Windows has a plethora of services, features, and programs that we seldom use. These unnecessary processes add extra load to the computer components, reducing the system's power in games. Today, we will discuss pc optimization for gaming to speed up and enhance your PC.
When Optimization Can Help
Optimization of the operating system and disabling unnecessary services will benefit owners of low-end computers and laptops with outdated hard drives. In these systems, the bottlenecks typically are:
- Storage drives;
- Central processing units;
- RAM modules.
For owners of modern computers, tweaking Windows is unlikely to help. Frame rates in games won’t increase significantly, and rendering times in programs will hardly decrease. At best, optimization on Windows will reduce FPS drops and slightly improve the smoothness of gameplay.
Before starting with how to get more fps, determine which PC components are causing the low Windows performance and low FPS in games. For this, you need to install any monitoring software. The most popular one is MSI Afterburner. After installation and setup, run any game and check the sensor readings.
- If the graphics processor (GPU) is almost fully loaded, focusing on the video card won’t help.
- If at least one core of the central processing unit is almost fully loaded, then focusing on the CPU settings should help.
- If the RAM is fully loaded, then focusing on the best settings for Windows optimization might help.
However, these tips won’t help owners of very old budget PCs. If the system requirements of the games and programs don't even come close to your system's configuration, don’t expect a performance boost.
Power Settings
Power settings heavily affect the maximum performance of computers and laptops. This setting limits the power for the CPU and GPU. For example, to deliver maximum performance, the CPU needs 65 watts of energy. If you limit the power settings, the CPU will consume less energy, around 25-35 watts. This significantly reduces its power but increases the battery life of the laptop.
If you are using a desktop computer or your laptop is plugged in, you should not limit the power. Go to "Settings," open the "Power & Sleep" menu, and enable "High Performance." This allows the CPU and GPU to run at full power.
System Settings
Enabling Game Mode
Game Mode appeared in Windows not too long ago. This feature disables some services and tasks. Additionally, Game Mode prioritizes the system's resources for gaming, making games run smoother by freeing up CPU cores from background tasks and slightly freeing up RAM.
To enable Game Mode, go to "Settings," select the "Gaming" tab, and find the "Game Mode" section. Turn it on, and the settings for pc optimization for gaming will be saved.
Sleep and Hibernate Modes
Hibernate is similar to Sleep mode. The computer doesn’t completely shut down, and part of the data is reserved in RAM and storage, allowing the user to quickly return to work. Sleep mode usually activates when the system is idle for a few minutes or hours, while hibernate kicks in when the computer is not used for a long time.
Sleep and Hibernate modes are essential for saving battery life, which is crucial for laptop users. If your device is plugged in, it's better to disable these functions. This will reduce the load on the storage, slightly free up RAM, and speed up Windows.
To disable Sleep mode, type "Power & Sleep settings" in the taskbar search window. In the "Screen" and "Sleep" sections, set "Never." To disable Hibernate, press the Win + R keys. A command prompt will appear in the bottom left corner. Type "powercfg -h off" and click "OK."
User Account Control
In modern versions of Windows, there are many services responsible for security. One of them is User Account Control. Before running programs, this feature constantly notifies you that the operating system settings might change.
In reality, User Account Control causes more problems than it solves. This feature is incredibly annoying with endless notifications, and many users ignore them. Additionally, User Account Control can reduce computer performance. Therefore, it’s better to disable it. You won't lose anything and will only simplify your PC usage.
In the taskbar search window, type "Control Panel." Find the "Security and Maintenance" section. Go to it and in the "Change User Account Control settings" section, move the slider down.
Indexing Service
When you type the name of a file or program in the search window of File Explorer, the system immediately displays the results. This instant search works thanks to the indexing service. Although useful, it heavily loads the storage, so it's better to disable it. When searching for files, you’ll need to press the "Enter" key for the system to start searching.
To disable indexing, go to "This PC." Right-click on the disk and select "Properties." Then uncheck "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed," click "OK," and the settings will be saved. If you have multiple disks, repeat this for all drives. This will slightly improve the speed of your computer.
System Protection
Windows creates restore points in case of errors or failures. These allow you to revert to earlier system states. For example, if you install a malicious program that significantly disrupts your PC, you can use a restore point to revert to an earlier state. This way, you won't have to reinstall Windows and lose all your files and programs.
We recommend disabling System Protection only as a last resort, as this feature is truly valuable and can save you from complete data loss. If you've assessed the risks and decided to disable System Protection for better performance, go to "Control Panel" and then "System and Security." Next, go to "System Protection," select the drive with the operating system, click "Configure," and then "Disable system protection."
Defragmentation
Hard drives are very unreliable. Over time, bad sectors—damaged areas where new data cannot be written—appear on hard drives. The defragmentation service partially solves this problem. The algorithm redistributes file fragments so that they are read sequentially. This increases the speed of your computer, and files and programs open faster.
The defragmentation service runs automatically and always works in the background, which adds an additional load on the computer components.
To disable defragmentation, type "Optimize Drives" in the taskbar search window. Click "Change settings" and uncheck "Run on a schedule." Ideally, you should re-enable this function when you stop playing games, but if that’s too inconvenient, at least manually defragment once a month. To do this, also go to the "Optimize Drives" menu, select the desired drive, and click "Optimize."
Background Apps
Some programs and applications start with your computer and run in the background. This means they are running, but not open on your desktop. Additionally, their icons aren’t on the taskbar, and you can only see them in the Task Manager.
The computer doesn’t notify you of the operation or startup of background applications. However, they slightly take away CPU power and occupy space in the RAM.
Type "Background apps" in the taskbar search window. Disable all utilities listed. This should improve your computer's performance.
Cleaning Up Startup Programs
When your computer starts, some programs may also load automatically. This significantly slows down PC startup and can lead to freezes and lags right after the desktop appears. Additionally, these programs take up a lot of space in the RAM, consume CPU power, and heavily load the storage. Therefore, it’s very important to remove them from startup so that nothing interferes with the computer's startup.
Go to "Task Manager" and click on the "Startup" tab. In the window that opens, disable all unnecessary applications. To do this, simply right-click on the programs and select "Disable."
Conclusions
Download MSI Afterburner and check which components are most loaded in games. If it’s the CPU and RAM modules, start tweaking and optimizing Windows. First, change the power settings, clean up startup programs, and enable Game Mode, then disable:
- Disk indexing;
- Sleep and hibernate modes;
- Automatic defragmentation;
- User Account Control;
- Background apps.
Remember that even the best optimization tips won’t help if the system requirements don’t match the computer’s configuration.
Windows Settings on HYPERPC Computers
HYPERPC computers and laptops are built using advanced components, and they have enough power to deliver high performance in any games. Therefore, additional Windows optimization and disabling services aren’t necessary.
Arabic 
English