If you have played any of today’s newer video games on your PC then you know that both graphics display and processing performance has a direct affect on your in-game experience. That’s because the gaming engines and development platforms available to game developers today have progressed to the point of producing graphics and imagery that is closer to 100% virtual reality than ever before.
Contents
How to Boost Video Game Performance on the PC
Use a Direct Ethernet Cable Instead of Wi-Fi
Windows Adjustments for Gaming
Disable Windows Notifications
Turn on Windows Gaming Mode
Adjust Windows For Best Performance
Start-Up Settings for Windows Can be Adjusted
Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling
Disable Enhanced Pointer Precision
You Can Set the Refresh Rate of your Monitor
How to Update Your Graphics Card Driver
How to Upgrade Your PC Hardware
Tips for Upgrading Your PC Hardware
Conserve Resources By Closing All Unnecessary Programs
How to Allocate More PC Resources to Your Video Game
How to Monitor PC Performance During Game Play
How to Boost Video Game Performance on the PC
As your PC’s administrator, there are things you can do to help your Video Game application maintain a peak level of performance so that your in-game experience is equal to what the Game’s developers intended. Don’t accept poor in-game PC performance as the new normal. Follow our performance tips below to maximize your in-game experience.
Use a Direct Ethernet Cable Instead of Wi-Fi
Relying on your router’s Wi-Fi connection will be slower than connecting your PC to the router directly using a quality Ethernet cable (6E and higher).
An ultra-fast home broadband connection can benefit from an ultra-fast cable, too. For instance, CAT-8 ethernet cables can transfer data faster and offer a solid connection that won’t drop out.
Windows Adjustments for Gaming
Just because you’ve installed Windows on your PC and downloaded your games does not mean your PC is necessarily running as well as it could. Windows allows you to make adjustments that will optimize your PC’s performance for gaming. Here is a list of them:
Disable Windows Notifications
You can disable notifications in Windows at certain times or when certain activities occur. This is a great way to prevent pesky pop-ups from ruining your experience.
The steps for accessing the settings are as follows:
- Type Focus Assist into the Windows start menu on your PC or keyboard.
- Go to the focus settings and select “Alerts from apps and system, do not disturb”.
- Activate the “automatic do not disturb” setting.
- Select “when playing a game”.
Turn on Windows Gaming Mode
Despite the fact that Windows is already designed for gaming, Microsoft knows PC users love playing games, which is why Game Pass is so popular. In order for Windows to perform optimally, it needs some tweaks, one of which is game mode. System resources are managed in this setting for better performance when playing games.
You can enable Game Mode by following these steps:
- Type Game into the Start menu on your keyboard.
- At the top of the Start menu, click Game Mode Settings.
- Game mode can be turned on by clicking the button.
Alternatively, you can select specific times of the day that they do not disturb mode should be on. This may be useful if you know that you are always gaming in the evening. Just set the time and you can enjoy blissful gaming without being disturbed.
Adjust Windows For Best Performance
Windows is generally set up to look good. You can make performance-based adjustments as well. To do this follow these steps::
- Type appearance and performance in the Windows start menu.
- Once the “Adjust the performance and appearance of Windows” window appears, click on it.
- Find the setting “adjust for the best performance”.
- Click on that and then click apply.
- Make sure Best Performance is set for programs rather than the Background Tasks.
Start-Up Settings for Windows Can be Adjusted
Installing an app will often force itself into a start-up process. If you turn on your PC and log in to Windows, those apps will be waiting for you. This can be problematic as these apps then become background processes that waste resources and processing power.
Follow these steps to disable these apps and make your PC turn on faster and optimized for gaming.
- To launch Task Manager, press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC or right-click on the Windows task bar and select Task Manager.
- Click on the Startup tab.
- Look through the list of apps and remove any you don’t use frequently.
- Disable the offending apps by right-clicking them.
Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling
The GPU scheduling feature allows your machine to optimize performance and reduce latency. You can easily enable this setting, like Game Mode, if you have the right hardware (a recent graphics card) and are running Windows 10 or 11.
- Click the Start button and type Graphics Settings into the search bar.
