HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces
In the left-hand pane, you’ll see a collection of folders, with filenames comprised of letters and numbers. To access the correct file, match your IP address with the one listed against DhcpIPAddress in one of these folders.
When you find your matching folder:
- Right-click on the folder
- Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Name this TcpAckFrequency
- Click OK
- Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value again
- Name this one TCPNoDelay.
- Double-click on each and set their parameters to 1
Doing so disables Nagle’s Algorithm. If you run into any problems, reset their parameter values to 0 and they will be disabled.
3. Optimize Windows 10 Online Gaming With Faster DNS
If you’re playing online multiplayer or relying on a remote server for Windows 10 gaming, network traffic can cause problems.
While upgrading to faster internet can help, it’s quicker and cheaper to just make some networking tweaks.
Hit Windows + I to open Settings
Find Network and Internet > Change Adapter Settings.
Right-click on your wireless network
Select Properties
Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4.
Make a note of the two DNS entries for future reference
Replace them with 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1.
Click OK, then Close.
Restart your default browser
Your internet should now be faster, which will help with online gaming.
4. Disable Automatic Updates for Better Windows 10 Gaming
Windows 10 will automatically update your OS and schedule a restart without your permission. While this feature doesn’t activate often, you never want to be caught unaware and risk your game save.
Not only can automatic updates restart Windows without warning, downloading updates in the background will limit your network connectivity.
While you cannot disable automatic restart, it can be delayed. To reduce the chance of Windows Update downloads interrupting your gaming performance:
Open Settings with Windows key + I
Click Update and Security > Windows Update
Look for Advanced options then click Update Options
Disable Restart this device as soon as possible when a restart is required to install an update.
Enable Show a notification (Windows will give plenty of warning when the system is going to restart following an update)
Use Pause updates to delay installation of updates for up to 35 days
By specifying when you’ll be using Windows 10, you can prevent Windows Updates downloading and installing during active hours.
5. Disable Notifications in Windows 10
The Focus Assist feature in Windows 10 lets you specify how and when you receive notifications.
Popups and chimes usually accompany notifications, but these can interrupt games. The solution is to minimize the impact of notifications, using Focus Assist. It’s basically a feature that lets you manage what level of focus you devote to your work.
Hit Windows + I to open Settings
Click System > Focus Assist
Select Alarms Only to hide all other notifications
Close the Settings screen
6. Prevent Steam Auto-Updating Games
If you use Windows to play games, you’re probably buying and installing games via Steam.
One of the largest annoyances with Steam is its update feature. This blocks you from preventing automatic updates across all your games. This may eat up memory by updating games you don’t play or limit your network connectivity with background updates.
To prevent Steam from updating games in the background:
Launch the Steam client
Open Steam > Settings > Downloads
Uncheck Allow downloads during gameplay
You can also prevent Steam from downloading updates for largely unused games:
Open the Steam Library
Right-click an underused but installed game
Select Properties and find Automatic Updates
Change Always keep this game up to date to Only update this game when I launch it
With Steam correctly optimized, Windows 10 will be ready for AAA gaming.
7. Tweak Windows 10 Visual Effects for Game Improvements
Your graphical user interfaces (GUI) can be a hindrance to your processing power. By default, your Windows 10 appearance settings are set to impress.
Games running in the foreground may conflict with a shiny GUI running in the background. Adjust these settings to optimize Windows 10 for gaming performance.
Open Settings with Windows key + I
Type performance
Select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.
In the settings box, select Adjust for best performance
Click Apply
Click the Advanced tab
Ensure that Adjust the best performance of is set to Programs
Apply again, then OK to confirm
8. Tweak Your Mouse Settings for Windows 10 Gaming
Could you mouse be impacting gaming performance on Windows 10? To find out, it’s a smart idea to optimize your mouse settings. A feature called pointer precision (AKA mouse acceleration) can impact how your mouse performs in games. Disabling this can help to optimize gaming in Windows 10.
Open Settings
Click Devices > Mouse
View the Pointer Options tab
Clear the Enhance pointer precision checkmark
Click Apply
Click OK to exit–you might also adjust the pointer speed to suit
If gaming has improved, your mouse was almost certainly slowing things down.
9. Max Power Plan to Improve Windows 10 Gaming Performance
Power options are often ignored due to their supposedly negligible effect. Some gamers claim adjusting for higher performance works, while others fail to notice any difference changing their PC power settings.
The only way to know for sure is to test it out on your PC. To change your power settings:
Open Settings
Type power
Click > Power & sleep settings > Additional power settings
Select the high-performance option
If none is available, use Create a power plan to configure a new, custom power plan
This option will allow your PC to perform better at the cost of higher energy consumption and temperature levels. For this reason, it’s better to activate this Windows 10 optimization on the desktop rather than laptop PCs.
10. Keep Your Windows 10 Drivers Updated for Improved Gaming Performance
Your GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is the core of your PC gaming experience. However, the GPU requires the latest Windows driver to keep it working faster and better.
All graphics cards, no matter how old or new, benefit from continually updated drivers.
To check your GPU name and specs:
Right-click Desktop
Select Display settings > Advanced display settings
At the bottom, find Display adapter properties
You can download driver updates through this window under Properties > Driver > Update Driver. Alternatively, visit the manufacturer’s website to ensure the driver is up to date.
Manufacturers will often provide free gaming and update software to keep your drivers up to date automatically. An example is AMD’s Gaming Evolved client.
For optimal performance, it is highly recommended that you install the chipset and LAN drivers for your motherboard as well. Since these are crucial for optimal gaming performance, this makes sense.
The easiest method to check chipset drivers is to open Windows PowerShell (right-click Start to find it) and enter:
wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber
Your motherboard’s manufacturer and the product name will appear in the command prompt.
List your manufacturer and product name to search for your drivers online. You should find the necessary software on the Support page of the manufacturer’s website.
Along with the chipset drivers, you will also find your on-board LAN drivers for an optimal internet connection.
11. Install DirectX 12 to Optimize for Gaming
DirectX 12, the latest version of Microsoft’s popular API tool, is a key element of Windows 10 gaming.
It delivers support for multiple GPU and CPU cores, better frame rates, lowered power consumption and enhanced graphical effects.
To check if you have the latest version of DirectX:
Open Windows PowerShell
Type dxdiag
Tap Enter
Moments later, you’ll see the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
Don’t have DirectX 12 installed? There’s a small chance this can happen if you have upgraded from Windows 8.1. Fix this by:
Opening Settings with Windows key + I
Select Update and security
Find Windows Update > Check for updates
Wait while the updates install
DirectX12 will automatically optimize many gaming settings in Windows 10.
Optimize Windows 10 for Gaming With These 11 Tweaks
Windows 10 is a legitimate delight for the modern gamer (and now, so is Linux, thanks to these technologies and services that have saved gaming on Linux.)
With a towering game selection, Xbox One compatibility and software specifically designed for gaming, it’s clear the gamer community has a special place in Windows 10’s future. However, nothing’s perfect. Reach closer to gaming perfection with these Windows 10 gaming optimizations:
Windows 10 Gaming Mode
Disable Nagle’s Algorithm
Use faster DNS servers
Disable automatic updates
Disable Notifications in Windows 10
Prevent automatic updates from Steam
Tweak visual effects for performance
Adjust mouse settings to improve gaming speeds
Use maximum power settings
Keep drivers up to date
Install DirectX 12
Comments