Windows 11 24H2 not only makes it impossible to play Ubisoft games like Assassin’s Creed Origins, but also freezes one of the popular titles – Path of Exile 2. As pointed out by several gamers, when you play Path of Exile 2 and some other games, you might run into performance issues with Windows 11, especially after Windows 11 24H2.
In our tests, Windows Latest also observed that our PC freezes when we try to play Path of Exile 2, but it does work all right after a reboot.
For example, in some cases, when you load new areas in Path of Exile 2, a bug in Windows 11 24H2 causes the CPU to get pinned at 100%. This causes the system to freeze, audio to lag, and Windows 11 is eventually unresponsive. As a result, you’ll need to open Task Manager and manually kill the process. Worse, you’ll need to force the shutdown of the PC.
“Even with Ryzen Master installed, it does the same thing. It gets all CPU cores at 100%, the sound is working, and the cursor starts moving with delay like in slow motion engine is DirectX12,” one of the affected users explained the problem in a Feedback Hub post first spotted by Windows Latest.”
“If I set the affinity with fewer CPU cores, the issue is gone, but this is not a solution. The problem should be with the Task scheduler or something that controls the usage of the CPU cores.”
“While playing the new game Path of Exile 2, users on the new Windows 11 24H2 update are experiencing complete PC freezes during the loading screen, needing to restart the PC. The task manager will not even open. I’m rolling back to the previous Windows update to solve the issue,” another user noted while explaining the problem to Windows Latest.
In response to one of these feedbacks, Windows Latest observed that Microsoft has added a “looking into it” tag, which means the company is aware of the reports because they have been reported too many times.
“We’re digging into how this feedback can help us improve your experience,” Microsoft noted in a Feedback Hub post.
This comes a day after we reported about Assassin’s Creed Origins’ ratings on Steam droppinp because users are not happy with how the game works in Windows 11 2024 Update.
Path of Exile 2 Windows 11 freezes, not limited to one specific configuration.
Path of Exile 2 issues with Windows 11 24H2 have also been reported elsewhere.
For example, Windows Latest spotted several threads on Steam forums that complained about similar performance issues. In most of the forum posts, users have recommended going through Windows Latest’s previous articles on gaming issues in Windows 11 24H2:
One user with a Z370 motherboard, an Intel i7-8700K, and an NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti described the problem:
“All CPU cores go to 100%, the sound remains, and the mouse cursor lags as if everything’s in slow motion. If I disable some cores, it stops freezing, but that’s not a real solution. It feels like a Task scheduler issue.”
“The freeze renders the entire system inoperable until a hard reboot,” another comment reads.
One player confirmed to Windows Latest that the issue only began “directly after installing Windows 11 24H2,” so reverting to Windows 11 23H2 or Windows 10 fixes everything.
In worst cases, one user told me that Task Manager can’t be opened when a freeze occurs, so they need to shut down the system and reboot again.
Some people noted that they reinstalled GPU drivers. They also used the Windows Troubleshoot tool, but nothing stopped the lockups.
What is the workaround?
What are your options if you run into issues with Path of Exile 2 after the Windows update? Based on our understanding, you need to roll back to Windows 11 23H2 or Windows 10, but you can also try your luck by limiting CPU cores.
What seems to have worked for some people is limiting CPU cores via affinity settings or using tools like Ryzen Master. This works partially, but if you’re unlucky, it could cause further crashes because games need access to more cores, after all.
The whole saga isn’t really new. I’ve been reporting for the past two months that Windows 11 24H2 has some problems with certain games, and the root cause remains a mystery. It’s not just Path of Exile 2 or Assassin’s Creed Origins, but other games too.
It’s good that Microsoft has at least recognized the reports and tagged them as “looking into it,” but so far, there’s no official patch.
