5 secret tips to boost your gaming performance in Windows 10

If your PC is running slowly after upgrading to Windows 10, don’t resort to resetting your device just yet.

There are a number of hidden options and configurations you can change in order to improve performance.

Check out 5 tweaks to boost your Windows 10 gaming performance below:

Nagle’s Algorithm

Nagle’s algorithm combines several small packets into a single, larger packet for more efficient transmissions. Disabling this feature can help reduce latency in certain games.

By default, this feature is enabled in Windows 10.

In order to disable “nagling”, you will have to tweak the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\

Now look for the key with your IP address listed. Under this key, create the following DWORD value:

TcpAckFrequency and set it to 1 to disable “nagling” for gaming.
TCPNoDelay and set it also to 1 to disable “nagling”
TcpDelAckTicks and set it to 0

Xbox DVR

This feature records gameplay and screenshots but can considerably affect performance, causing issues such as micro-stutter and framerate irregularities.

Here’s how to fix the problem, courtesy of ListeningPost:

Go into your Xbox app and disable Game DVR via the toggle switch. You may have to login to see these settings.

Remove Bloatware

Pre-installed software may seem quite harmless, but it can drastically affect gaming performance, especially on certain laptops.

In some cases, gaming performance increase by over 50% after uninstalling bloatware and pre-installed apps.

Check your control panel and active processes for any unnecessary tasks and uninstall all programs that you don’t need.

Multimedia Class Scheduler

Some games that use the Multimedia Class Scheduler service can only use up to 80% of the CPU. The MMCSS ensures prioritized access to CPU resources without denying CPU resources to lower-priority background applications.

Implementing this tweak requires locating the following registry key, according to Back2Gaming:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile.

Now create a new DWORD and name it to “SystemResponsiveness”, set its hexadecimal value to 00000000 for pure gaming/streaming.

In the same Registry hive as the above tweak, you can also change the priority of games.

To implement this tweak, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile\Tasks\Games and change the following registry values:

Set “GPU Priority” to 8 for gaming.
Set “Priority” to 6 for gaming.

Power and Visual Settings

While this may be obvious, many gamers do not correctly set up their computer’s power plan and visual settings.

If you have a discrete GPU (AMD or Nvidia), head over to your graphics card’s control panel and make sure that the card’s overall rendering setting is set to performance.

Additionally, ensure that your computer isn’t running in Power Saver mode. Try tweaking your PC’s power plans to improve performance at the cost of power saving features.