Windows 10 Performance and Optimization Guide

Windows 10, Microsoft's latest operating system can't seem to get out of it's own way with all of the "optimizations" it tries to help you with. This guide is a collection of several that I have found that may improve your gaming experience. All tweaks and changes are reversible and will include instructions to do so if you find they have a negative impact on your experience.

Overview:

This guide is going to be specific to Windows 10 and Nvidia Video Cards as this is what I can speak to with my experience. This aggregate of Windows 10 tweaks have still served useful for those with AMD video cards that I have attempted to help in the past, so they will more than likely work for the red teamers out there.
(except for the Nvidia tweaks of course.)

AMD USERS:
Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.8.2[support.amd.com] is showing improvements in PUBG across most cards, make sure you update!

Aside from the reports from individuals who I suggested these tweaks to, stating that their game is now buttery smooth and performing as intended, these changes in Windows allow me to run a highly modded 4k Skyrim with the same feeling of performance even while streaming it from the same machine.

The issue most of us neglect is Windows 10 and the sheer volume of nonsense Microsoft has been shoving into it in order to "make it better.", when, in fact, it needs to help us by not helping us. The adjustments to windows have helped people with low end, marginal systems to systems like mine:

i7 5930k @4.3
EVGA GTX 1080 SC
16 gigs DDR4 @2400
Samsung EVO Pro 500 gig SSD x2
Western Digital 1tb Black 7200 HDD
Asus x99-PRO - USB 3.1

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**Please read the entire section of a Tweak before performing any changes as some sections have options for you to choose from.

Everyone's system is unique to one degree or another, so do not be surprised if one of these suggestions does not help you. All of the tweaks below can be reverted if they happen to cause an issue for your system.

One more thing before we get started;

Double Check that your system meets the minimum requirements for the game:
OS: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i3-4340 / AMD FX-6300
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB / AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 30 GB available space

Windows Page File Tweak

This section is for systems where you do not plan on doing any content production as capping out your available ram may result in program crashes. I personally have never had a crash during such operations, but you should be warned.

16gb RAM suggested. skip this section if you have less than 16gb of ram and/or a single storage Drive.

With Memory Compression off Windows will need to rely on the disk-based page file more heavily. The more RAM you have the less of a paging file you'll have. At 16 gb you can disable the paging file entirely and your computer will be much faster as it will not try to use the paging file in the first place.

The process for changing this on Windows 10 is as follows:

• Right Click the start menu.
  
• Click System
  
• Click about
  
• On the right side of the window click System Info under the Related Settings section
  
• Click Advanced System Settings
  
• Under performance click settings
  
• Click Advanced
  
• Click Change
  
• Uncheck Automatically manage paging file for all drives
  
• For disk C: set no paging file
  
• You should set a secondary drive to system managed, the fastest secondary drive, preferably an SSD.

Setting no page file can result in programs that use a lot of RAM crashing a program or even the entire system when you run out of RAM. If a program crashes, the worst thing you lose is unsaved data or changes to what you were working on. I have had no issue changing this setting and neither has anyone I've directly worked with.

Please save your ignorant snide comments. Have some proof if you want to correct me on something in this section. Even Linus runs his system without a pagefile set, so stop wasting my time with your BS.

Windows 10 Memory Management Tweak

Windows 10 has a feature called Memory Compression. This is designed to minimise how often Windows needs to use the page file on disk by saving programs you have opened and then closed during your current session in a compressed state in your RAM so they will simply open faster the next time you wish to use them. It's only purpose is to reopen programs you've already closed, faster. Now think about the memory leak that still exists in PUBG with this sitting in your RAM.

It is very easy to turn off.

Make sure you have set your page file settings as detailed in the previous section before rebooting.

Open up an Administrator mode Powershell prompt. Right-click the start menu flag and choose Windows Powershell (Admin). You may need to search for "Powershell" then right-click and run as administrator.

Once the blue PowerShell window has opened up you want to type the following command:

Disable-MMAgent -MemoryCompression

To turn it back on:

Enable-MMAgent -MemoryCompression

And to see the current status:

Get-MMAgent

Once you have run the disable command I suggest using the Get-MMAgent command to ensure it shows MemoryCompression as False

When memory compression shows as false, reboot your PC.

Disable SuperFetch

SuperFetch has two goals: it decreases boot time, and makes sure applications that you use the most load more efficiently. SuperFetch also takes timing into account, in that it will adapt itself to your usage patterns.

SuperFetch' second goal is to make applications launch faster. SuperFetch does this by pre-loading your most often used applications in your main memory, based on not only usage patterns, but also on when you use them. For instance, if you have the same routine every morning (Chrome - Music - Email - Porn), SuperFetch will pre-load these into memory in the morning. If your evening routine is different (for instance, it includes gaming, chrome, and porn), SuperFetch will adapt, and load those in memory instead during the evening. **Even when you're playing another game.**

Disable from Services

• Hold the Windows Key, while pressing “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.
  
• Type “services.msc“, then press “Enter“.
  
• The Services window displays. Find “Superfetch” in the list.
  
• Right-click “Superfetch“, then select “Properties“.
  
• Select the “Stop” button if you wish to stop the service. In the “Startup type” dropdown menu, choose “Disabled“.

**OR**

**Enable or Disable from Registry**

Hold the Windows Key, while pressing “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.

Type “Regedit“, then press “Enter“.

