Best Windows 11 Settings for Gaming: What to Enable and Disable

Most Windows 11 gaming guides hand you a list of twenty tweaks and leave you to figure out what actually matters. Some of those tweaks genuinely help. Others make no measurable difference. A few can actively hurt performance — and those are already switched on by default.

This guide ranks every setting by real-world impact, explains the mechanism behind each one, and tells you which to skip entirely. Whether you’re chasing higher averages in AAA titles or tightening 1% lows in competitive shooters, start here.

For a deeper look at how Windows graphics settings interact with your GPU, see our Game Settings Explained guide.

Quick Reference: Enable, Disable, and Skip

Setting	Action	Impact
Memory Integrity (VBS)	Disable	High — up to 10% FPS gain
Enhanced Pointer Precision	Disable	High — critical for aim accuracy
Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling	Enable	Medium — reduces GPU latency
Game Mode	Enable	Medium — stabilises frame times
Power Mode (Best Performance)	Enable	Medium — prevents CPU throttling
Max Refresh Rate	Set to max	Medium — you’re leaving frames on the table otherwise
Startup Apps (unnecessary)	Disable	Low–Medium — frees RAM and background CPU cycles
Auto HDR	Enable if HDR monitor	Visual only — no FPS impact
DirectStorage	Enable if NVMe + compatible game	Load times only — no in-game FPS impact
Visual Effects (animations)	Skip	Negligible on dedicated GPU
Nagle’s Algorithm (registry)	Skip	Marginal — only for high-latency connections

Windows 11 performance options settings panel — Adjusting Windows performance options is one of the quickest ways to reclaim frames

Disable These First — They’re Already Hurting Your FPS

Memory Integrity (Virtualization-Based Security)

This is the single most impactful tweak on the list, and the one most guides mention last or bury in a footnote. Memory Integrity — part of Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) — is enabled by default on many pre-built PCs and OEM installs. It runs a hypervisor layer to isolate kernel memory from potential exploits. The problem: that isolation layer adds overhead to every CPU-to-memory call during gameplay.

Tom’s Hardware benchmark testing found VBS could cost up to 10% average frame rate across a range of titles, with 1% lows hit even harder. In CPU-sensitive titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Metro Exodus, the performance penalty reached the mid-twenties percentage-wise on certain hardware. Even on an RTX 4090, the tax was measurable [2][3].

When to disable it: Dedicated gaming rig that you own and control. When to leave it on: Work PC, shared machine, or anywhere you handle sensitive data and can’t afford the security trade-off.

How to disable: Search for Core isolation in the Start menu → open Core isolation settings → toggle Memory integrity off → restart. Check System Information (Win + R, type msinfo32) to confirm VBS status changes to Not enabled.

Enhanced Pointer Precision (Mouse Acceleration)

The name is misleading. Enhanced Pointer Precision doesn’t improve precision — it applies variable acceleration based on how fast you physically move the mouse. Move slowly, get less cursor travel. Move fast, get more. That variable relationship destroys muscle memory in any game that relies on consistent aim, because your physical flick distance and on-screen result constantly changes.

Every competitive FPS player disables this. Most MOBAs and strategy game players do too. The exceptions are casual desktop use and some RTS players who prefer the natural feel — but for gaming, disable it.

Note: many games enable raw input by default, which bypasses Windows pointer settings entirely. Disable mouse acceleration in Windows anyway — some older games and launchers don’t use raw input and will inherit the Windows setting [1].

How to disable: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mouse → Additional mouse settings → Pointer Options tab → uncheck Enhance pointer precision.

Enable These for Real Gains

Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

Normally, your CPU manages the GPU’s work queue — deciding which rendering tasks run, in what order, and when. HAGS shifts that scheduling responsibility to the GPU itself, reducing the back-and-forth between CPU and GPU and cutting the latency of each scheduling decision.

The practical result is lower GPU latency and more consistent frame times, particularly in GPU-bound scenarios at high frame rates. It doesn’t guarantee higher average FPS, but it smooths out micro-stutters that frame time averages don’t capture [1][4].

HAGS requires a GPU with a WDDM 2.7 driver or later — that covers Nvidia GTX 10-series and newer, AMD RX 5000 and newer. On older hardware, leave it off.

How to enable: Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Change default graphics settings → toggle Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling on → restart.

Game Mode

Game Mode tells Windows to prioritise the active game’s CPU and GPU resource requests, deprioritise background processes, and — critically — pause automatic driver installation and system restart notifications during sessions. That last part matters more than the resource prioritisation: nothing tanks a gaming session like Windows deciding it’s time to install a driver update mid-match [1].

Tempered expectation: if your PC is otherwise idle, Game Mode won’t produce dramatic FPS gains. It’s not manufacturing performance that wasn’t there. It protects the performance you have from background interference.

How to enable: Settings → Gaming → Game Mode → toggle on.

Power Mode: Best Performance

Windows 11’s Balanced power mode allows the CPU to drop into low-power idle states when it detects reduced load. The problem is the transition time: when a new frame demands a CPU core to wake from an idle state, there’s a brief latency spike. In most AAA titles, this is invisible. In CPU-bound competitive games at high frame rates, it creates irregular 1% low spikes.

