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How To Tweak Settings to Optimize Windows 11 for PC Gaming

Windows 11 offers various features and settings to optimize your PC for gaming and achieve the best possible performance. As a PC gamer, you can tweak these settings to elevate your gaming experience.

Enable Game Mode

The Game Mode is a dedicated feature in Windows 11 that allows the operating system to prioritize system resources for gaming when enabled. It allocates more CPU and GPU resources to games while reducing the impact of background processes.

To enable Game Mode:

  1. Open Settings
  2. Go to Gaming > Game Mode
  3. Toggle “Game Mode” to On

Enabling Game Mode can help achieve higher and more stable frame rates in games.

Adjust GPU Settings

You can optimize the performance of your graphics card from the Settings app:

  1. Go to System > Display > Graphics
  2. Click on “Change default graphics settings”
  3. Set your preferred GPU to “High performance” for all games and apps

This ensures games utilize the full potential of your GPU for maximum fps.

Disable Background Apps

Background apps and processes can consume CPU and RAM resources that could have been utilized for gaming.

To disable startup apps:

  1. Go to Apps > Startup
  2. Toggle off any unnecessary apps

This prevents these apps from launching at boot and freeing up system resources.

Use High Performance Power Plan

Switching to the High Performance power plan forces your CPU and GPU to run at higher frequencies to deliver maximum performance.

To change power plan:

  1. Search for “Power & sleep settings”
  2. Click on “Additional power settings”
  3. Select “High performance”

Tweak Visual Settings

You can disable some visual effects in Windows 11 that put extra load on your GPU:

  1. Search for “Performance”
  2. Go to “Custom” and adjust settings:
  • Animations – Off
  • Transparency effects – Off

Set the Highest Refresh Rate

Ensure your display is set to the highest refresh rate it supports for super smooth gaming:

  1. Go to System > Display > Advanced display
  2. Set screen refresh rate to the highest available rate

For example, set it to 165 Hz if your monitor supports that rate.

Disable Game Bar and Game DVR

Windows 11 comes with Game Bar and Game DVR features enabled by default. You should disable them for better gaming performance:

  1. Search for “Game”
  2. Open “Game Bar” settings
  3. Toggle “Record game clips, screenshots…” to Off

Close Background Apps Before Gaming

Make sure to close any unnecessary apps before launching your games:

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
  2. Go to the Processes tab
  3. Right click and select “End task” on any unimportant background apps and processes

This frees up RAM and CPU resources for your games.

Set CPU Priority for Games

You can manually set the CPU priority for games to high so they get preference over background tasks:

  1. Open Task Manager > Details tab
  2. Right click the game executable
  3. Set priority to “High”

Install Games on an SSD

Installing games on a solid state drive (SSD) drastically improves load times and overall performance compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDD).

Disable Windows Updates

Consider temporarily disabling Windows Updates while gaming to prevent interruptions, restarts, or sudden fps drops.

  1. Search for “Windows Update”
  2. Click “Advanced options”
  3. Toggle updates to “Pause updates for 7 days”

Remember to re-enable afterwards for security.

By tweaking these Windows 11 settings, PC gamers can optimize their systems to achieve the best possible gaming experience. Make sure to experiment with different configurations to find what works best for your setup.

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