A sluggish gaming PC doesn’t always mean you need new hardware. Windows 10 and Windows 11 both have built-in settings that, when configured properly, can squeeze noticeably more frames per second out of your existing setup. Driver updates, power settings, background processes, and storage optimization all play a role in how smoothly games run.
This guide covers every practical optimization you can make in 2026 to get better gaming performance on Windows 10 and Windows 11. Each step includes exactly where to find the setting and what to change. Most of these take less than five minutes.
How to Update Graphics Drivers for Better Gaming Performance
Outdated graphics drivers are the most common reason games run poorly. GPU manufacturers release driver updates regularly that improve frame rates, fix stuttering, and add support for new titles. Skipping driver updates for even a few months can cost you 10 to 20 percent of your potential performance in newer games.
Identify your GPU first. Press Windows + X, click Device Manager, and expand “Display adapters.” You will see your graphics card listed there.
- For NVIDIA cards, download and install the GeForce Experience app from nvidia.com or use the NVIDIA App (which replaced GeForce Experience in 2024). Open it, go to the Drivers tab, and click “Download” if an update is available.
- For AMD cards, download AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition from amd.com. Open it, click the gear icon, then “Check for Updates.”
- For Intel Arc or integrated Intel graphics, download the Intel Arc Control app or use Intel Driver & Support Assistant from intel.com.
Always use “Clean Install” or “Factory Reset” options when updating GPU drivers. This removes old driver files that can cause conflicts and stuttering. Both NVIDIA and AMD offer this option during the installation process.
Avoid using Windows Update for GPU drivers. The drivers Microsoft distributes through Windows Update are often months behind the versions available directly from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. Always go to the manufacturer’s website or app.
Best In-Game Settings to Increase FPS on PC
Adjusting in-game graphics settings is the fastest way to gain frames without touching Windows itself. Not all settings have the same impact on performance. Some options cut your frame rate in half while barely improving how the game looks.
| Setting | FPS impact | Recommended for low-end PCs |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Very high | Lower to 1080p or use render scaling at 75 to 85% |
| Ray tracing | Very high | Off |
| Shadows | High | Low or Medium |
| Anti-aliasing | Medium to high | FXAA or TAA (avoid MSAA) |
| View distance | Medium | Medium |
| Volumetric lighting/fog | Medium | Low or Off |
| Ambient occlusion | Medium | Off or SSAO (not HBAO+) |
| Texture quality | Low (if VRAM sufficient) | Medium or High (depends on VRAM) |
| Motion blur | Low | Off |
| Depth of field | Low | Off |
Start by using the game’s built-in benchmark if one exists. Run it at your current settings, note the average FPS, then lower the most impactful settings one at a time. Ray tracing, resolution, and shadow quality give you the biggest gains when reduced.
Upscaling technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS render the game at a lower resolution and then use AI or spatial algorithms to upscale the image. Enabling one of these (depending on your GPU) can boost FPS by 30 to 60 percent with minimal visual quality loss. Check if your game supports any of them in the graphics settings menu.
How to Enable Game Mode on Windows 10 and 11
Game Mode is a built-in Windows feature that prioritizes your game’s access to CPU and GPU resources. It prevents Windows Update from running driver installations and blocks most notification popups while you play. On modern versions of Windows 10 and 11, Game Mode is enabled by default, but it’s worth confirming.
- Open Settings (Windows + I).
- Click Gaming.
- Click Game Mode.
- Make sure the toggle is set to On.
Game Mode won’t transform your performance on a high-end system, but it helps on mid-range and lower-end hardware where system processes compete with your game for resources. The difference is most noticeable when you have limited RAM (8 GB or less) or a CPU with four or fewer cores.
While you’re in the Gaming settings, also check the Xbox Game Bar section. If you don’t use Game Bar for recording clips or screenshots, turning it off frees up a small amount of system resources. Go to Settings, then Gaming, then Xbox Game Bar, and toggle it off.
How to Set Windows Power Plan to High Performance
Windows uses power plans to balance energy consumption and performance. The default “Balanced” plan throttles your CPU and GPU when they’re not under maximum load, which can cause stuttering and lower frame rates in games. Switching to High Performance removes these restrictions.
