Meltdown refers to a vulnerability affecting Intel CPUs that may let programs access the operating system’s memory. This memory may have sensitive information such as passwords. Intel has issued a fix, but it does introduce some CPU overhead. However, this and other fixes should not impact gaming performance as long as you are using Windows 10.

Spectre refers to a vulnerability affecting all modern CPUs, Intel and AMD included. This is because the exploit relies on a behavior that all modern CPUs share. Motherboard manufacturers have released CPU firmware patches in order to mitigate the vulnerabilities. Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, as well as web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Edge and Internet Explorer have also issued some fixes on the operating system, hardware, and software level.