene — a benchmark run, or a fixed walk through the same area — rather than general play.
  2. Record average FPS and 1% lows, or better, the frame time graph. 1% lows are what stutter shows up in.
  3. Change one thing, restart, and run the identical scene again.
  4. If the difference is inside your run-to-run variance, memory integrity is not your problem and the security is worth keeping.
  5. Before concluding anything, rule out the usual suspects: shader compilation on first run, a game installed on a mechanical drive, background capture or overlay software, and thermal or power throttling.

Source: Microsoft

Turn memory integrity off

Advancedabout 10 min

Worth doing only if you measured a real difference and accept what you are giving up.

Applies to: Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2

Before you do this

Memory integrity is what stops a malicious or vulnerable kernel driver being used to take over Windows. Turning it off removes that protection for everything on the machine, not just games. Windows Security will flag the PC as at risk from Windows 11 22H2 onward, including on the taskbar icon. Do not do this on a machine you use for anything sensitive.

First:

  • A measured before-and-after result showing the change is worth it on your hardware
  • A note of what the setting was, so you can put it back
  1. Open Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details.
  2. Turn Memory integrity off, then restart when prompted.
  3. Re-run your benchmark scene and compare against the numbers you recorded.
  4. If the gain is not what you expected, turn it straight back on. This is reversible from the same screen.
  5. If the option is greyed out and says it is managed by your administrator, it is being set by policy and you cannot change it from here.
  6. If memory integrity was enabled with UEFI lock, it cannot be disabled from Windows alone — that route requires Windows Recovery Environment and turning Secure Boot off first, which will break any game that requires Secure Boot.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, Microsoft

Known issues

  • Microsoft warns that some applications and hardware drivers are incompatible with memory integrity, and that turning it on can cause devices or software to malfunction and in rare cases a boot failure. Recovery is through Windows Recovery Environment, and needs Secure Boot disabled first if the feature was enabled with UEFI lock.

    Affects Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2 · Status: workaround only

  • Processors older than Intel Kaby Lake or AMD Zen 2 run memory integrity through the Restricted User Mode emulation, which Microsoft says carries a bigger performance impact. There is no setting that changes this — it is a hardware capability.

    Affects Windows 11, Windows 10 22H2 · Status: open

If none of this worked

Stutter that appears in one game and not others is almost never this. Shader compilation on a first run, streaming assets off a mechanical drive, and a background overlay or capture tool all produce hitching that looks identical in a frame time graph. So does a GPU driver problem, which is worth ruling out separately. If your frame rate drops steadily over several minutes and recovers after a pause, look at temperatures and power limits rather than at Windows settings. And if a specific game started stuttering only recently, check whether a game patch or a Windows update landed at the same time before changing security settings.

Common questions

Is memory integrity the same as VBS?
Not quite. Virtualization-based security is the isolated environment; memory integrity is one feature that runs inside it, enforcing kernel-mode code integrity there. Memory integrity is also called HVCI, hypervisor-protected code integrity, and was originally part of Device Guard. You can have VBS running with memory integrity off, which is why checking both fields in the Win32_DeviceGuard output matters.
How much FPS will I get back?
Nobody can tell you without your hardware and your game. That is the honest answer, and it is why this page pushes you to measure. What Microsoft does tell you is the direction: on a CPU with Mode-Based Execution Control or Guest Mode Execute Trap the overhead is smaller, and on older chips running the emulation it is larger. Published figures from other people's machines are describing their CPU, not yours.
Will turning it off get me banned from a game?
Memory integrity is not the same as Secure Boot or TPM, which some anti-cheat systems check. Disabling memory integrity alone should not affect a game that requires Secure Boot. Be careful in one specific case: if memory integrity was enabled with UEFI lock, the documented way to disable it involves turning Secure Boot off, and that will stop games that require Secure Boot from launching.
Windows Security keeps warning me it is off. Can I hide that?
From Windows 11 22H2 onward, Windows Security shows the warning in the app, on the taskbar icon and in Notification Center, and it can be dismissed from inside Windows Security. Dismissing the warning does not change the underlying risk, so treat it as a reminder to revisit the decision when your drivers or hardware change.
Should I leave it on?
On a current CPU, yes — the protection is real and the cost is usually small enough to be hard to detect outside a benchmark. On an older processor running the emulated path, measure it, and then make the call knowing what each side is worth to you. What is not defensible is turning it off because a video said to, without ever checking whether it was running.

Did this fix work?

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Related problems

Sources

  • Enable memory integrityOfficial

    Microsoft · Documentation · checked Aug 22, 2026

    • Memory integrity is a virtualization-based security feature that runs kernel-mode code integrity inside the isolated VBS environment, also known as HVCI
    • Microsoft states memory integrity works better on Intel Kaby Lake and later with Mode-Based Execution Control and AMD Zen 2 and later with Guest Mode Execute Trap
    • Older processors fall back to an emulation called Restricted User Mode which has a bigger impact on performance
    • Memory integrity is found at Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details > Memory integrity
    • From Windows 11 22H2 Windows Security warns when memory integrity is off, and the warning appears on the taskbar icon and in Notification Center
    • msinfo32 reports the VBS features at the bottom of the System Summary section
    • Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_DeviceGuard reports VirtualizationBasedSecurityStatus and SecurityServicesRunning, where the value 2 means memory integrity is running
    • Some applications and device drivers are incompatible with memory integrity, which can cause malfunction and in rare cases a boot failure
    • If memory integrity was enabled with UEFI lock, Secure Boot must be turned off before it can be disabled through Windows RE
  • Why do incompatible drivers prevent using Memory integrity?Official

    Microsoft · Support page · checked Aug 22, 2026

    • Turning on memory integrity would block incompatible drivers from loading, so Windows leaves the setting off to let them load
    • Microsoft's recommended route is to look for an updated compatible driver through Windows Update or the driver manufacturer
    • Microsoft does not recommend deleting drivers in order to restore the setting