For a different take, see our guide on how to check CPU temp.
- Open Control Panel (search for it in the Start menu).
- Click Hardware and Sound, then Power Options.
- Select “High performance.” If you don’t see it, click “Show additional plans.”
- On laptops, keep in mind that High Performance drains the battery faster. Switch back to Balanced when gaming on battery power.
Windows 11 also has a “Best performance” slider. Click the battery icon in the taskbar (on laptops) or go to Settings, then System, then Power & battery, and move the power mode slider to “Best performance.” This works alongside the High Performance power plan for maximum effect.
Desktop users with AMD Ryzen processors should also check for the “AMD Ryzen High Performance” power plan, which is installed by the AMD chipset driver. It handles boost clocking more aggressively than the generic Windows plan. NVIDIA GPU users don’t need a special power plan, but should set the “Power management mode” to “Prefer maximum performance” inside the NVIDIA Control Panel under 3D Settings.
How to Disable Startup Programs That Slow Down Gaming
Every program that launches at startup consumes CPU, RAM, and sometimes GPU resources. Fewer background programs means more resources available for your game. Many PCs accumulate dozens of startup programs over time, from chat apps and cloud sync tools to manufacturer bloatware.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click the Startup tab (in Windows 11, click “Startup apps” in the left sidebar).
- Review each program. Right-click and select “Disable” for anything you don’t need running constantly.
Safe to disable: Spotify, Discord (relaunch manually when needed), Skype, OneDrive (if you don’t rely on syncing), Adobe Creative Cloud, Steam (it’ll launch when you open a game), Epic Games Launcher, manufacturer utilities like HP Support Assistant or Lenovo Vantage.
Don’t disable: your antivirus software, audio drivers (Realtek Audio Console), GPU control panels (they usually don’t appear here), and any service you don’t recognize without researching it first. When in doubt, search the program name online before disabling it.
How to Clear Temporary Files on Windows for Gaming
Temporary files don’t directly lower your FPS, but a nearly full drive can cause stuttering, long load times, and poor virtual memory performance. Windows stores cached data, update leftovers, error logs, and browser caches that pile up over months. Clearing them frees up space your system needs for swap files and game caches.
- Open Settings, then System, then Storage.
- Click “Temporary files.” Windows will scan and list the categories.
- Check the boxes for Temporary files, Delivery Optimization Files, Thumbnails, and Windows Update Cleanup.
- Do not check “Downloads” unless you want to delete everything in your Downloads folder.
- Click “Remove files.”
You can also enable Storage Sense to handle this automatically. In the same Storage settings page, toggle on Storage Sense and configure it to run monthly. It will clean temporary files and empty the recycle bin on a schedule.
For a deeper clean, press Windows + R, type %temp%, and press Enter. Select all files in the folder (Ctrl + A) and delete them. Some files will be in use and can’t be deleted, which is normal. Skip those. This folder can hold several gigabytes of old data that Storage Sense sometimes misses.
How to Defragment HDD or Optimize SSD for Faster Game Loading
The type of storage drive you have determines what kind of optimization you need. HDDs (hard disk drives) benefit from defragmentation, which rearranges fragmented data so the drive reads it faster. SSDs (solid state drives) should never be defragmented because it wears them down without any benefit. Instead, SSDs need TRIM optimization, which Windows handles differently.
- Open the Start menu and search for “Defragment and Optimize Drives.”
- Select your game drive from the list.
- If the media type says “Hard disk drive,” click “Optimize” to defragment it.
- If the media type says “Solid state drive,” click “Optimize” to send a TRIM command. Windows typically does this automatically on a weekly schedule.
Check the “Scheduled optimization” section at the bottom of the window. Make sure it’s turned on and set to run weekly. For HDDs, fragmentation builds up constantly, and monthly optimization isn’t frequent enough for a drive you install games on regularly.
