Here Are 10 Tips to Optimize Windows 10 for Gaming

PC gaming is one of the popular activities in the modern age of time. And Windows 10 is the favorite one when it comes to the operating system. However, some users claim that sometimes the games on Windows 10 are slow and they want to know how to make games run faster on computer.

In general, the PC gaming performance can be affected by the graphics card, CPU, memory, hard disk, network, and so on.

So, in the following section, we will show you 10 tips to optimize Windows 10 for gaming.

Quick Video Guide:

10 Tips to Optimize Windows 10 for Gaming

In order to optimize PC for gaming Window 10, follow on the instructions below.

1. Optimize Windows 10 with Game Mode

As for how to improve gaming performance on Windows 10, you can optimize Windows 10 with Game Mode.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and I Key together to open Settings.
2. In the Settings page, click Gaming.
3. In the next pop-up window, go to the Game Mode panel, and switch the button Use Game Mode to On.

When all steps are finished, the gaming performance may be improved.

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2. Disable Nagle’s Algorithm

Nagle’s algorithm is a way to improve the efficiency of TCP/IP networks by decreasing the number of packets that need to be sent over the network. That is to say, it bundles data packets at the cost of a smoother internet connection.

So, in order to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, you can choose to disable Nagle’s algorithm. Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.

2. Type regedit in the box and click OK to continue.

3. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces

4. Then you can see that there are several comprised folders with numbers and letters.

5. To access the file, match your IP address to the listed DhcpIPAddress in one of those folders.

6. Right-click on the right panel and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. You need to create two new keys and name them as TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay.

7. Then double-click each of them and change their value data to 1.

After all steps are finished, the Nagle’s algorithm has been disabled. Computer gaming performance would be improved.

3. Manage Your Active Hours

Windows 10 may install updates and reboot your computer without your permission or when you are playing games. In such a situation, your computer gaming performance will be affected.

To fix that, you may disable automatic update directly. But it is not recommended to do that. In order to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, there is another more intelligent way that you can set the Active Hours more appropriately. By doing that, you can specify the gaming and working schedule in Windows and prevent Windows from updating and from rebooting during that time.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
2. Then choose Update & Security to continue.
3. On the right panel, click Change active hours.
4. Then set the start time and end time based on your needs. Then click Save.

After that, the computer will not restart during the active time and you will not be affected during playing the game. So, the game performance would be improved.

4. Upgrade to SSD

To optimize Windows 10 for gaming, you can choose to upgrade the hardware of your computer so that making your computer faster.

As for upgrade hardware and how to makes Windows 10 faster for gaming, you can choose to upgrade HDD to SSD. But please note that upgrading to SSD would not increase the performance directly, but it could speed up your Windows 10 and reduce the game loading time.

Hence, you can choose to upgrade HDD to SSD so as to improve computer performance.

To upgrade HDD to SSD without data loss, you can choose the clone tool – MiniTool ShadowMaker. It enables you to clone OS from HDD to SSD without data loss.

You can download MiniTool ShadowMaker from the following button or choose to purchase an advanced edition.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Now, we will show you how to upgrade HDD to SSD without data loss with MiniTool ShadowMaker.

1. Install MiniTool ShadowMaker and launch it.

2. Click Keep Trial.

3. Then click Connect in This Computer to enter its main interface.

4. After entering its main interface, go to the Tools page.

5. Then click Clone Disk to continue.

6. Next, click Source module to choose select the clone source. Here, you can choose the original system disk as the clone source. Then click Finish.

7. Click Destination module to choose the target disk. Here, you need to choose the SSD as the target disk. Then click Finish.

Then click OK.

All data on the target disk will be destroyed during the clone process. If you have important files on it, please back up them Then click Yes to continue.

The disk cloning process will begin. The time it takes depends on the number of files on the hard drive and please do not interrupt the cloning process.

When the disk clone process is finished, you will receive a warning message that informs you that the original hard drive and the target disk have the same signature. If both are connected to your computer, either of them will be marked as offline. In addition, if you want to boot your computer from the target disk, please change the BIOS setting first.

