[Windows 11/10] How to optimize your gaming experience
Applicable Products: Notebook, Desktop, All-in-One PC, Gaming Handheld
The gaming experience may be different because each device has different hardware and software. This article describes some general settings to optimize your gaming experience.
To provide you more detailed instruction, you can also click ASUS YouTube video link below to know more about How to Optimize Gaming Experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhDvSoMpb4
Please go to the corresponding instruction based on the current Windows operating system on your device:
Check the recommended specifications from game website
You are able to check the recommended specifications from the game website to ensure your device reaches the requirements. If your device is not qualified for the game, you can adjust the game settings to have a better gaming experience. Otherwise, you may use another device, which meets the recommended game’s requirements.
For example: PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
Update and confirm BIOS / Windows packages / drivers with the latest version in your device
Updating software usually helps the system stability and optimization, so we recommend you check and often update to the latest version in your device. Here you can learn more about How to update BIOS:
How to update the BIOS version in Windows system
How to use EZ Flash to update the BIOS version
(For desktop products, please refer to ASUS Motherboard EZ Flash 3 Introduction.)
For executing Windows update and drivers update, here you can learn more about:
How to update drivers via System Update in MyASUS
Set the game as the discrete graphics used
If your device has discrete graphics (dGPU), dGPU has better graphic performance than integrated GPU. We recommend to set dGPU as the preferred graphics processor for games to optimize the gaming experience.
Here you can learn more about How to configure dGPU for high graphics performance.
Microsoft has modified the priority of the preferred graphics processor in Windows 10, 2004 version, and the priority of the preferred graphics processor in the Windows settings of some applications is higher than the graphics vendor’s control panel (such as the NVIDIA control panel and AMD Radeon Software). We recommend that you need to adjust both settings, no matter in the Windows settings or in the graphics vendor’s control panel. Here you can learn more about How to set the application as the discrete graphics used.
Armoury Crate software settings
Note: Armoury crate supports Gaming Notebook, Gaming Desktop, and Gaming Handheld only.
Armoury Crate is an integrated application developed for the ASUS ROG series and TUF series of gaming laptops and desktops, and you can quickly adjust the system performance and related settings via Armoury Crate. Here you can learn more about Armoury Crate introduction. The following provides some suggestions for optimizing the gaming experience:
HyperFan mode
It can provide a quick system performance adjustments, and each mode is with different default settings of CPU&GPU performance、Cooling、Noise Reduction and Energy Saving, for example Windows®、Silent、Performance、Turbo、Manual and Tablet/Vertical mode.
To have the best gaming experience, we recommend that you should adjust the Fan settings to Turbo mode. This mode configures the system performance as the top priority and keeps in high performance.
Note: Turbo mode is only available when the adapter is connected.
Release the occupied memory
DeviceⒶ > SystemⒷ > MemoryⒸ: You can select the apps and release those occupied memory while playing the game.
- Refresh①: To select “Refresh”, it will list the apps currently occupying memory.
- Applications②: To display the Apps list, which app is currently occupying memory.
- Free Up③: To select “Free Up”, the occupied memory by the selected application will be released.
GPU Power Saving
You can switch GPU Mode or close application(s) which is using GPU currently for power saving.
To have the best gaming experience, we recommend that you should adjust the GPU Mode to Ultimate. Go to DeviceⒶ > GPU Power SavingⒷ > GPU ModeⒸ.
GameVisual
GameVisual is a screen color management tool that provides various screen color scenarios to bring you the best personal visual experience, such as Default, Racing, Scenery, RTS/RPG, FPS, Cinema, Eyecare, and Vivid mode. You can select an appropriate mode based on the game you play. Here you can learn more about GameVisual introduction.
Optimize Windows system for better performance
There are some ways to help optimize Windows system performance to improve your gaming experience:
Restart your PC
Regularly restart the device will close all the software running on your PC, and it helps improve the gaming experience because some running applications are occupying the system performance.
Close unnecessary background applications
Some applications may occupy system resources in the background while you didn’t notice them, so you can close unnecessary applications via Task Manager. Here you can learn more about How to use Task Manager to check device performance.
If you will not use the application anymore, you are able to remove it. Here you can learn more about How to uninstall apps.
Install the game on SSD (Solid-state drive)
SSD has a better read/write speed than original HDD (Hard Disk Drive), it can optimize your gaming experience as well. Here you can learn more about How to check currently installed drives information.
