share gaming tweaks and chec my comprehensive list will blow your mind

Windows power plan settings explorer utility | guru3D ForumsSpecial notice you can help scientists fight coronavirus: by sharing your computing power Together We Are Powerful - Folding@home They finally got funding at least from Pfizer, previously no one even cared

PostEra is a non-profit organization, shares research with the scientific community! Shared computing power (provided by people around the world just like you) reached more than top 5 super computers in the world!!! And that was yet with nothing - I think like 250k devices, or like 400-750k max... While it is more ecological LOL!!! Make sure to do a stress test with something like prime 95 before you get into this! And make sure you have an adequate cooling! But it is normal program, it is safe, unless you let it run unchecked with poor cooling!

Special notice (saving on electricity bills):
I will be throwing guide for reducing electricity consumption, since half of UK population (from polls or something) is saving on food to pay energy bills: Half of UK adults cutting back on food to pay energy bills - MyLondon And I don't want to be responsible for someone's kid making expensive electricity bills!!! Careful for electricity scams, people which go to your home to offer you deals are all scam...

You can also change electricity provider for better prices, but it can be risky as some went bankrupt now as energetic crisis has occurred...
Invest into green energy if you can afford it to drive market towards it faster and save planet! And don't be a bitch and vote if you did your research!!!
Did you know that to make electric car tons of emissions are released into atmosphere? It may be more ecological to finish your gas car before transitioning to an electric car actually DDD


TL DR:
Sorry some things literally impossible to edit anymore, view snaps back all the way down to the bottom...

Start reading sections about what you are interested in (clickable table of contents below)... I Am trying to list, as many tweaks as possible, without long talking and spread the word! I Am aiming to make this comprehensive as possible! If you don't know what something means: check explanations at the bottom, I don't want to be explaining same thing multiple times! Some things belong into multiple categories, I tried put them to not overlap but...

More about this guide:

I want to share my comprehensive list of tweaks and put everything into 1 place! You don't have to be afraid, that it will damage something, if it would - I would let you know, but don't always rely on that! Rule of thumb: always do a backup of your system, before you do anything and do your own research!!! For example Aomei Backupper/Macrium is fine. Make one change per time, so you know if it helped or not and if you like that change - you can keep it. Especially if you are new to gaming, this will save you a lot of time and trouble!

BTW and yes input lag is affected like by million things! It is not just electricity! I don't notice any problems the people having EMI issues are describing! I have new circuit breaker and electricity here seems just fine. I can disable VRM spread spectrum and have no issues! Just saying because some people try to blame it all on EMI...


Damn post your own tweaks!!! People are naturally lazy and this is the long guide. But we learn from each other 70k views and no one posted anything...




FAQ:

Q: For whom is this guide meant? A: Absolutely for anyone, I will try to explain and usually these changes are not hard to do. But if you are not sure - feel free to ask me for explanations. Or google. I Am trying to keep this brief as possible to list as many tweaks as possible!
Q: Will this break anything? A. Mostly these changes are safe, I would warn you if it did, but always make backups. There is an old saying: trust but always verify!
- recommend to click on links on this page with ctrl, so you don't have to scroll back
- dates of tweak updates should be in EN format but...

means warning
means tip
[major, minor] - means effectivity of a TWEAK

Italic font means - intro
Small Italic font means - unimportant, or misc.

Before I found BBCODE syntax for this site, I added references like: [1] so you can jump to related info quickly, to keep tweak list brief! I recommend to use ctrl+f to snap to different places...

Make sure you check Tweakguides at the end, there are many more!

Warning: this site compresses links, i am not doing that! You can still see full address down at the bottom left!

EDIT 21: I will use shortcuts from now, since site compresses links anyways, check bottom left, if you don't trust links.

General warnings: turning device into msi, can cause PC to not boot, if you switch it on for incorrect one! But I will warn you, if something could break something! And you are encouraged to do backups!

Disclaimer: I Am not taking any responsibility for any damage caused by following this guide, do at your own risk!


Intro:_(you can skip this if you want...)_______________________

Hello,

I should shout out people, which came with these tweaks, but I read so many though years, which would impossible to remember and this guide is already too long! Yet some people got almost angry at me that I didn't remember who come with some tweak (I heard from someone on forums) LOL But I Am now including list of tweakers and credits also for purpose of finding their tweaks!

500hz monitors coming in 1-2 years, 1000hz monitors in like 5 years (if i am not mistaken)! DPC latency will be more important than ever, also we have 8k gaming mouse now! You don't want to have input lag bottlenecks, while you have low latency hardware! As you can notice it more then... It is not a good thing - trust me, if you have input lag from one source, but second is perfectly responsive...


About me (why I Am even telling this...):
I was always of a Philosphy that very small change lets say <=1% matter and if you do a lot of small changes then effect will stack! And it is like this with many things (not solely computers) because there are many things which affect many other things etc.

