I didn’t write this as another “FPS boost guide”.
This is everything I changed on my own system after noticing something weird:
FPS looked fine… but the game didn’t feel smooth.
That usually means one thing → bad frame pacing, background interference, or driver overhead.
I tested these changes step by step. Not everything helped. Some things made no difference.
Below is what I kept.
1. Disable Drive Indexing (Background Load Reduction)
File Explorer → This PC → Right-click drive → Properties
Uncheck:
Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed
This removes constant background disk activity.
Search becomes slower, but for a gaming system, that tradeoff is fine.
2. Display Settings That Can Affect Stability
Settings → System → Display
Scaling
Keep it at 100%.
Non-native scaling can cause weird behavior in some games.
Graphics Settings
- Optimizations for windowed games → ON
- Set correct GPU manually if you have multiple GPUs
3. Disable Notifications Completely
Settings → System → Notifications
- Notifications → OFF
- Do Not Disturb → ON
- Startup notifications → OFF
Optional registry tweak:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
DisableNotificationCenter = 1
This reduces interruptions and background triggers.
4. Power Settings (Remove Throttling Behavior)
- Power Mode → Best Performance
- Sleep → Never
- Energy Saver → OFF
I don’t let the system idle in weird states. Either running or off.
5. Storage Tweaks (Avoid Breaking Shader Cache)
Settings → System → Storage
- Storage Sense → OFF
Also:
Never manually defrag an SSD.
6. Mouse Settings (Input Consistency)
Settings → Mouse
- Enhance Pointer Precision → OFF
This removes mouse acceleration.
If you care about input feel, this matters more than most FPS tweaks.
👉 Related: check how input delay actually affects gameplay here
7. Virtual Memory (One of the Most Underrated Fixes)
System → Advanced → Performance → Advanced
Disable automatic paging.
Set fixed value:
- Initial: 10240 MB
- Max: 10240 MB
Important rules:
- Keep it fixed
- Use only ONE drive
This helps prevent sudden memory spikes causing stutter.
8. Game Mode (Situational but Worth Testing)
Settings → Gaming → Game Mode → ON
Sometimes helps stabilize performance during gameplay.
9. NVIDIA Driver Clean Install + Debloat (Big Impact)
Default NVIDIA drivers install a lot of unnecessary components.
I used:
Install only:
- Display Driver
- PhysX
Disable:
- Telemetry
- Extra services
This reduces background overhead and driver-level latency.
👉 Full clean install + driver optimization guide here
10. Remove Windows Bloat (Optional but Useful)
Tools used:
Removed apps like:
- OneDrive
- Widgets
- Dev Home
This reduces background services and CPU spikes.
What Actually Made a Difference (From Testing)
- clean GPU driver install
- fixed virtual memory
- less background processes
Not huge FPS gain.
But much smoother gameplay.
👉 I tested this properly with frametime graphs here
What I Would NOT Overdo
- random registry tweaks
- disabling critical services blindly
- copy-paste optimization packs
Most issues come from over-tweaking.
So...
Performance is not just FPS.
It’s how the game feels.
If your system already has decent hardware, the problem is usually:
- background interference
- bad configuration
- driver overhead
Fix those first.
Still getting stutters even after trying this?
Most people don’t have a hardware problem.
They have:
- wrong driver setup
- bad Windows configuration
- hidden background issues
That’s where I help.
I don’t use copy-paste tweaks.
I:
✔ diagnose your system
✔ fix real causes of stutter
✔ improve frame consistency (not fake FPS)
If you want your games to feel smooth, not just look good on paper:
👉 message me before ordering: click here