- Click on the Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling button.
- From there, you can select the app to set your preference. For Nvidia, this is the Nvidia Control Panel, which is available as a desktop app or Microsoft store application.
- The app can be opened by clicking on the app, choosing options, and selecting high performance.
- You can repeat this process for any game where you want to maximize performance.
Disable Enhanced Pointer Precision
Even if you bought a high-end gaming mouse to compete against the competition, Windows settings may hinder its performance. One particular setting in Windows related to mouse pointer speed can be a problem.
Here are the steps to take to disable it:
- Type “mouse pointer” into the Windows start menu on your PC or keyboard.
- Choose “Change the mouse pointer display or speed”.
- Make sure “enhance pointer precision” is unticked under the “motion” setting.
- Click on apply.
You Can Set the Refresh Rate of your Monitor
If your display doesn’t have a high refresh rate, Windows won’t automatically select your maximum refresh rate. Otherwise, your monitor will default to 60Hz.
Follow these steps to select your maximum refresh rate:
- Simply right-click your desktop and select display settings.
- Select “advanced display settings” from the drop-down menu.
- After that, scroll down to refresh rate and click the dropdown.
- From there, select the maximum refresh rate of your monitor. Make sure you have the correct monitor cable attached.
How to Update Your Graphics Card Driver
Graphics are paramount to any of today’s video games so you need to make sure your PC Graphics Card is running at peak performance. You can do this by making sure your Graphics Card Drivers are kept up to date. Read our blog How to Update Your PC Graphics Card Driver to learn how to do it.
How to Upgrade Your PC Hardware
Maybe its time to give your old PC a facelift with some new components. Upgrading the following list of components on your PC will result in a better in-game experience. Just remember that there is a price point at which it will become less expensive to replace the entire PC box verses upgrading many of its component parts.
Consider upgrading the following components:
- CPU (Central Processing Unit)
- RAM (Random Access Memory
- Graphics Card (GPU)
- Hard Drive
- Motherboard
Tips for Upgrading Your PC Hardware
For the CPU, look at the clock speed and the number of cores in a multi-code CPU. The RAM, CPU and Motherboard all need to be compatible. Good gaming graphics cards are expensive so save this upgrade for last. Consider upgrading to a SSD (Solid State Drive). It is faster and with no moving parts.
The remaining items below are things you can do right now to boost your in-game performance without spending a dime.
Conserve Resources By Closing All Unnecessary Programs
You may not realize it but most PC users have multiple applications and multiple internet browser tabs open all at the same time! I’m guilty of this all the time! This allocates much needed PC resources to apps other than your Video Game. Just like in real life, keeping your PC desktop tidy and organized saves resources.
How to Allocate More PC Resources to Your Video Game
After closing all unnecessary applications you can then make sure the remaining PC resources are going to your Video Game application by giving it a higher priority.
Here are the steps to do this:
Save your Video Game progress but keep the game running.
With your mouse, right-click on your Windows Taskbar and select Task Manager.
You will see the Task Manager dialog with multiple tabs at the top.
The Process tab lists all of the programs that are currently running. Scroll down until you see the name of your Video Game. Remember how it is named.
Now select the Details tab at the top. It will list all of the application executables that are currently running. Also select the Name column to sort the list alphabetically as shown below.
Scroll down until you locate the executable (i.e., .exe) that matches your Video Game program name.
Right-click on the Name and move the cursor over the menu option that says Set Priority.
An additional menu will appear and from this menu you want to select Realtime. It is the first option on the list.
OK, now you close the Task Manager by selecting the X at the top right corner of the dialog.
How to Monitor PC Performance During Game Play
You can monitor your PC performance while playing your favorite Video Game.
Here are the steps to do this:
Save your Video Game progress but keep the game running.
With your mouse, right-click on your Windows Taskbar and select Task Manager.
You will see the Task Manager dialog with multiple tabs at the top.
Select the Performance tab.
Here you will see performance graphs of resource allocations including CPU, Memory, Disk, Ethernet and GPU. If you see any of these max out at 100% Utilization, then you know that your PC is struggling to keep up with the demands of your favorite Video Game,