I don't play games anymore ehm ^^ I have currently chronic pain and I can't do anything else, but I don't even like most games today! It is most fine to play once awhile... I was obsessed with input lag, I played starcraft 2 in masters league and cs go in supreme master class, because software devs are incompetent and without tweaks, games are just not playable... I can discern 6 ms input lag (23/25 correct) to test that: on blur busters forum there is utility called inputlag AB test - Blur Busters Forums • View topic - Input lag AB test If you wanna go really hardcore, you can buy 1000fps camera and learn how to test it, or just go with how it feels. Some of new 360hz monitors can test input lag, no idea how accurately! Always read, there are great guides, on steam, overlock.net and 3dguru. Why I am doing this guide? From boredom.

Tho I have VR and I want to have a best experience possible! And I still play FPS. I was surprised VR feels lagless, 60fps VR felt amazing, literally 0 lag (well almost but it is most responsive thing I have ever experienced!) and I didn't notice tearing, or motion blur. Whereas 60fps on monitors feels to me like 30 fps since i transfered to 144hz... It has frame interpolation, but still - only 60 fps with reprojection interpolated to 120... Should not be possible! But it is! Even 120fps and hz on monitor feels lagged to me and not so smooth as VR! 60fps Index feels better than 144hz monitor. Not sure if it is same with other HMDs...........................................................


Note: this guide is aimed for Nvidia as I have Nvidia, but there are mostly agnostic TWEAKS, so still keep reading!
Note 2: this is a gaming guide (so if not specified assume) it is related to gaming performance, input lag etc.

ctrl+f date of an update to see new tweaks quickly
Note: dates are in EN format e.g. 1/11/2022 (1 stands for January)


Table of Contents:
Consider Linux as your work PC!!!
Saving on electricity bills!!!
0.1Basic skills you will need for tweaking (saves a lot of time)
1.Monitor setting - up 11/23/19
2.Nvidia control panel - up 03/23/21
3.BIOS setting - small but good up 9/21
4.Windows - up 11/23/19
4.1 POWER MANAGEMENT
4.2 Debloating
4.3 Startup
4.4 Programs
4.5 Memory and SSD Tweaks
4.6 Sound
4.7 Prevention of freezes and FPS degradation
4.8 Another optimizations (some also important tweaks)
4.9 Visual Effects and everything which is related to visual setting and performance Up (03/28/21)
5.Windows services - DWM (UP 2022) + UP Task Scheduler 04/09/22
6.Hardware - up 11/23/19
6.1 Speakers/headphones
6.2 Peripherals
6.3 Device Manager
6.4 Spectre/Meltdown
6.5 Overclocking/Undervolting + Voltage - UP 04/09/2022
6.6 Timers, Timer Resolution Window
6.7 HDD/SSD/NVME disks
7.Drivers and Windows Updates - up 3/12/21 (1 line to stop auto driver up added)
7.1 Diagnostics
7.2 DPC LATENCY AND ISR(up 21 thorugh tweakguide added)
7.3 Interrupt affinity & priority
7.4 Nvidia Drivers
7.5 get rid of useless drivers (up 3/12/21)
8.Network card
9.In-game setting + Game optimizations + MOUSE/setting (up 2021)
9.1 picking a MOUSE
9.2 MOUSE TWEAKS
// Benchmarking (work in progress)
10.Ideas/Questions Update 7/15/19P
11.BONUS NEW! Build your own gaming PC in terms of cost/performance and low input lag - (UP 2022)
12.Most notable TWEAKERS to google
13.Most notable tweakguides to google
13.1 Tweak posts to follow
13.2 Useful Tutorials - great universal guides here for many things
Forums to read (stay up to date about input lag)
Terminology
Detailed Tweak explainations you can find here...
THEORY: EXPLORING INPUT LAG INSIDE OUT
MYTH BUSTING
Credits
PS

Consider Linux as your work PC!!!
You can use your old PC for Linux and main PC only for PC games! You can put it in sleep mode, so it can instantly boot and does cost almost none electricity! For Linux PC get wireless mouse and keyboard so you can switch easily! And you can easily connect 2 PC to one monitor and just change output, some monitor can do this even in software! Or you could do a dual boot (f you have long gaming sessions like couple hours at once), but you will have to disconnect sata from other disk to use second OS, to isolate them from each other! Qubes OS is great, but doesn't work on older hardware!!! It requires virtualization heavily! Antix Linux is lightweight fast! There are also builds of lightweight Windows for gaming, but: 1. less secure 2. don't have DX12!

Saving on electricity bills!!!

If you are building PC:
Aim at highest standard possible for PSU (at least gold). If you want to know exactly how much money you will save: you can calculate how much energy your PC draws by checking power draw in specs on official page of each component e.g. GPU.

Obviously choose most power efficient components!

Note: power draw calculators are scam and try to make you buy more expensive PSU than you need! Even 550W is usually enough for most high end rigs (no SLI)!!! It is because PSU can run significantly above its designated wattage, before shutting down!

But GPU/CPU usage won't be always max... you can monitor power draw for CPU with this (Intel only): Intel Power Gadget 3.7.0 Download | TechSpot And for GPU something like this: GPU-Z Graphics Card GPU Information Utility So you get idea how much power it draws idle and in load!

Or you can also use a power meter which goes into a plug! It cost like 10-15$

--- Power Saving tips: ---

It is possible to create balance between power savings and performance, even without sacrificing input lag sometimes!!! You want to make sure your CPU/GPU is throttled in windows in either case!

