Windows 11 update will suggest ways to make your gaming PC more eco-friendly

News
By published

These new "Sustainability Settings" may be saving the planet one OS update at a time, but what will they do to my PC performance?

The windows 11 logo with eco finger print design peeking through, on gradiated background
(Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko)

Conserving energy: It's a concept at the forefront of countless technological design choices of today. As such, Microsoft has decided to put the power in your hands with an incoming Windows 11 update, through a feature that lets you check your system's "Eco Score" and edit its sustainability settings at will.

Our friends over at Tom's Hardware unearthed the coming update via a known Twitter software sleuth, Albacore, who recently tweeted some screenshots of changes to their Windows 11 insider build.

The update includes some other changes to Focus Assist, and how notification priority settings are accessed, but the feature drawing the most attention is the addition of a Sustainability settings menu.

The Eco score in the as-yet-unreleased Windows 11 update is currently non-functional, and the menu contains limited settings. But soon it'll allow you to monitor and improve your rig's energy consumption, by suggesting settings to improve its Eco Score. There's even a button that'll give users advice on how to recycle their machine.

With companies, such as Razer helping set the standard for a more sustainable gaming future and Intel making promises to design PC's with "longer-term, energy-efficient architectures," there's a big focus on eco-friendly gaming right now.

Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: the top chips from Intel and AMD
Best graphics card: your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: get into the game ahead of the rest

Of course, knowing how to check PC power usage not only gives the average gamer more influence over their machine's environmental impact, but also their electricity bill. So I'm sure we can all agree this is a positive move on Microsoft's part.

I'm looking forward to seeing these sustainability settings up and running, and seeing exactly what kind of impact any changes it suggests will have on my machine's gaming performance. Because that's really the stickler here.

If my frame rate drops below 60, I'll be coming for you, Microsoft.

Katie Wickens
Katie Wickens
Hardware Writer

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.