Fun time! Here’s how to boost your PC for gaming (advanced hacks)
Playing video games on a computer can be both fun and frustrating, the latter often resulting not only from poor skills of the player but also from insufficient power allocated for games in the system. While the skills can be built up only with time — there’s thus far no way to upload kung-fu straight into the cortex, as was shown in one legendary flick — the system can be tweaked rather quickly and painlessly to make the gaming experience much more enjoyable.
In the previous installment of this two-part series, “Fun time! Here’s how to boost your PC for gaming (basic stuff),” we covered, well, basic tips and tricks that can up the performance of a Windows computer for playing purposes. This part, as the name implies, suggests tweaks that may require more tinkering around, but may well deliver a more significant boost.
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling (HAGS) is a built-in Windows function that kind of gives you control over how the power of your GPU (graphics processor unit) is allocated. Normally, it’s the CPU that handles that; with HAGS turned on, it's the GPU itself that takes the reins instead of relying on the CPU to manage these operations. This can lead to improved efficiency, reduced latency, and potentially better gaming and graphics performance.
Why does this trick work? The GPU scheduler manages frame rendering and memory handling more efficiently, delivering smoother frame delivery and decreasing input lag, especially in graphics-intensive workloads like gaming or 3D rendering.
To switch HAGS on and off, go to Settings → System → Display → Graphics Settings → Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
Adjust in-game and GPU panel settings
Many games opt for higher-level graphics out of the box, but such settings are not always optimal. In many cases, especially when the hardware you play on is not exactly top shelf, a compromise can give you a much better playing experience. When everything is flowing smoothly, you won’t even notice that some objects in the game are not as detailed as they could be.
Some of the settings you can play with are resolution, texture quality, shadows and reflections, anti-aliasing, draw distance, and post-processing.
As for the GPU, many cards — NVIDIA’s, for example, — come with software that includes a control panel. There, you can typically tinker with power management, latency mode, texture quality, refresh rate, and even set up game-specific profiles.
Create a dedicated gaming account
This piece of advice is for those who take their gaming quite seriously. The key advantage of a dedicated account is that it can be configured with minimal startup programs and background services, reducing CPU, RAM, and disk usage during gaming sessions, which means more power to the game itself.
Making an account in Windows is easy: go to Settings → Accounts → Family & other users → Add someone else to this PC, and follow the instructions there. Once done, log in to this account and adjust the startup routine as suggested in this piece:
Optimizing Windows startup: tips from Microsoft and more
Adjust advanced power settings
To a certain extent, how your computer manages power shapes the way games behave, so optimizing that aspect for performance can improve the overall experience. Here is what you can do:
- Set both Minimum and Maximum Processor State to 100% to prevent your CPU from throttling down during gaming or intense workloads.
- Set “Turn off hard disk after” to 0 minutes to avoid delays or stuttering caused by the hard drive going into sleep mode during gaming.
- If available, set the integrated GPU or dedicated GPU power settings to maximum performance to ensure the highest clock speeds and power delivery during gaming.
- Set sleep modes to “never” to avoid interruptions.
This is done in Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options; there, choose Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings.