Mostly CPU/GPU matters! Ram is like 3W anyways...

You should get these programs(for ease of use):
Either way use process Lasso:
Buy Process Lasso Pro - EDIT: this program is for free wtf, how did it get here?! My bad I don't want to remove it now...

Process lasso is an epic program, which can switch dynamically between windows power plans. So in game you get maximum performance/min latency, but in OS it saves power big time!

Download park control for parking CPU cores when you are in OS: ParkControl – Tweak CPU Core Parking and More
It allows you to select a power plan and park cores for it, while other power plans remain unchanged!

PowerSettingsExplorer (powerful utility from reputable dev, to change power settings quickly!) Windows power plan settings explorer utility | guru3D Forums

Gaming:
Note: don't think you need underclock gpu, as it runs already at like 210mhz at windows (if you have set in NVCP Normal under power and pci-e link to auto in BIOS) better to cap fps in game
- for single-player games you can cap fps at like 70 using Riva Tuner, download MSI Afterburner: it comes with it! It reduced wattage from 158 to like 78 for me and load to only 36% from high GPU load

Warnings (do nots):
- Don't set prefer maximum performance in global tab in NVCP - otherwise your GPU won't be throttled in windows! Nvidia is dumb, who wants to set this per game tho...
- Don't run many apps in background monitor CPU usage!
- Do not lower monitor HZ, it strains eyes faster!

Either way (you "could" probably do these), i didn't research these for input lag, instead input lag dude, i am now power saving dude :
- unvervolt GPU using MSI afterburner, there are lots of tutorials, this can cause only instability tho, you can undervolt even lower frequencies "don't unlock voltage control"
- make sure your CPU is downclocking in windows! if not: it can be because intel turbo is not enabled, or speedshift (not to be confused with speedstep) which is fine for input lag, or mb. even lowers it
- Try SVID on best case scenario (probably crashes OCs) - helps a lot! Keep CPU voltage on auto!
warning can cause BSOD if you CPU isn't high quality
- find lowest LLC, without overclock my i5 9600kf runs on level 1 (lowest), Z390 chipset
- go to bios take screenshots for your respective power saving features or find videos on youtube
- turn on hardware accelerated scheduling in windows!!!
- on Intel gen 10+ turn on resizable bar (I think this is supposed to be turned on with it: ioapic 24-119 entries/above 4 g decoding), not sure prob. reduce power consumption as not all your components have to be active, GPU scheduler can pre-load assets on its own or something like that...

---Balanced power saving:---
Low latency (you can think of you own about compromise between performance-latency/energy draw):
- don't turn on C states in BIOS (tho I read if you use "ultimate performance power plan in windows" when gaming it shouldn't affect input lag, but windows doesn't have control everything, I had always feeling that C-states cause slight lag even when using ultimate performance profile) and ASPM, USB power saving and what not...
C-states significantly contribute to reduced power consumption!
- turn on Intel Speed Shift (not to be confused with Speed Step), this will allow dynamic CPU freq. In OS use balanced power profile and CPU core parking, in game use High performance power plan, or Ultimate Power Profile, or any combination of your choice for concrete settings!
- in NVCP set globally under power: Normal instead of prefer maximum performance, consider this also in game profiles (may reduce perf. or lat.)
- keep disabledynamictick and use timer resolution window 1 ms
- keep turned on Intel Turbo, otherwise CPU won't downclock in windows even with balance power plan!!! Not sure if this is not limited only to some motherboards/CPUs

---High power saving:---
First go to BIOS:

on CPU C states, speedshift, speedstep and every power saving feature you can find (you will have to check your BIOS every differs)
- also make sure pci-e link speed is set to Auto, so when GPU is not in use it switches to get 1.1 to save power!
- you also activate ASPM Pch - Pci Express Options; Pch Dmi Aspm [Disabled]; Aspm [Disabled]; Dmi Link Aspm Control [Disabled] - Asus PRIME Z390-P Manual [Page 63] | ManualsLib
- LPM is a disk saving feature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggres...wer_Management

GPU and CPU is most important other is like whatever, but if you want...
- check any other power saving features like for USB, disks, erp, s04/s05 states etc.
- downclock CPU: find least amount of CPU freq. as long it doesn't bottleneck GPU. You can detect bottleneck if CPU is constantly at 100% load in a game: while GPU is not at 99%!!! That can mean it is bottlenecked by CPU! Also you can use 3D Mark to see, if GPU scores decreases as you underclock CPU, but this may not mean your game fps will decrease necessarily, as long as CPU there isn't maxed!
- undervolt CPU until it is unstable

OS:

Power Plan:

- select balanced power plan and make sure under "Processor power management" idle saver is set to enabled and Minimum Processor state to 5%!
- under PCI Express set under Link State Power Management: maximum power saving, not sure if it does something, it is prob. controlled by GPU drivers
- in PowerSettingsExplorer turn on HIPM+DIPM for disks - can cause stutter! You can set power plan for this tho, so in windows it saves power, it is nothing like turn off disks after, it is power link control of disks power...