The Registry Editor window appears. Navigate to the following location in the Registry:

- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM> CurrentControlSet> Control> Session Manager> MemoryManagement> PrefetchParameters

On the right side, double-click on “EnableSuperfetch“. If this value doesn’t exist, right-click the “PrefetchParameters” folder, then choose “New” > “DWORD Value“.

Give “EnableSuperfetch” **one** of the following values:

• 0 – to disable Superfetch
  
• 1 – to enable prefetching when program is launched
  
• 2 – to enable boot prefetching
  
• 3 – to enable prefetching of everything

Disable Hibernation

In Windows 10, as with previous versions, there are three basic options when you turn off your computer: shut down, sleep and restart. When you choose shut down, your PC will do different things depending on whether hibernate is enabled or disabled.

Hibernate is the same as Sleep mode. It means you can carry on where you left off: all your apps will be open and where you left them, and browser tabs will still be open. Hibernate is also linked with Fast Startup in Windows 10.

But, here's the thing, when hibernate is enabled Windows will create a file on your system drive to handle the hibernation process. By default the file is 75% of your RAM amount – a computer with 4 GB of RAM would have a 3.5 GB hiberfil.sys file. That means with 16gb of RAM, the file is 12 gigs in size.

• Click on the Windows icon, type cmd, right click Command Prompt and run as Admin.
  
• Type powercfg –h off and press Return. ***powercfg -h on will enable it.***
  
• You won’t see any confirmation of success, but you should see an error if it doesn’t work for any reason.

If you don't feel comfortable disabling this feature, you can still reduce the file size:

• Click on the Windows search bar and type cmd
  
• Right click on ‘Command Prompt’ and click on ‘Run as administrator’
  
• Type powercfg -h -size 50

This will make the file size 50% of your available RAM, the lowest it can go.

Nvidia Inspector

Nvidia Users ONLY!

I am only going to the list the changes that I suggest to specific settings. If you have a particular setup that helps you maintain a specific system setting, like multi-monitor surround display, keep your current setting. My changes will only be performanced based.

Download Nvidia Profile Inspector Here:
https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/nvidia-inspector-download.html

Open the installation folder and you will see 2 executables, use the Nvidia Profile Inspector. Once you open the program, click the header at the top and begin typing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. It should auto fill before you're finished typing, so just hit enter to switch to it.

2 - Sync and Refresh:

• Maximum pre-rendered frames - 1
  
• Prefered Refreshrate - Highest Available
  
• Tripple Buffering - Off

5 - Common

• Power Magnagement Mode - Prefer maximum performance
  
• Threaded optimization - On

Click Apply changes twice in the upper right hand corner of the Inspector to insure the changes were accepted and then close the program.

Miscellaneous Tweaks

A Solid State Hard Drive

This is a general quality of life improvement with all load times, but PUBG has a knack for making it an issue with a standard HDD speed being too slow to load all of the assets in a timely manner, which can result in playdough buildings that you can not enter.

Steam Overlay

Disabling this can help improve performance. Keep in mind, if you want to buy in-game keys for crates, you will need to turn this back on. Save your comments on the discussion of Microtransactions, this guide is strictly focusing on performance.

Reinstallation

This process is suggested to simply clean up any remnants from previous versions of the game on your system after you get the current patch.

• Open Steam
  
• Click on your Library
  
• Right click PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
  
• Properties
  
• Local Files
  
• Browse Local Files.. to open the current location of the game.
  
• Return to the Steam properties window and click Uninstall
  
• Return to the windows explorer folder you just opened and Remove anything that remains in the folder.
  
• Reinstall the game through Steam.

Disable Windows 10 Fullscreen optimizations

• Open TslGame.exe Properties
  
• located in folder ...Steam\steamapps\common\PUBG\TslGame\Binaries\Win64
  
• Click the Compatibility Tab
  
• near the bottom, check Disable fullscreen optimization.
  
• hit apply, then ok.

I found that checking "Run this program as administrator" will cause the game to be unable to find the Steam network after launching. You need to run Steam as administrator as well if you want to enable this. In some cases it's required for BattleEye to allow the game to launch with Reshade.
So don't go turning that on for no reason.

In closing & suggestions

I hope that this has improved your experience with gaming in general and not just PUBG. In the instances where it did not, do not worry as all of the tips suggested here are reversible.

If you would like to add any tips or tricks to the guide, please leave them in the comments section below with a detailed description, or link, that clearly explains how to perform it.

Thank you for your time.

[Hannibal]

Awesome guide

[Take The Ride]

was more like your native language was anything but english. get a lot of that on here.

[Merciful One]

I meant my comment to be funny. I was trying to imply installing win 7 is the best way to optimize win 10.

[Take The Ride]

the disable hibernation, nvidia, and misc tweaks should still work for win 7.

i would google how to disable hibernation on win 7 and use that method to disable. might be the same, might not. better to be specific for that os.

[Merciful One]

Does install Win7 count?

[Yaba Daba Doo]

AMD user here, just saying that these tweaks worked for me and now im finally running the game at the smooth 60fps I always wanted!

[rups]

@rodrikes they did not, it was only for the shadowplay thing not actually anything optimising the game. shit info u have kid

[rodrikes]

Also, nvidia released game ready drivers specifically for PUBG now.

[rodrikes]

If you need more proof, check /r/AMD on reddit, plenty of confirmations on there.

[Take The Ride]

ya, I've seen quite a few people talking about that. It's just as an outsider to the AMD realm, I want to see a trusted source so I can be like, here is the proof.

I think a section with something along the lines of, "make sure you have updated your drivers" would be a good place to start.