How To Optimize Your PC For Gaming In One Minute

Quick PC gaming optimization tips: set visual effects to best performance, defrag and clean up drives, disable startup apps, turn off Discord and Steam overlays, set the highest refresh rate, and tune

Key Takeaways

Windows built-in settings and startup management can noticeably improve gaming performance.
Disabling overlays from Discord and Steam can reduce performance overhead.
Some settings like GPU scheduling may cause stutters on certain systems, so they should be tested individually.

What the video covers

Set Windows visual effects to 'Adjust for best performance' to free up system resources.
Optimize drives by defragmenting them through the Windows search bar.
Run Disk Cleanup on all drives to remove unnecessary files.
Disable unnecessary startup programs in Task Manager's Startup tab.
Turn off the Discord game overlay in Discord settings.
Turn off the in-game overlay in Steam settings.
Set the display to the highest refresh rate in Advanced display settings.
Enable Windows Game Mode and make sure Game Bar is off.
Enable Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling, but turn it off if stutters occur.
Disable background apps and notifications, and on Nvidia GPUs let the 3D app decide settings in the Nvidia Control Panel.

What Windows setting should I change first to optimize my PC for gaming?

The video recommends searching for 'Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows' and choosing 'Adjust for best performance.' This reduces visual effects that consume system resources.

Should I turn on Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling?

The video suggests enabling it in the Graphics settings under Game Mode, but turning it off if you notice stutters, since it can cause issues on some systems.

How do I stop Discord and Steam from affecting game performance?

The video says to turn off the game overlay in Discord's settings and disable the in-game overlay in Steam's settings to reduce background overhead while gaming.