How To Set Up Windows 10 For Gaming – GPU Drivers, BIOS Updates, SSD & Ultimate Power Setting
42In this video I cover the steps I usually take to set up Windows 10 for gaming.
1. Update Windows 10.
Installing updates is very important for a stable system however avoid installing any optional updates such as drivers as often these are out of date, on the other hand, quality updates are optional.
Either way to check for updates, open the Start menu, type updates, load the Windows Updates application and click Check for Updates.
2. Download & Update Motherboard Drivers.
Visit your motherboard's manufacturer's website, find your model and download and install any BIOS and chipset updates.
BIOS updates are important, especially if you have recently upgraded some hardware, as BIOS updates often include support for newer CPUs, and occasionally regression fixes for certain games.
BIOS updates are distribution agnostic, and installation is often handled using a GUI tool through the UEFI interface itself.
On the other hand, chipset drivers will be operating system dependent and often are installed using the operating system specific installation package.
Alternatively if you bought prebuilt, download from the OEM's website instead.
Do not install drivers through Windows update or third-party driver installation software, as often they will install an older or wrong driver.
3. Download & Install the Latest GPU Driver for Your Hardware.
In order to play the latest games, you will need to update your GPU driver.
By default, Windows will install a generic display driver or an older GPU driver which is fine for browsing but any kind of 3D application will either fail to launch or perform very poorly.
Newer drivers often include fixes or new features for games, as well as general bug fixes, and can be downloaded from AMD and nVidia's websites.
nVidia - https://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk
AMD - https://www.amd.com/en/support
You only need to download the driver, and not the optional third party software such as nVidia Experience.
4. Disable Background Apps.
Windows 10 run several inbuilt Windows applications in the background, who use resources, so disable them.
Type Background Apps into the Start menu, launch the application, and turn the toggle off.
5. Enable Gamemode.
Windows 10 introduced a Gamemode that gives priority to applications such as video games and recording software such as OBS Studio.
Type gamemode into the Start menu, load Game Mode Settings and toggle Gamemode on.
6. Use the Ultimate Power Setting.
Newer builds of Windows 10 comes with the Ultimate Performance plan.
To enable this, open the Control Panel and navigate to Hardware and Sound / Power Options, and tick the Ultimate Performance power plan.
On a laptop you might not have this option, but instead a slider that reads from battery saver to full performance, and moving the slider all the way to right will achieve the same result.
#windows10 #gaming #drivers