Optionally you can:
- enable USB power saving
- set screen saver to blank
- set sleep after x minutes (don't recommend fast startup! but normal sleep)
- set disk power saving feature:Add AHCI Link Power Management to Power Options in Windows (can cause stutters, you can set it only to 1 profile)
don't switch turn off disk after x minutes (this wears down ssd, or even disks)

Check this advanced power plan explorer utility: Windows power plan settings explorer utility | guru3D Forums

---Maximal Power Saving Tips ---
- lower monitor brightness (some monitors turn on PWM like under 20%) use shadow control, or feature of sorts to make colors appear brighter or in-game gamma, nvidia h
- it is a myth that screen savers save power: they drain more of it!
- in "PowerSettingsExplorer" there is some technology: "NVIDIA Display Power Saving technology" don't know how it works, it is some sort of variable refresh rate
- TCC offset time window (it allows to not let CPU get over some temperature threshold in average by throttling it)
- mouse lower polling to at least 500hz
- turn on allow to turn this device on under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections right click your ethernet adapter/properties/configure/power management check allow to turn this device off, in same location go to Advanced and enable "energy efficient ethernet" or ultra low power mode (these options can differ based on your NIC)
- allow to turn off sound card in bios, or in OS you have such an option
- in device manager check allow to turn this device off for every USB and HID entry (also in power plan USB power saving should be enabled then)
- disable uneeded USB ports in BIOS
- set fans to lower curve so you don't overheat, or disconnect them
- remove disks if you have many you don't need
- disable everything you don't need in BIOS and turn on every power saving feature
- use integrated GPU
- enable dynamictick, or use timer resolution window max 15.625 = insane lag
- set connection to metered to disable useless traffic, block trackers in router, and windows tracking
- disable in BIOS usb ports which you don't use, it is like 5$ a year , USB 3 also is more power efficient! Make sure you don't use more USB chipset, you can tell one chipset = USB horizontally on the same level! In PowerSettingsExplorer enable USB3 power savings!
- Disable ERP in BIOS, or s4/s5 states for USB powering
- Disconnect fan you don't use or lower their curves
- switch audio quality in sound setting to 16 bit 44100hz, it doesn't make difference anyways, to reduce CPU load
- disable Windows appearance features, and do DWM tweaks to reduce DWM CPU usage: it is inefficient
- use power efficient browser (OperaGX - gaming browser can limit CPU/RAM usage)
- use hardware acceleration everywhere you can - warning causes huge input lag!
- try cpu adjacent cache line prefetch and there is some feature next to it in bios (it probably should be on also for perf. reason) it helps minimally - tiny, i will leave this to you, if someone cares
- ioapic 24-119 entries/above 4 g decoding leave this to you, same with MSI-X interrupts vs single line interrupts!


Other tips:

Monitor CPU usage by processes:
There is a tool "performance monitor" Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools. After you open it click on Performance Monitor on the left in collapsed menu "Monitoring Tools". Click green +. Select process and there click on processor time, in window under that select all processes which you want to monitor and click add, it will show top right, then click ok. It should start monitoring.

You can try processes suspender program, so programs which are not used are automatically suspended!
Don't try this on system processes!

- try Opera GX the gamer browser which can limit usage of CPU and RAM, or enable tab suspending both chrome and Firefox has this

- **** there was some tweak, that you connect video output into integrated GPU, but you discrete GPU (your main GPU) does hard work, it reduce power draw. Forget how it called!!!

Scum electricity at work: if you have notebook, or phone, tablet make sure to charge it at work If you own UPS bring it to work and charge it there xDDDDDDDDDDDDD

- disable as much programs running on background of your smartphone
- set brightness to dynamic and lower baseline


0.1Basic skills you will need for tweaking:

These will cover some useful tools, which you will use often...

Downloads:
When downloading sensitive stuff, because download error could corrupt them... If it is exe: Win will probably find a certificate from the internet and Win should warn you: if something was wrong e.g. if intergrity of a file didn't match a cheksum. To check manually: right click exe properties/Digital Signatures/Details and it should say OK.

But not every program has them, as they are expensive. So verify checksums against website, if it has them. Or download them twice (one later) and compare, or do so using VPN.

If it is a .zip file, 7zip should auto check for integrity and warn you in can something was wrong, because .zip packages contain crc - check value, .rar probably also...

Registry:
I will be covering here only useful basics, as registry are complicated!

If you are afraid to use registry, some things can be accomplished in gpedit.msc.

Imagine registry as a big database, which holds all data of Window's/Program's/Driver's settings. Some of these are loaded at Windows bootup to set up things. Registry are structured into hives e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and have structure like Window's folders - (folders and subfolders). These folders (on the left hand side) you see are called "keys". If you click on some key, on the right hand side things you see are called "values". And if you right-click a value and click modify, things you enter are called "data".

Most of the time you will need to simply flip some value from 0 to 1 etc. But you can meet sometimes with values, which even professional engineers have trouble to understand! Also most common registry value is DWORD 32 (bit), which is easy to use!

Tips:

When enetering data, don't forget to set hexadecimal, or decimal! Depending on what value you have to enter.

I am not sure, if registry are case sensitive, but better to use exact notation you see!