Optimize and defragment drive through Windows
Note: Optimize and defragment SSD cannot improve the performance, but rather reduces its capacity. Therefore, we recommend to optimize and defragment drive for HDD only if your game is installed on it.
- Type and search [File Explorer] in the Windows search bar①, then click [Open]②.
- In the File Explorer window, click [This PC]③.
- In the This PC window, select for the [disk drive with the game installed] and right-click the icon④, then click on [Properties]⑤.
- Select [Tools] tab⑥, then click on [Optimize] in the Optimize and defragment drive section⑦.
- Select the [disk drive with the game installed]⑧, then click on [Optimize]⑨. The system will start to optimize your drive automatically.
Connect AC adapter and choose power mode
While playing games, we recommend connecting the AC adapter to provide sufficient performance and keep the CPU and GPU staying with high-frequency status. And, change the power mode to Best performance. Here you can learn more about Change Power mode and plan.
- Type and search [Power, sleep and battery settings] in the Windows search bar①, and then click [Open]②.
- On the Power mode field, click the scroll-down menu to choose Best performance③.
Adjust resolution and graphics to low settings
Some games are not designed for high resolution and some GPUs don’t have best performance in high resolution, so we recommend that you use the default graphics settings in games. If it still doesn't reach your expectation, you can try to adjust the following graphics settings in games to reach the suitable gaming performance and display:
- Resolution: By lowering screen resolution to get better FPS (Frames Per Second).
- MSAA (Multi Sampling Anti-Aliasing): MSAA is a common gaming setting to get the smooth display.
- FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing): FXAA is an anti-aliasing algorithm to get the aliasing line effect on fuzzy objects.
- TXAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing): To reduce the display flickering while objects moving.
- Vsync (Vertical synchronization): Vsync can avoid tearing problem which is caused by different refresh rate from game and panel, but it will lock the maximum FPS, no higher than panel refresh rate.
- Graphic quality (Texture, Shadow, Reflection): Improving graphic quality will bring extraordinary images, but it will increase system computing and impact FPS performance. We recommend adjusting the graphic quality to reach your suitable gaming experience.
Overheating issue
The overheating issue will reduce system performance, you can refer to Troubleshooting - Overheating and Fan issue to resolve problem.
Network connection
If it’s an online game, you can refer to the following articles to resolve the network connection problem:
Troubleshooting - How to fix the Wireless Network Problems
Check the recommended specifications from game website
You are able to check the recommended specifications from the game website to ensure your device reaches the requirements. If your device is not qualified for the game, you can adjust the game settings to have a better gaming experience. Otherwise, you may use another device, which meets the recommended game’s requirements.
For example: PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS
Update and confirm BIOS / Windows packages / drivers with the latest version in your device
Updating software usually helps the system stability and optimization, so we recommend you check and often update to the latest version in your device. Here you can learn more about How to update BIOS:
How to update the BIOS version in Windows system
How to use EZ Flash to update the BIOS version
(For desktop products, please refer to ASUS Motherboard EZ Flash 3 Introduction.)
For executing Windows update and drivers update, here you can learn more about:
How to update drivers via System Update in MyASUS
Set the game as the discrete graphics used
If your device has discrete graphics (dGPU), dGPU has better graphic performance than integrated GPU. We recommend to set dGPU as the preferred graphics processor for games to optimize the gaming experience.
Here you can learn more about How to configure dGPU for high graphics performance.
Microsoft has modified the priority of the preferred graphics processor in Windows 10, 2004 version, and the priority of the preferred graphics processor in the Windows settings of some applications is higher than the graphics vendor’s control panel (such as the NVIDIA control panel and AMD Radeon Software). We recommend that you need to adjust both settings, no matter in the Windows settings or in the graphics vendor’s control panel. Here you can learn more about How to set the application as the discrete graphics used.
Armoury Crate software settings
Note: Armoury crate supports Gaming Notebook, Gaming Desktop, and Gaming Handheld only.
Armoury Crate is an integrated application developed for the ASUS ROG series and TUF series of gaming laptops and desktops, and you can quickly adjust the system performance and related settings via Armoury Crate. Here you can learn more about Armoury Crate introduction. The following provides some suggestions for optimizing the gaming experience:
HyperFan mode
It can provide a quick system performance adjustments, and each mode is with different default settings of CPU&GPU performance、Cooling、Noise Reduction and Energy Saving, for example Windows®、Silent、Performance、Turbo、Manual and Tablet/Vertical mode.