After upgrading HDD to SSD, you can run games again and the loading time would be decreased.

5. Tweak Your Visual Effects Settings

The graphical user interface can be a hindrance to your processing power. Many background graphics are turned on by default, which will affect the available processing power of your PC when playing games on the computer in the foreground. So, as for how to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, tweak your visual effects settings. Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Type View advanced system settings in the search box of Windows and choose the best-matched one.
2. In the pop-up window, switch to the Advanced tab.
3. Then click Settings under Performance section to continue.
4. In the pop-up window, in the Visual Effects tab, choose the option Adjust for best performance. Then click Apply and OK to confirm the changes.

When all steps are finished, your system visual effects will be changed and the computer performance will be improved.

6. Prevent Steam from Auto-Updating Games

Many Windows users buy and install games via Steam. There is an annoying thing with Steam. It will not allow you to prevent automatic updates across all your games. Upgrading in the background eats up PC’s memory and will slow down gaming performance.

So, in order to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, you can try preventing Steam from auto-updating games.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Go to your Steam account.
2. Then go to Steam > Settings > Download to continue.
3. Uncheck the option Allow downloads during gameplay.

After all steps are finished, the game will not update during the gameplay process and the game performance would be improved.

7. Use High-Performance Power Plan

Changing power plan may help you to optimize Windows 10 for gaming since power plans are designed to better manage battery use on portable devices. And many Windows 10 desktop users say that this solution helps them to improve game performance.

Now, we will show you how to use high-performance power plan to optimize Windows 10 for gaming.

1. Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
2. In the pop-up window, choose System to continue.
3. Then navigate to the Power & Sleep tab and click Additional power settings.
4. In the Power Options window, check the option High Performance.

When all steps are finished, you have optimized PC for gaming Windows 10.

8. Update GPU Drivers

The Graphic Processor Unit is the core of your PC gaming experience and it requires the latest Windows driver to keep games work faster and better. In addition, an outdated driver may lead to some other problems, such as bugs in the computer, or system crash.

So, in order to improve the performance of the game, you can choose to update GPU driver. Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.

2. Then type devmgmt.msc in the box and click OK to continue.

3. In the Device Manager window, expand the Display adapter and select the driver on your computer.

4. Right-click it and choose Update driver to continue.

5. Then you can choose Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the wizard to continue.

When updating the GPU driver to the latest version, check whether the game performance is improved.

9. Disable Mouse Acceleration

As for how to make Windows 10 faster for gaming, you can choose to disable mouse accelerations. Disabling mouse acceleration could improve your personal gaming performance. Mouse acceleration enables your mouse to move not only based on detection of physical move but also on the speed.

So, in order to optimize PC for gaming Windows 10, try to disable mouse acceleration.  

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
2. In the pop-up window, click Devices.
3. Then navigate to the Mouse tab, and click Additional mouse options.
4. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Pointer Options and uncheck the option Enhance pointer precision.

When all steps are finished, your computer and game performance would be improved.

10. Install DirectX 12

DirectX 12 is a necessary application for anyone who wants to play games on Windows 10. It enables users to communicate with your computer and tell it what to do. So, in order to improve the performance of your computer, you can choose to install DirectX 12.

Now, we will show you check whether you have already installed the DirectX 12 on your computer.

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.
2. Then type dxdiag in the box and click OK to continue.
3. If you have already installed the DirectX 12 on your computer, it will be opened as below.

If you don’t have the DirectX 12 on your computer, just go ahead to download and install it. Then just go to the Windows Update page to click Check for updates to continue.

As to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, try to install DirectX 12 on your computer.

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Bottom Line

As for how to tweak Windows 10 for gaming and productivity, this post has shown 10 tips. If you want to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, try these solutions.

If you have any better advice to optimize PC for gaming Windows 10, please share it in the comment zone.

If you have any problem with MiniTool program, please contact us via the email [email protected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.

Optimize Windows 10 for Gaming FAQ