How to use .reg files[14]:

Paste something like this into a notepad and click save as, select all files and as appendix put .reg instead of .txt
(each time .reg file differs based on what you want to edit, you always include the first line however):

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MultitaskingView\AllUpView]
"AllUpView"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MultitaskingView\AllUpView]
"Remove TaskView"=dword:00000001

It can be difficult to do sometimes, official turotial | tutorial2

Always backup registry keys, so if you make changes - so you can always revert. (Right click and export, you can restore later by double clicking given .reg file).

Don't backup whole registry, as registry will change, if you reverted all registry - something would not work! Backup only registry keys where you are changing values!

Device Manager:
- location: Control Panel/Device Manager
- used to show/manage devices on your computer and install/uninstall drivers

NEVER UNINSTALL DEVICES IN DEVMGR, WINDOWS BUGS OUT AND CAN CAUSE LAG, THIS GOES LIKE FOR SYSTEM DEVICES NOT YOUR CAMERA ETC. ALWAYS USE DISABLE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Default view - Devices by type, which is clear. But you can change views: based on what you are looking for.

Always use programs and features to uninstall your manufacturer's drivers, always check here first if you have any drivers there!

If devices have yellow warning sign, they are not working correctly, or are not identified by a system, note: they can be ignored sometimes.

If you want to uninstall old drivers of unused devices (which can cause conflicts), click view and show hidden devices.

DriverStore Explorer can do the same. Careful!
Release DriverStore Explorer v0.11.64 . lostindark/DriverStoreExplorer . GitHub

If you want to install a different driver (which you already own perhaps) right click device/Update Driver/browser my computer for drivers/let me pick list of drivers available on my computer. This is useful for example to reverting to Microsoft mouse drivers, when your manufacturers forces their crappy drivers to your system. If you have multiple drivers for a device, this is not good thing to do generally and they should be uninstalled in programs and features! To default to Microsoft/OEM driver.

Also useful thing is to right click a device/properties/details/Hardware Ids to identify a device in registry perhaps

Backups:

It is advised to do backups often, not only coz tweaking, but also Win updates can corrupt Windows and cause plethora of problems! Best is to make one partition to put system on - size suited for your needs and backup that often. And 2nd partition for games etc. You can detect steam programs on another partition, even if you re-install...

you can resize a parition, even after Win install! And keep one where is system installed for Windows and programs, create second for Games etc. And backup system partition frequently.
Resize a Partition for Free in Windows 7, 8.x, 10, or Vista

Also Windows restore points may be good, but they take a lot of space and can be overwritten quickly, based on space you allocate for them and these don't save you from everything! So always have full system backup.

In worst case you can do a repair install and keep your programs and files.

----------------------------- RETURN BACK TO THE TABLE OF THE CONTENTS -------------------------------


1.Monitor setting:

DO NOT USE DISPLAYPORT SHIPPED WITH YOUR MONITOR - IT CAN DESTROY GPU!!!

Go to the official website of a DisplayPort and find a certified manufacturer, you don't need an expensive cable. Just durable one! Don't want to cause worries: also some cables get stuck in GPUs/monitors! But better safe than sorry!

www.tftcentral.co.uk is best monitor resource site for input lag tests!

Monitors are major source of input lag, don't get scammed by a marketing trick 1ms g2g. It doesn't mean anything!

Signal processing = Delay between frame being sent to a monitor and when you actually see it. This affects input lag! (What you can feel)
Pixel response time = Delay how fast can pixels change color, high pixel response times cause ghosting and motion blur (in a moving picture) which is also a huge deal! E.g. when you are looking around, if picture is blurred you can miss enemy!

In-depth explanation: Input Lag Testing - TFTCentral

All these factors can affect perceived smoothness of a motion: input lag, dynamic lag, motion blur, ghosting, tearing, LOD

You should probably get at least 144hz monitor, with pixel lag 4ms~ max. 6ms! Lower is better obviously!

Monitor brands:

ASUS is the best in area of monitors, but they are pricey!Or BenQ.
- BTW ASUS VG248QE is best cheap gaming monitor (now a little bit old)!

- Or AOC pg2590fx is ok: it is only G-SYNC compatible, but G-SYNC should work well on this model and free sync. AOC monitors have very low input lag!
Sorry never buy AOC in your life, it is a scam!!! They had everywhere positive reviews, then I found from blurbusters: they sent monitors without an overdrive unit! So reviewers couldn't test version, which was on the market! It has huge ghosting, so even with low pixel lag and G-SYNC - picture is still blurred! If you are not as sensitive, it is still okay monitor. However: if you came from a good low motion blur monitor, it will feel underwhelming!

G-SYNC:

Great alternative for plebians xD: https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4916

G-SYNC is probably better than Freesync, which doesn't have a chip in a monitor and long story short - it can cause ghosting and no one likes that! Tho G-SYNC isn't perfect too! Heard new AMD cards will work with G-SYNC!

Something about G-SYNC: if your fps reaches your monitor's refresh rate, G-SYNC turns off, since it adds still a little bit of input lag and there is no reason for it to work above your refresh rate, when tearing is less of a problem. If you play CS GO, you should think about 240/360hz monitor, you can tell a difference! That human eye can't tell more than 30 fps is a myth... Nvidia did studies and found out people can track target better on 360hz, google reflex!