If you’re still using an HDD as your primary game drive, upgrading to an SSD is the single biggest hardware upgrade you can make. Game load times drop by 50 to 80 percent, and in-game stuttering caused by streaming world data (common in open-world games) virtually disappears. A 1 TB SATA SSD costs around $60 to $80 in 2026, making it one of the cheapest meaningful upgrades.
How to Increase Virtual Memory on Windows 10 and 11
Virtual memory (the page file) acts as overflow storage when your RAM fills up. Windows uses part of your drive as temporary RAM. If the page file is too small, games can stutter, crash, or show “out of memory” errors even when you have available disk space.
- Press Windows + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter.
- Go to the Advanced tab, then click “Settings” under Performance.
- In the new window, go to the Advanced tab and click “Change” under Virtual memory.
- Uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.”
- Select your fastest drive (ideally an SSD).
- Choose “Custom size.” Set the Initial size to 1.5 times your RAM (in MB) and Maximum size to 3 times your RAM.
- Click Set, then OK, and restart your PC.
| Installed RAM | Recommended initial size (MB) | Recommended maximum size (MB) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 GB | 12,288 | 24,576 |
| 16 GB | 24,576 | 49,152 |
| 32 GB | 49,152 | 98,304 |
If you have 32 GB or more of RAM, the page file rarely gets used during gaming. In that case, leaving it on “Automatically manage” is fine. Manual configuration matters most for systems with 8 or 16 GB of RAM where modern games push memory usage close to the limit.
If you want to go deeper, we have a separate guide on Samsung smart switch for Windows 10.
How to Disable Visual Effects in Windows for More FPS
Windows uses animations, transparency effects, shadows under windows, smooth scrolling, and other visual flourishes that consume GPU and CPU resources. Turning these off frees up processing power for games, especially on systems with integrated graphics or older dedicated GPUs.
- Press Windows + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter.
- Go to the Advanced tab, then click “Settings” under Performance.
- Select “Adjust for best performance” to disable everything at once.
- Alternatively, select “Custom” and keep only “Smooth edges of screen fonts” and “Show thumbnails instead of icons” checked. Disable everything else.
On Windows 11, you can also turn off transparency and animation effects separately. Go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Visual effects. Turn off “Transparency effects” and “Animation effects.” This reduces the GPU load from the desktop compositor without making the interface look as bare as the “best performance” setting.
The impact of disabling visual effects depends heavily on your hardware. On a gaming PC with a dedicated GPU, the difference might only be 1 to 3 FPS. On a laptop with integrated graphics or a system with an older GPU, it can free up enough resources to matter during demanding scenes.
How to Use DirectStorage on Windows 11 for Faster Game Loading
DirectStorage is a Windows 11 feature that lets games load assets directly from your NVMe SSD to the GPU, bypassing the traditional CPU bottleneck. Instead of the CPU decompressing game data and passing it to the GPU, DirectStorage shifts that decompression work to the GPU itself. The result is dramatically faster load times and smoother in-game asset streaming with less CPU overhead.
DirectStorage requires three things to work:
- Windows 11 (not available on Windows 10).
- An NVMe SSD (SATA SSDs and HDDs don’t support it).
- A game that has been built with DirectStorage support.
You don’t need to enable DirectStorage manually. It activates automatically when a supported game runs on compatible hardware. Games with DirectStorage support include titles using the latest versions of Unreal Engine 5 and other modern engines. The number of supported games is growing throughout 2026 as developers adopt the technology.
To confirm your setup is ready, check that your NVMe drive is running in NVMe mode. Open Device Manager, expand “Disk drives,” and look for your SSD model. If it says “NVMe” in the name, you’re set. Also make sure your GPU drivers are up to date, since DirectStorage GPU decompression requires recent driver support from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.
How to Monitor PC Temperature While Gaming
High temperatures cause your CPU and GPU to throttle their clock speeds to prevent damage. This throttling directly reduces your frame rate and causes sudden FPS drops during intense scenes. Monitoring temperatures lets you identify whether heat is the reason your games slow down after playing for a while.
| Component | Safe range | Throttling starts | Dangerous |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 40 to 75 C | 85 to 95 C | 95 C+ |
| GPU | 40 to 80 C | 85 to 95 C | 95 C+ |
Free monitoring tools include HWiNFO (detailed sensor readings), MSI Afterburner (includes an in-game overlay showing temps, FPS, and usage), and the built-in performance overlay in AMD Adrenalin or NVIDIA App. MSI Afterburner with the RivaTuner Statistics Server overlay is the most popular option because it shows real-time data on screen while you play.
