Are you looking for guides online to tweak Windows 10 for Gaming? Then you came to the right place. In this article, we will discuss ways to configure your Windows 10 operating system for gaming.
On our previous guide, we have talked about how to optimize your PC running Windows 10 but for this one, we will talk about ways to make your Windows 10 run well when gaming but before we can start walking you through our guide, there are a few things you need to do first.
Things to do before doing any changes within your OS:
- Windows 10 is up to date.
- Make a backup image of your system in case something goes wrong.
Before we continue our Windows 10 tweak guide, we would like to show you the difference of performance before and after tweaking as seen on the Fire Strike Benchmark score image below.
All results shown in the image uses the same hardware and clock speeds.
System Setup
Components | Windows 10 with Tweaks | Windows 10 w/o Tweaks | Windows 8.1 w/o Tweaks |
i5-3570k | 4.2 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 4.5 GHz |
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 | 1600mhz CL9 | 1600mhz CL9 | 1600mhz CL9 |
Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970 | Stock | Stock | OC 100 MHz |
OCZ Vertex 4 SSD | |||
ASRock Pro 3 Z77 | |||
Seasonic 650x KM3 Gold | |||
Fire Strike Benchmark Score | 10050 | 9973 | 9950 |
How to Tweak Windows 10 for Gaming
Nagle’s Algorithm
Nagle’s algorithm combines several small packets into a single, larger packet for more efficient transmissions. This is designed to improve throughput efficiency of data transmission. Disabling “nagling” can help reduce latency/ping in some games. Nagle’s algorithm is enabled in Windows by default.
To implement this tweak, modify the following registry keys.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{NIC-id}
For the {NIC-id}, look for the one with your IP address listed. Under this {NIC-id} 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
Note: Some reports say that the tweaks did reduce latency when playing Dota 2 and League of Legends but it doesn’t work for some. I have tried it and my latency improved from 110 to 90ms (SEA Server) when playing Dota 2.
Network Throttling Index
Windows implements a network throttling mechanism, the idea behind such throttling is that processing of network packets can be a resource-intensive task. It is beneficial to turn off such throttling for achieving maximum throughput.
To implement this tweak, run regedit and modify the registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile. Under SystemProfile, create a DWORD value and name it to “NetworkThrottlingIndex” then set its Hexadecimal value to ffffffff for gaming and max throughput: ffffffff completely disables throttling.
System Gaming Responsiveness
Multimedia streaming and some games that uses “Multimedia Class Scheduler” service (MMCSS) can only utilize up to 80% of the CPU. The “Multimedia Class Scheduler” service (MMCSS) ensures prioritized access to CPU resources, without denying CPU resources to lower-priority background applications.
To implement this tweak, run regedit and modify the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile. From there, 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:
- “GPU Priority” change its values to 8 for gaming.
- “Priority” set to 6 for gaming.
Remove Pre-Installed Apps
Windows 10 like Windows 8 and 8.1 also came with pre-installed apps or some call it bloatware. These apps are good if you find them useful and are great for tablet platforms but I do not find them worth having for a desktop PC.
Additionally, to save you some storage space we recommend to remove the pre-installed apps that came with Windows 10 if you aren’t going to use those apps at all.
To do this, run an elevated power shell and enter the following commands to remove one or more apps of your choice:
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingFinance_10004.3.193.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingNews_10004.3.193.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingSports_10004.3.193.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.BingWeather_10004.3.193.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Getstarted_2015.622.1108.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_2015.4218.23751.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_3.1.6103.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Office.OneNote_2015.4201.10091.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.People_2015.627.626.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.SkypeApp_3.2.1.0_neutral_~_kzf8qxf38zg5c
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2015.618.1921.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_2015.619.10.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_2015.619.10.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsCamera_2015.612.1501.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_2015.6002.42251.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsMaps_2015.619.213.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsPhone_2015.620.10.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder_2015.615.1606.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.XboxApp_2015.617.130.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneMusic_2019.6.10841.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.ZuneVideo_2019.6.10811.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Remove-AppxPackage -package Microsoft.3DBuilder_10.0.0.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Moreover, OneNote tends to eat your bandwidth as it uploads your newly created files or latest system updates frequently. This is a bad feature for some who are subscribed to a lame internet service provider.
God Mode
One of the most favorite features we love with Windows 10 is the God Mode. God Mode is a dedicated folder that lets you see all control panels in one place. To unlock this feature, all you have to do is right click on your desktop and create a new folder. Rename that folder to GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.
If you don’t want to risk on this kind of guide and just want simpler things then put faster parts in your system instead. That’s the best way to tweak your Windows 10 for gaming. But replacement parts aren’t free, and computer enthusiasts know that the key is to put their money where it counts most.
Reference
Windows 10 Optimization by Nielzx of Back2Gaming
Gaming Tweaks by Philip of SpeedGuide
Windows 10 Tweaks by W1zzard of TechPowerUp