Except: on G-SYNC compatible monitors input lag is lower with G-SYNC on: it was tested with 1k fps camera, google videos. So you need to cap FPS (under your monitor's refresh rate "hz") in a game engine, or use a CPU limiter e.g. Riva Tuner - which doesn't introduce almost any input lag! Also leave some room for FPS spikes, as any method isn't perfect!

MAIN ADVICE:

(read manual, or wander through OSD and google any monitor specific features)

- if your monitor has a sharpness setting, you should put that to 0%, it adds tons of lag!

- make sure to disable ddc/ci: adds input lag as well (if you don't need it for anything)

- also make sure to set screen scaling to none (normal in my case) it can call differently on your monitor. Whatever means no scaling on your monitor i.e. it will take output and won't stretch it to fill a screen, or by using your monitor ratio!

- use DisplayPort, it has smoother move imho, but DVI seems faster. Test it yourself, i read lately DisplayPort is faster: like about 1 ms. I just know DVI and DisplayPort both feel different and you need DisplayPort for G-SYNC, which is must have today. Don't use HDMI, it is worse! But test it yourself!

- you can even overclock monitors today, learn how to do it on cru forums (even it is not easy) and check your model, how much it can go and get advice for timings. Human eye can see even 1/250 fps, it was proven: you need at least 180 fps to see an enemy character, when moving camera quickly! From an experience: even 144hz isn't enough when looking around fast, which is absolutely crucial in fps games!

NOTE: If you interested in low motion blur and have this monitor vg248qe, or some benq models check for the app: strobelight ultra low motion blur on blurbusters forum, but it adds input lag for cost of reducing motion blur!

Misc:
No idea, if this is true: some games may drop frame, if your monitor refresh rate isn't exactly 144, it may be like 139.96 etc. Sometimes you can see weird values like this in game. Try CRU it should be safe to use. I tried automatic profiles and worst thing, that happened to me was black screen (if you enter unspported resolution etc.) but you can get out of it by simply pressing a hotkey. There isn't exactly explained how to calculate timings for a monitor resolution+refresh rate. And using autpmatic profiles: there will be probably some deviations! You can also create custom resolution using NVIDIA panel. But I don't know how to determine timings for your monitor!

----------------------------- RETURN BACK TO THE TABLE OF THE CONTENTS -------------------------------


2.Nvidia Control Panel(NVCP):

Sorry never had AMD, so don't know thing about its control panel...

See tweakguide for each setting in NVCP, what it does and choose by your preferences, some may be outdated!

Many people probably don't pay much attention to NVCP, but there is quite a few setting to set and it is important to get them right! Additionally you can use NVIDIA inspector, which is more powerful tool to edit NVIDIA application profiles.

Tips:

- disable ansel, if you don't use in-game recording go here: C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Ansel\NvCameraConfiguration.exe - check disable, click save (only needed if you didn't clean install)

- always use 1 pre-rendered frame (now this is called"on" under setting - Low Latency Mode), this adds only 1 pre-rendered frame, increases input lag about 1 frame - depends on your monitor's refresh rate and fps. E.g. for 60fps this is 16.67ms! Option "off" would mean like 3-4 frames, means insane input lag! Use always "on" unless...

Note: I read with option off, it doesn't always wait to get 3 frames ahead and discards some and starts rendering. But option off still adds tremendous latency, on is best in 90% of cases, unless you have really weak PC! E.g. if game engine can set render queue, this is usually best!

(Update 2020) now we have ultra low latency mode:

Now a bummer - someone with 1khz camera did a test and IF: your gpu usage isn't maxed i.e. != 99% and you have activated Ultra Low Latency mode in the NVCP. It'll actually increase your input lag! It was tested even with GSYNC on/off. I tested it in-game where my GPU isn't used well and it was true. Tho "on" is always better than off. Never use off, if you want to have low input lag!!! He didn't tested "on" option unfortunately, to see a difference between on/ultra. Here is a link to the video. Which is pretty stupid a lot of games don't utilize GPU on 99% at all times! People will naturally set it on Ultra. So if you don't have 99% GPU usage all times... Set that to "on"!

I read it is actually is extremely difficult to have lowest latency possible, because if it will render a bit late, you will have fps drop and otherwise higher input lag! Games/drivers were build to crank up FPS, but they terrible in terms of latency!!! So ULTRA option isn't really a good solution. It was just PR to come with response to AMD's anti lag quickly. Real solution had to come up later, as tech called "Reflex" which has to be hardcoded into a game engine to work with combination of drivers!

Don't use "Ultra Low Latency Mode" with reflex! This technology has to be implemented in game engine to communicate with drivers. Ultra Low Latency mode is not needed when game supports reflex!!!

never EVER use under adjust desktop size and position set it to fullscreen!!! Instead use no scaling, former adds extreme amount of lag! Except in CS GO where you need 4:3!


(Update 03/23/21) LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL I switched from Display scaling to GPU and it fixed my frame times, now I have 99% of times perfect frame times and it also gave me +50 FPS on average LOL...

