Windows 11 Pro vs Home for Gaming: Which One Is Better?

Should computer gamers upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11?

The release of Windows 11 tantalizes computer gamers to give it a try. No matter casual gamers or enthusiasts, an excellent gaming experience can’t be better. Putting aside the old systems, just compared with the second new one Windows 10, Windows 11 rolls out major updates for gaming in four aspects.

1. Auto-HDR
HDR (High Dynamic Range) can increase color range and brightness, making the visual display more vibrant, realistic, and in sharper contrast. By comparison with SDR (Standard Dynamic Range), HDR allows gamers to observe more details and to immerse themselves in gaming further.

If you are a gamer who likes the categories of Action, Adventure, and Fighting, it can be a significant and attractive feature for you. With an HDR monitor, Windows 11 will automatically detect and turns it on, allowing you to enjoy appealing scenes.

2. DirectStorage
Microsoft DirectStorage is only supported in Windows 11. It is an API (Application Programming Interface) to serve as an intermediary between the GPU and SSD. Shortly say, DirectStorage can directly send the game data to GPU for decompression, processing and projecting to it, rather than the traditional and low-efficiency way—sending the game data back and forth.

This new sending method will considerably shorten the game loading time. Moreover, if you combine the DirectStorage with an M.2 NVMe SSD, you can have a direct understanding of what is the real "Lightning fast" when playing games.

3. Built-in Xbox App
Computer gamers may not be strange to the Xbox app and Xbox Game Pass. Previously, gamers should go to PlayStore to download the Xbox Companion app and then connect the computer with Xbox.

But now, Windows 11 makes the Xbox app and Game Pass become a built-in feature. Just with a stable network connection, gamers can enjoy Game Pass titles with Xbox Cloud Gaming on their own computers.

4. Optimized Start Menu
Some gamers probably think this Optimized Start Menu update is negligible, but actually, it can bring much convenience for gameplay streamers or part of specific gamers. With this feature, they can quickly and easily access and navigate between applications.

In addition, this feature provides the personalized option for gamers to resize the Start menu in light of their preference, making the menu icon practical for users rather than an annoying visual obstacle due to its inappropriate size.

In short, since these updates were released, Windows 11 was deserved as an outstanding operating system for gamers until now. And many people are ready to upgrade to Windows 11. However, we know that gamers usually have high expectations in gaming experience.

The major problem of Windows 11 edition choosing plagues them. Is Windows 11 Home or Pro better for gaming? We believe you are also curious about the answer. So today, we will discuss Windows 11 Home vs. Pro for gaming. Continue to read, and it can be helpful for you to make the final choice.

Windows 11 Pro vs. Home for gaming

We pick up 4 major differences between Windows 11 Home and Pro that gamers concern about most. Every part will be given a clear explanation. Players can easily know the discrepancies, thus better choosing the suitable edition for their gaming experience. 

Part 1. Major differences between Windows 11 Home and Pro

1. CPU
One of the major gaps between Windows 11 Home and Pro presents in CPU. The Home edition supports one CPU with 64 cores, whereas the Pro edition maxes out at two CPUs and 128 cores. We know how important the CPU plays a part in rendering images. With a powerful CPU, you can enjoy both exquisite scenes and smooth running when playing a game.

But it doesn't mean the more CPUs and cores the system supports, the greater the gaming experience you will have. Generally, it depends on the game type. If you are a casual gamer, thanks to the DirectStorage, the Home edition is good enough for casual playing. Most gamers can feel tiny differences between the two editions. As for professionals like gameplay streamers or e-sport players, the Pro edition can meet their demands.

2. RAM
As crucial as the CPU, RAM is also an inescapable parameter in Windows 11 Home vs Pro. The Windows 11 Home edition has a memory limit of 128GB RAM, while the Pro edition can up to 2TB. RAM is important for programs and game performance.

Larger RAM capacities enable you simultaneously run more tasks along with shorter loading time and better stability. Conversely, low capacities or slow RAM modules will severely slow down fps, causing frame drop lagging and latency. But in actual cases, the 128GB RAM is almost over the top for gaming. The Home edition can be sufficient for overwhelming majorities because even the most advanced PC game doesn’t require such high RAM capacity.  

Here we attach a comparison list for clearly observing the differences between Windows 11 Home and Pro in CPU and RAM.

3. Cost
Price is also a factor that people concerns about when discussing Windows 11 Pro vs Home for gaming. The Home retails for $139, and Windows 11 Pro is $199, which is $60 more than the Home edition.

If you purchase the Home edition first but then decide to upgrade to the Pro edition later, you need to pay a premium $99 upgrade fee. But in other cases like upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 Home, it is free.

