Gaming Performance Guide: How to Get Better FPS on PC

A few months ago, I was playing Apex Legends, completely confident maybe too confident in my gaming setup. My specs were good, my GPU wasn’t ancient, and I had even cleaned my PC two days earlier (which is rare for me, honestly). But right in the middle of a heated fight, my FPS dipped so hard it felt like my game suddenly turned into a PowerPoint presentation.

I kid you not my character froze while my enemy jumped around like he had a NASA-level PC.

That’s when I realized:
It wasn’t my hardware. It was Windows acting like a jealous ex, hogging resources for background apps, updates, and everything except my game.

So I spent the next few days optimizing Windows for gaming testing settings, running benchmarks, comparing tools, and even making mistakes that slowed the PC down before speeding it up.

And in this guide, I’ll walk you through everything I learned the same tweaks that boosted my gaming performance by 15–30%, depending on the game.

Why Windows Needs Optimization for Gaming

Windows is great for gaming, but it also tries to be “everything at once”:
• Office machine
• Streaming device
• Update machine
• Notification spammer
• And sometimes… a heater

That means Windows constantly runs:

• update services
• telemetry
• useless background apps
• startup junk
• heavy visual animations

Together, these steal RAM, GPU cycles, and CPU threads the same resources your game needs.

So optimizing Windows removes the clutter and lets your PC focus on one thing: gaming performance.

Enable Game Mode

Many gamers think it’s useless. But in my experience, it makes a noticeable difference on mid-range PCs.

Game Mode:

• Prioritizes your game’s CPU/GPU
• Pauses Windows Update (no more random restarts!)
• Reduces notifications

How to Enable It

1. Go to Settings → Gaming → Game Mode
2. Turn it ON

Small story:
When I turned it on for the first time, I didn’t see much change. But after a restart and combining it with the next tweaks, I could instantly feel smoother frame pacing in God of War.

Turn Off Background Apps You Don’t Need

I once checked Task Manager and saw 56 background apps running.
Why?
No idea. Probably Windows being Windows.

Disabling them gave me a clean 5–10% CPU boost.

How to Disable

1. Settings → Privacy → Background Apps
2. Turn OFF apps you don’t use.

Update GPU Drivers (NVIDIA / AMD / Intel)

This is hands-down one of the biggest FPS boosters.

Why It Matters

GPU companies constantly push updates that:

• Improve FPS
• Fix crashes
• Add game optimizations

Tools to Use

• NVIDIA GeForce Experience
• AMD Adrenalin
• Intel Arc Control

In my 3 weeks of testing, updating drivers improved performance in:

• Fortnite
• Valorant
• The Last of Us PC

Disable Startup Programs

This is the one tweak that made my PC boot twice as fast.

Steps

1. Task Manager → Startup Apps
2. Disable:

• Discord (unless you need it)
• OneDrive
• Spotify
• Steam (optional)
• Epic Games Launcher

Only keep what you absolutely use at launch.

Optimize In-Game Settings (The Real FPS Booster)

Even with all Windows tweaks, in-game settings matter the most.

My Recommended Settings

• Motion Blur: OFF
• V-Sync: OFF (unless screen tearing drives you crazy)
• Texture Quality: Medium/High (depends on VRAM)
• Shadows: Low
• Anti-Aliasing: TAA or FSR/XeSS/DLSS

When I turned shadows to low in Warzone, I gained 18 FPS instantly.

Choose the Right Power Plan

Windows sometimes limits performance to “save energy,” even on desktops.

Best Settings

1. Control Panel → Power Options
2. Select High Performance
3. OR enable Ultimate Performance

I personally use Ultimate Performance and yes, it makes a difference in CPU-heavy games.

Remove Bloatware & Clean Storage

If your C drive is 95% full, your PC will feel like it’s having a mid-life crisis.

Clean Using Tools

• Windows Storage Sense
• CCleaner (careful with registry cleaning)

What I removed

• Xbox apps I never used
• Random OEM junk
• Old Windows update files

Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

This setting helps low-latency and smoother FPS.

How to Enable

Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Default Graphics Settings → Turn ON HAGS

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Some games showed 1–4 FPS boost, but more importantly, less stutter.

Turn Off Unnecessary Visual Effects

Pretty animations are nice. But FPS is nicer.

Steps

1. Search “Performance Options”
2. Choose Adjust for best performance
3. Or manually disable:

• Animations
• Shadows
• Transparent effects

This helped me the most in open-world games like GTA V and Cyberpunk.

Optimize Network for Lower Ping

High FPS means nothing if your ping is 300.

Tips

• Use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi
• Disable bandwidth-hogging apps
• Set QoS in router
• Disable Windows Update Delivery Optimization

When I disabled Delivery Optimization, my ping dropped by 15ms in Valorant.

Quick Summary Tips

• Update GPU drivers
• Enable Game Mode
• Turn off background apps
• Use Ultimate Performance
• Clean bloatware
• Optimize in-game settings
• Use wired connection
• Enable HAGS

FAQs

1. Will these tweaks damage my PC?

No. All methods are safe and reversible.

2. How much FPS can I gain?

It varies, but typically:

• Low-end PCs: 20–40% boost
• Mid-range PCs: 10–25%
• High-end PCs: 5–10%

3. Do I need third-party software?

Not necessarily. Most of the best tweaks are built into Windows.

Conclusion

Optimizing Windows for gaming isn’t as complicated as it seems. In my experience, it’s a mix of small tweaks that add up to big performance improvements smoother gameplay, faster load times, and fewer random slowdowns.

And trust me… once your games run smoother, there’s no going back.
Your future self (and your K/D ratio) will thank you.

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