Display scaling will reduce input lag a bit, but it is inconsistent as hell and lowers FPS apparently! Tho I don't know, how this is possible...

Always use GPU scaling! ALSO CHECK THERE: override scaling set by applications!

(Update 03/23/21)
PRO in Manage 3D Settings/global tab set Antialiasing - Mode to "off". This will disable anti-aliasing globally, so you have to manually switch for every game Antialiasing to application controlled. What this will do is that it will disable Antialiasing globally for Windows and all applications. This lowers significantly input lag! I don't recommend this tho, because it makes mouse heavy on some reason, tested it multiple times, my aim is worse when this is on "off"!!!

- If you have a decent CPU, switch Physix to a CPU, a GPU resources can be freed for more fps, do a benchmark to see what is better. Tho GPU is still better probably, CPU frame times are much longer! Nowadays many games don't use Physx anymore, so you don't have to even install it if you want...

-download Nvidia inspector and select a game, google: frame rate limiter mode. For some games like PUBG it helped with input lag.
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Nv...file_Inspector
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nv...-guide.403676/

-also check out in nvidia inspector, that game is using single performance mode for single monitor under acceleration, even if you use multiple monitors, but play on 1 you probably still want to use this!

-some games will benefit from having shader cache off

-Nvidia mod said: disabling Nvidia container service makes application profiles not working, but I tested it with v-sync on and off and I certainly tell less input lag, with V-Sync off. But it could concern only some setting, if you don't want risk it - keep it on! Otherwise disable the telemetry service! It also is probably collecting some data, so they don't want you to disable these... They couldn't tell you truth anyways, even if they wanted.

If anyone knows, if you can disable this and if all profile setting will still work, i would appreciate it!

----------------------------- RETURN BACK TO THE TABLE OF THE CONTENTS -------------------------------


3.BIOS setting:

- update your BIOS, if needed, if you have high DPC. latency, or other problems, otherwise not recommended!!! Don't turn off your PC during that and if you live where are power outages! [2] Tho most of new mobos can recorver BIOS, even if update procedure failed! Although don't take my word for it, never needed it!

BIOS is one of greatest sources of input lag - disable everything you don't need!!! Every BIOS is quite different so you gonna have to refer to your manual, and some things need to be googled and are hard to find sometimes. But it is worth it! You should check what every single entry in your BIOS does, especially in advanced, you can leave ram timings, if you don't know what you are doing!

- check your temperatures, buy a decent cooler, disable all C states - which throttle your CPU and EIST and Thermal Throttling for OC. You have to do research based on what you find in your BIOS (each BIOS differs greatly) never use turbo, only if you can't overclock on your mother board! And you are on a stock frequency.

- disable hyper threading, some games benefit greatly from this, if you have enough cores, in particular old single core games!

NEW BIOSES:

- enable Intel TMP (didn't notice any lag)
pros: improves wide-system security
cons: enables third parties to spy on you (but who does not nowadays...)

- disable spread spectrum (if you don't have EMI) HOLLY LAAAAAAG

- I think you should enable IOAPIC 24-119 Entries, if you use resizable bar (available from Intel gen10, RTX 3000 - if I Am not mistaken). It gave me input lag and weird mouse feeling on gen 9, no bar...

- this guy provides a lot of useful changes to bios, which reduce input lag: Gaming and mouse response BIOS optimization guide for modern PC hardware - Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community

- disable HPET, may not be possible on newer mobos and try how it feels, benchmark your timer with this! This can reduce latency greatly on some mobos and HW, even increase fps! Don't disable this in cmd, not recommended! You can try disable HPET in device manager, no idea if it works - don't disable something important

- disabling hyper threading can help for some old games: e.g. SC2 (single core games) or try check only even CPU cores = real cores in process lasso, this is called CPU affinity

Recommend to use Intel Speed Shift: not to be confused with Speed Step - disable this! It optimizes voltage for CPU and allow change C states faster. Maybe disable for OC?!

Recommend to set bclk closest to 100: should be by default on new/good mobos! However it will always spike, tho you want minimize that!!! Spikes like 0.1-0.3 should be normal - not ideal. But about 1mhz, or more, then you have a problem!

// AMD CPU TO RAM FREQUENCY ratio

// cpu-z all 3 timers should be synced

USB:
- disable USB3 in BIOS, if you can live without it!!! It causes huge lag!

- disable individual USB ports in BIOS, except what you use

- disable Legacy USB support, some USB devices may not work, it should be a minority!

- disable Ehci/Xhci handoff etc.

RAM (updated 9/21)

You might want to downclock your RAM and tighten timings ( setting manually RAM timings may damage your RAM, it shouldn't, but do on your onw risk)! Although 2133mhz and 3200mhz is like 10-20 fps difference today! But if you have enough fps and care only for latency try find best timing for lowest latency possible! Use RAM timings calculator, but don't take them literally! And e.g. AIDA 64 Extreme is good for RAM latency benchmarking.

Otherwise you can try to disabling XPM (Extreme Memory Profile) your RAM will work in 2133mhz, or whatever it is your CPU can handle max. I was troubleshooting and disabled XPM and it reduced latency a lot!