If your temperatures are too high, start with the basics. Clean dust from your PC’s fans and heatsinks using compressed air. Make sure all case fans are working and not blocked by cables. Laptop users should game on a hard, flat surface rather than a bed or couch, and consider a cooling pad. Reapplying thermal paste on the CPU can drop temperatures by 5 to 15 degrees on systems older than two to three years.
Quick Optimization Checklist
Use this checklist to make sure you’ve covered every optimization. Work through each item in order for the best results.
- Update GPU drivers from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel (not Windows Update).
- Lower in-game settings, starting with ray tracing, shadows, and resolution.
- Enable DLSS, FSR, or XeSS if available in your game.
- Confirm Game Mode is on (Settings > Gaming > Game Mode).
- Set power plan to High Performance in Control Panel.
- Disable unnecessary startup programs in Task Manager.
- Clear temporary files through Settings > System > Storage.
- Optimize your drive (defragment HDD or TRIM SSD).
- Increase virtual memory if you have 16 GB of RAM or less.
- Disable Windows visual effects and transparency.
- Check that DirectStorage prerequisites are met (Windows 11 with NVMe SSD).
- Monitor temperatures with HWiNFO or MSI Afterburner and clean dust if temps exceed 85 C.
Windows Gaming Performance FAQs
Does Windows 11 run games faster than Windows 10?
In most benchmarks, the two operating systems perform within 1 to 3 percent of each other. Windows 11 has a slight edge in specific scenarios thanks to features like DirectStorage, Auto HDR, and improvements to the thread scheduler on Intel hybrid CPUs (12th gen and newer) and AMD processors. If your PC already runs Windows 10 smoothly, upgrading to Windows 11 solely for gaming performance isn’t necessary. The exclusive features matter more than raw FPS differences.
How much RAM do I need for gaming in 2026?
16 GB is the standard for most games. A growing number of AAA titles in 2026 recommend 32 GB, particularly open-world games and titles with high-resolution texture packs. If you’re building a new gaming PC or upgrading, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM is the sweet spot. Systems with 8 GB will experience stuttering, long load times, and occasional crashes in modern games.
Should I close Chrome before gaming?
Yes, especially if you have many tabs open. Chrome uses significant amounts of RAM, often 2 to 4 GB or more with multiple tabs. On a system with 16 GB of RAM, that’s a substantial chunk being taken from your game. Close the browser entirely, or at least reduce it to two or three tabs. Firefox and Edge use less memory per tab as alternatives for background browsing.
Will overclocking my GPU improve gaming performance?
A modest GPU overclock typically adds 5 to 15 percent more FPS, depending on the card and game. Tools like MSI Afterburner make it straightforward. However, overclocking generates more heat and can cause instability if pushed too far. Start with a small core clock increase (50 to 100 MHz), test for stability, and monitor temperatures. If your GPU is already hitting 85 C or higher at stock speeds, overclocking will likely cause throttling rather than better performance.
Why do my games stutter even with high FPS?
Stuttering with high average FPS usually points to frame time inconsistency rather than an overall speed problem. Common causes include background processes spiking CPU usage, a nearly full system drive, outdated GPU drivers, or a mismatched refresh rate. Make sure your monitor’s refresh rate matches your game’s frame rate target. Enable V-Sync or a frame rate cap set slightly below your monitor’s refresh rate to smooth out frame delivery. Checking frame times in MSI Afterburner (the 1% low and 0.1% low values) reveals stuttering that average FPS hides.
Sources
Microsoft – Tips to Improve PC Performance in Windows | Microsoft – DirectStorage API Available on PC | NVIDIA – GeForce Driver Downloads | AMD – AMD Drivers and Support
