Fortunately, the process is not too complicated. In the following guide, we’ll discuss the best methods to help you optimize your computer for gaming.
1. Disable Startup Applications
Usually, startup applications don’t exert an influence on gaming performance. However, the presence of a heavy application or an app with high consumption will most certainly have an impact. Ultimately, the result depends on the applications you are running on your PC. If you think they are interfering with gaming performance, disable them. Doing this could make your PC run faster.
2. Disable Resource-intensive Applications
Some applications can eat up a lot of memory and CPU power. So, if you want to start a gaming session, disable those applications beforehand.
3. Disable Animations
If you tend to favor speed rather than appearance, then you should probably consider disabling animations. Windows 11 is a lot smoother, and that, in part, is due to its animation effects. But while they make things look good, they can slow down your system. After executing these steps, Windows 11 won’t look as smooth, but the system performance will improve.
4. Tweak Visual Effects
As we saw above, Windows 11 is set to look its best, but that might impact your gaming performance. To prevent your games conflicting with your GUI that’s running in the background do this:
5. Use the Ultimate-Performance Power Plan
You might also want to switch to the the “Ultimate Performance” power plan on Windows 11. This is an option that enables your PC to consume more power in order to deliver the necessary performance. Windows power plan is set to “Balanced” by default. So, you have to change to the “Ultimate Performance” plan manually. After executing these steps, your system will perform better as it is consuming more power in favor of performance.But one thing you do need to remember, this particular power plan is suitable for high-end PCs and laptops only.
6. Update the Graphics Driver(s)
One of the crucial elements for enhancing the gaming performance is the graphics driver. So, it needs to be updated frequently.
7. Activate Game Mode
Game Mode is not a new feature, as it was also available on Windows 10. It allows the users to enjoy uninterrupted gaming performance. There’s no noticeable difference between the Windows 10 Game Mode and the the latest version. In Windows 11, it continues to optimize the system for playing games and even improves the framerates. Ideally, it is best to activate the game mode.
8. Disable Automatic Updates
In theory, the new updates should be good for the system, as they come equipped with security patches, bug fixes, etc. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. There have been numerous instances where updates did more harm than good. So, it might be best to disable the auto-update feature and update Windows as you please in your own time. As you can see, the steps are simple. But this isn’t the only way to pause Windows updates. If you are extremely cautious about not installing unnecessary updates, you should learn other ways to stop Windows from updating. Image credit: Unsplash All screenshots by Saurav Dey For example, if you have a laptop with a NVIDIA GPU you can visit the “NVIDIA Control Panel” and make necessary changes to enhance gaming performance. To find it on computer, right-click on desktop and select “Show more options -> NVIDIA Control Panel”.