Switching to Best Performance (or unlocking the hidden Ultimate Performance plan) keeps CPU cores aggressively primed. The average FPS difference versus High Performance is minimal — but frame time consistency in titles like CS2, Valorant, or Fortnite at 1080p can improve noticeably [4].

How to set Best Performance: Settings → System → Power → Power mode → select Best performance.

To unlock Ultimate Performance (not shown by default): open Command Prompt as administrator and run: powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61. Then set it in Power Options. Trade-off: permanently higher idle temperatures and increased power draw.

Display Settings Worth Checking

Refresh Rate — Set to Maximum

Windows doesn’t always default to your monitor’s maximum refresh rate. If you’ve ever wondered why your 144Hz or 165Hz monitor feels sluggish, check this first. Running a 165Hz panel at 60Hz leaves most of your hardware’s output on the floor.

How to set: Settings → System → Display → Advanced display → Choose a refresh rate → select highest available.

Auto HDR

Auto HDR converts SDR DirectX 11 and 12 games to HDR output on capable displays, expanding the colour range without any developer work. This is a visual enhancement, not a performance one — enabling it won’t change your frame rate, but it will add a slight GPU cost for the tone-mapping pass. On HDR monitors it’s worth enabling for the visual improvement. On SDR monitors, skip it entirely [1].

How to enable: Settings → System → Display → HDR → Auto HDR toggle on. Requires a compatible HDR display and HDR turned on at the display level first.

Variable Refresh Rate (VRR / G-Sync / FreeSync)

Variable refresh rate syncs your monitor’s refresh cycle to the GPU’s output frame rate, eliminating screen tear without the frame-time penalty of traditional V-Sync. Windows 11 has a system-level VRR toggle that works for windowed and borderless windowed games even when the game itself doesn’t expose a VRR option.

How to enable: Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Change default graphics settings → toggle Variable refresh rate on. Requires a G-Sync or FreeSync compatible display.

Clean Up Background Activity

Disable Unnecessary Startup Apps

Apps that launch at startup don’t disappear — they sit in memory and occasionally poll for updates or activity. Discord, OneDrive sync, GPU companion software, OEM bloatware: everything running in the background is competing for RAM and CPU cycles that your game could use instead. This matters most on 16GB RAM systems and on CPUs with lower core counts.

How to manage: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager → Startup apps tab → right-click anything unnecessary → Disable. Sort by Startup impact to prioritise what to remove first.

Background App Permissions

Some Store apps run persistent background processes even after you close them. Revoke their background permission to stop that.

How to manage: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → find the app → three-dot menu → Advanced options → Background app permissions → set to Never. Target apps you never actually use but haven’t uninstalled [4].

Hardware-Dependent Features

DirectStorage

DirectStorage moves texture and asset streaming work off the CPU and onto a dedicated NVMe-to-GPU pipeline, reducing CPU overhead for asset decompression by up to 40% in supported titles. The result is faster load times and reduced texture pop-in — not higher FPS during gameplay [5].

The catch: you need a PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD at minimum (PCIe 4.0 recommended), a DirectX 12 GPU, and a game with explicit DirectStorage support. Traditional SATA SSDs and HDDs see no benefit. Games without DirectStorage integration also see no benefit — it has to be built into the game itself. Install DirectStorage-compatible games to your NVMe drive to actually use it.

DirectStorage is enabled automatically when hardware and software requirements are met — there’s no Windows toggle to flip. Focus on having your games installed on a fast NVMe rather than a SATA drive.

The Settings You Can Skip

Visual Effects (animations, transparency): Turning off Windows animations frees a trivial amount of GPU work on any machine with a dedicated graphics card. The rendering budget your GPU applies to desktop animations is a rounding error compared to game workloads. Worth doing on integrated graphics; negligible otherwise.

Nagle’s Algorithm (registry edit): Disabling Nagle’s Algorithm reduces network packet buffering at the cost of increased packet counts. The latency improvement is real but tiny — typically 1–5ms — and only noticeable if your base latency is already in the single digits. For most players on typical home connections, it’s not worth the registry edit risk.

Virtual Machine Platform: Only relevant if Memory Integrity is already disabled via the Core isolation method above. Manually disabling VMP separately provides no additional gaming benefit in most configurations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Game Mode actually improve FPS?

Rarely by itself. Game Mode doesn’t generate frames — it protects the ones you’re already producing by reducing background interference. On a system with aggressive startup apps or background processes, it can make a noticeable difference. On a clean system, the improvement is frame time consistency rather than average FPS.

Is it safe to disable Memory Integrity?

On a dedicated gaming PC that you control, yes — the trade-off is acceptable. Memory Integrity protects against a specific class of kernel exploit that typically requires an attacker to already have low-level system access. For gaming rigs that don’t process sensitive data, the performance recovery is worth it. Re-enable it on any PC where security is a priority [2][3].

Should I use Ultimate Performance over High Performance?

Only if you’re playing CPU-bound competitive titles at high frame rates and are sensitive to 1% lows. For GPU-bound AAA gaming, there’s no measurable difference. Ultimate Performance runs the CPU at higher idle states permanently, increasing temperatures and power draw even when gaming isn’t the only task. High Performance is the better daily driver; Ultimate Performance is for dedicated gaming sessions only.

These are the foundation tweaks — once these are in place, your GPU driver settings and in-game graphics settings become the next lever. Our full PC optimization guide for better FPS covers the complete stack from Windows to per-game settings.