4. Security Features
BitLocker is a powerful tool for data safe. This is exclusively available for Windows 11 Pro edition. Windows 11 BitLocker will protect your data from unauthorized visits and data breaches.

For casual gamers who use their computers for both business and gaming, this feature can provide an extra layer of protection for their privacy.

Part 2. Which edition is the best for gaming?

Both Windows 11 Home and Pro share the same minimum system requirements. If you choose the Pro Edition, you do not have to worry about whether it demands higher hardware support. From the text above, the differences come from high-end system specs such as CPU and RAM.

So, the conclusion of the edition choice mainly depends on the role you play. The Windows 11 Home Edition is far enough for most casual gamers. And the Pro Edition will be recommended for gameplay streamers, e-sport players, or those who pursue a supreme gaming experience.  

4 ways for enhancing gaming performance

After simply discussing Windows 11 Home vs Pro gaming, gamers may have the answer when making the final choice. No matter which edition you select, an excellent gaming experience can’t be better. Therefore, in this part, we will share 4 ways to improve gaming performance, and you can make the best use of your device to create a superior gaming environment.

Way 1. Turn on the game mode

Turning on the Game mode will redirect system resources to the running game, close notifications, and reduce background activities as possible. By toggling on it, you can enjoy a smoother game performance and immersive experience.

Step 1. Click the Windows button and choose “Settings”.

Step 2. Select “Gaming” in the Setting interface.

Step 3. In the left pane, hit “Game mode”and then toggle on it.

Way 2. Enable high performance mode in Power Plan

Enabling high-performance mode in Power Plan can reasonably allocate your power consumption, avoiding your device running on low fps and switching to high-performance mode for gaming.

Step 1. Input “power plan” in the search bar.

Step 2. Click the “Edit power settings”option and choose “Power Options” as the picture shows.

Step 3. In the new windows, tick “High Performance” like below.

Way 3. Improve the SSD performance for greater gaming enjoying

▌Option 1. Migrate OS to SSD

Do you remember what we mentioned in DirectStorage in the first part? “If you combine the DirectStorage with an M.2 NVMe SSD, you can experience the real "Lightning fast" in gaming.” So, no matter whether Windows 11 Home or Pro, migrating the OS to the M.2 NVMe SSD is an ideal and best choice for gamers.

If you do not hope to spend much time and energy on extra operations, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a recommended tool for you. It is a disk management expert that can fix many computer issues by offering the most effective way to solve problems quickly.

Most tools introduced on the internet use the cold migration way. With that, you have to repeatedly reboot your computer several times, prolonging the migration time and process. But AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional employs the Hot Clone technique, which allows you to escape from ceasing running programs to reboot over and over again.

Step 1. Connect the target disk to your device and ensure it is detected. Launch the installed software. Next, click "Migrate OS" under "Clone" in the top toolbar and click "Next" to continue.

Step 2. In the pop-out windows, choose the target disk and check  “I want to delete all partitions on disk 2 to migrate system to the disk” with clicking "Next".

Step 3. Here you can resize the partition on the M.2 NVMe SSD.

Step 4. Select the "Finish" button to move on.

Step 5. Then you will back to the main interface. Click “Apply” > “Proceed” to commit the operations.

▌Option 2. Extend the system drive space

Despite that you choose Windows Home or Pro edition for gaming, sufficient storage space on the C drive is always necessary. If you upgrade to Windows 11 on a low space computer or a device used for a long time, the "C drive is full" problem may occur. Thus you will suffer from low fps, high latency, and even frequent program crashes when playing games.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can provide several solutions for this trouble as well. You can resize or move the partition to enlarge the space, move installed applications to another drive, share free space from another to a C drive, and so on. Here we take the function “Allocate Free Space” as an example to extend the system drive space.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Right-click a drive with free space and select the “Allocate Free Space” option.

Step 2. Specify the size and select C drive from the list in the new window. Click “OK” to move on to the next step.

Step 3. When you back to the main interface, click “Apply” and “Proceed” to execute the operations.

Now, the redundant free space is successfully added to the C drive.

Verdict

After reading Windows 11 Pro vs Home for gaming, can you decide which edition to choose? Shortly say, the Home edition is enough for most casual gamers. With the newly launched feature DirectStorage, most games can run smoothly and fast. But Professionals like gameplay steamers or e-sporters are recommended to choose the Windows 11 Pro edition.

In spite of the edition, it is better to improve the game performance. Therefore, we share several methods for you. And in that part, we can find AOMEI Partition Assistant is a powerful and versatile software that can be used in many scenarios. Except for the function we mentioned, it is also used for converting a disk between MBR/GPT without data loss, cloning disks and securely erasing SSD, etc.

Moreover, there is also the Server Edition for 2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2)/2003 users to effectively manage their devices.