To have the best gaming experience, we recommend that you should adjust the Fan settings to Turbo mode. This mode configures the system performance as the top priority and keeps in high performance.
Note: Turbo mode is only available when the adapter is connected.
Release the occupied memory
DeviceⒶ > SystemⒷ > MemoryⒸ: You can select the apps and release those occupied memory while playing the game.
- Refresh①: To select “Refresh”, it will list the apps currently occupying memory.
- Applications②: To display the Apps list, which app is currently occupying memory.
- Free Up③: To select “Free Up”, the occupied memory by the selected application will be released.
GPU Power Saving
You can switch GPU Mode or close application(s) which is using GPU currently for power saving.
To have the best gaming experience, we recommend that you should adjust the GPU Mode to Ultimate. Go to DeviceⒶ > GPU Power SavingⒷ > GPU ModeⒸ.
GameVisual
GameVisual is a screen color management tool that provides various screen color scenarios to bring you the best personal visual experience, such as Default, Racing, Scenery, RTS/RPG, FPS, Cinema, Eyecare, and Vivid mode. You can select an appropriate mode based on the game you play. Here you can learn more about GameVisual introduction.
Optimize Windows system for better performance
There are some ways to help optimize Windows system performance to improve your gaming experience:
Restart your PC
Regularly restart the device will close all the software running on your PC, and it helps improve the gaming experience because some running applications are occupying the system performance.
Close unnecessary background applications
Some applications may occupy system resources in the background while you didn’t notice them, so you can close unnecessary applications via Task Manager. Here you can learn more about How to use Task Manager to check device performance.
If you will not use the application anymore, you are able to remove it. Here you can learn more about How to uninstall apps.
Install the game on SSD (Solid-state drive)
SSD has a better read/write speed than original HDD (Hard Disk Drive), it can optimize your gaming experience as well. Here you can learn more about How to check currently installed drives information.
Optimize and defragment drive through Windows
Note: Optimize and defragment SSD cannot improve the performance, but rather reduces its capacity. Therefore, we recommend to optimize and defragment drive for HDD only if your game is installed on it.
- Type and search [File Explorer] in the Windows search bar①, then click [Open]②.
- In the File Explorer window, click [This PC]③.
- In the This PC window, select for the [disk drive with the game installed] and right-click the icon④, then click on [Properties]⑤.
- Select [Tools] tab⑥, then click on [Optimize] in the Optimize and defragment drive section⑦.
- Select the [disk drive with the game installed]⑧, then click on [Optimize]⑨. The system will start to optimize your drive automatically.
Connect AC adapter and choose power mode
While playing games, we recommend connecting the AC adapter to provide sufficient performance and keep the CPU and GPU staying with high-frequency status. And, click [Battery icon] on the taskbar①, and then drag the slider to change the power mode as [Best performance]②. Here you can learn more about Change Power mode and plan.
Adjust resolution and graphics to low settings
Some games are not designed for high resolution and some GPUs don’t have best performance in high resolution, so we recommend that you use the default graphics settings in games. If it still doesn't reach your expectation, you can try to adjust the following graphics settings in games to reach the suitable gaming performance and display:
- Resolution: By lowering screen resolution to get better FPS (Frames Per Second).
- MSAA (Multi Sampling Anti-Aliasing): MSAA is a common gaming setting to get the smooth display.
- FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing): FXAA is an anti-aliasing algorithm to get the aliasing line effect on fuzzy objects.
- TXAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing): To reduce the display flickering while objects moving.
- Vsync (Vertical synchronization): Vsync can avoid tearing problem which is caused by different refresh rate from game and panel, but it will lock the maximum FPS, no higher than panel refresh rate.
- Graphic quality (Texture, Shadow, Reflection): Improving graphic quality will bring extraordinary images, but it will increase system computing and impact FPS performance. We recommend adjusting the graphic quality to reach your suitable gaming experience.
Overheating issue
The overheating issue will reduce system performance, you can refer to Troubleshooting - Overheating and Fan issue to resolve problem.
Network connection
If it’s an online game, you can refer to the following articles to resolve the network connection problem:
Troubleshooting - How to fix the Wireless Network Problems
