APRIL 2019 PCWorld 21issues with the patch involves graphics and
mouse performance degradation on
certain games.
Whether your PC will be affected
depends on a few conditions. The
“Retpoline” performance improvements
affect only a subset of the processors
affected by Spectre, specifically Broadwell
or older Core processors. If you own a
Skylake or more recent version of Intel’s
Core chips, those chips won’t be affected
by Retpoline. Moreover, the Retpoline
technology is rolling out only to PCs
running the October 2018 Update, and
gradually—over the coming months,
Microsoft says (go.pcworld.com/spv2).
That process began March 1.
The performance improvements
Retpoline enables are fairly significant,
Microsoft says: about a 25-percent
speedup in Office app launch times and up
to 1.5-2X improved throughput in both a
storage and networking benchmark.
Though the Spectre vulnerability affects the
processor, Microsoft has said previously
(go.pcworld.com/msps) that users would
notice a decrease in overall system
performance, especially in older systems.
Retpoline, then, will be useful for those with
older PCs.
(If you own and want to access the
Retpoline performance improvements right
now, Microsoft’s post includes instructions for
editing your system registry.)
GAMING PERFORMANCE
MAY BE SLOWED
On the other hand, KB4482887 may also
apparently degrade your GPU and mouse
performance. Microsoft hasn’t said by how
much, and also what games will be affected.
Microsoft names a single game as an
example: Destiny 2, which has suffered from
content issues (go.pcworld.com/dst2)
unrelated to performance.
Microsoft said it would resolve the
problem in a future update. In the meantime,
Microsoft suggests that concerned parties
should uninstall the update.
If you haven’t uninstalled a Windows
update, here’s how: Go into the Windows
Settings menu, and open the Update &
Security menu, then View Update History
within the main menu. At the top of the
subsequent screen you should see an Uninstall
updates option. That, in turn, will open the
Control Panel, and Control Panel > Programs >
Programs and Features > Installed Updates.
Right-click the update you want to uninstall,
and select that option when it appears.What this means for you: Whether you’ll be
affected by this is as much determined by your
system as the luck of the draw. Your PC may
not have this update yet, but Microsoft may roll
it out over the next weeks or months. If your PC
suddenly seems to slow down when playing
games, check to see whether this buggy patch
downloaded to your system.