- For people with non K CPU, or a locked multiplier on motherboard [2]: there are experienced modders, which can do bios mods for you. Also if your mobo is warranted you could reclaim it - not sure. Also look out for socket mods, when CPU has locked overclocking, it could fit into another socket. Virustotal for scanning BIOS for a malware, tho without hardware equipment it is not 100% accurate. Also request SHA so some hackerino won't put little something in your BIOS, or just dl error And do not trust low reputation posters! Bios Mods -The Best BIOS Update and Modification Source

- if you have locked overclocking, you can try disable everything except hyper-threading, turbo and eist and than disable idle saver in windows and you CPU will overclock slightly, no idea if it works like that on all mobos and is outdated now

For overclocking/undervoltaing go to 6.5 section.

----------------------------- RETURN BACK TO THE TABLE OF THE CONTENTS -------------------------------


4.Windows:

Windows is very poorly optimized, so this is a very important section!

Installing windows:
- disconnect your ethernet cable from a computer before installation, to prevent installation of Microsoft OEM Nvidia drivers! If you didn't, you may want to use DDU from Wagnarsoft to full clean bloatware drivers! Before you install your Nvidia drivers[4]!
- be sure to untick every feature at the end of install and use an offline account (do it slowly! it is tricky: so you don't allow something by a coincidence)
- before connecting to the internet: I recommend to use Sledgehammer[3]

MANY TWEAKS RESET AFTER MAJOR UPDATES SO I RECOMMEND YOU TO MAKE A LIST and scripts and reg files to change them back quickly!

Misc:
- (disable bloatware IE Add-ons) Win+r gpedit.msc Computer Confguration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Internet Explorer/Security Features/Add-on Management/Deny all add-ons unless specifically allowed in the Add-on List/check enable

This step is maybe not necessary:
Then you want to add one add-on into Add-on list in the same location! Just go to Internet Options/Programs/Manage Add-ons I chosen IE to EDGE BHO, as it is default add-on. Double click on it and copy Class-ID and enter it to field in Add-on list, click enable first and then show!

This should deny Add-on for IE, many programs install crappy Add-ons for IE, even if you don't want to. I don't know how to precent installation in the first place!
If you have Chromium bases browser, you don't want to do this, because settings from Windows are used to configure it!


4.1 POWER MANAGEMENT:

Use Process Lasso, it is a great program which makes your experience more fluent! By lowering priority of background apps and processes: to make windows responsive at all times. Can also automatically change: power profile, disable idle saver and unpark cores! It is free, but limited in some features. Full version cost 25$. Lower with bitsumoff25, you can find this code by using the program and starting it, if it doesn't work.

ParkControl utility is separate free program BTW. Chose your power plan there, and put everything to 100% and disabled, click apply! Then click on tray icon/setting/uncheck - start at user login! You can even uninstall it probably and changes would stay applied. But if you wanna check: if setting didn't change (after some time) keep it! But this didn't change for me even after an update, so I think it doesn't matter. You can also check it in registry somewhere.

Process lasso basic setting:
- First go to file/profile and create new, so you can export settings to make a backup!
- Launch Process Lasso, GUI should show up, go to: options/general setting/reconfigure the way process lasso starts: here you can set up how should process lasso start, I disable GUI for less overhead, you can launch it every time by clicking on a desktop icon.
- Click options/log setting/uncheck logging enabled for less overhead.
- Options/general setting/ here you can configure refresh interval for GUI and governor (engine) 1ms for less CPU usage, 500us for less stuttering, because it can apply changes faster! I use 1ms and it is fine!
- Options/memory/smart trim/ uncheck it, if it is enabled, doesn't do anything anyways. You can use it: if you have low RAM.
- In options/memory: you can configure persistent memory priorities, 0 for lowest, this is called page priority in process hacker
- Now you should be set up, if you want to get advantageous: go to options/CPU/Pro balance settings, but careful changing these, if you don't know what you are doing. You can reset it to default tho.
- In CPU section you can see PL is automatically configured to not act upon system services. But you can use PL to change core affinity[16] for system services, as priority is risky, but affinity should be fine! I put all my un-important Windows services to core 1 (not if you have hyper-threading: this should be real core like 2,4,6 etc. but avoid 0) I change CPU affinity only for less important services, with a couple of exceptions. You will have to google each of these Maybe I will add my list later. Go to blackviper.com for references. First make sure you launched PL as admin, so all processes shown, first disable Governor in task manager, if they don't!

Had no problems so far doing this, but still - do at own risk!

If you want to cause program to induce Ultimate Performance power plan, right click it and check induce performance mode.
You should exclude program from "pro balance", same right click on it and check this!
Same can be done in options/power/performance mode and options/CPU/pro balance/configure excluded processes.

You can find power plan in Power Options menu, in control panel - click view by: large icons!

You should use "Ultimate Performance" power plan for lowest input lag, however make sure your CPU is not overheating first! HWINFO is great a monitoring program (don't run monitoring programs at background all the time: (causes fps drops and stutters) and use prime 95 for temperature stress test! As this will cause a lot of heat, on desktop you shouldn't notice, if you don't have most crappy cooling!

To show Ultimate Performance plan in power options go to cmd - run as admin and paste:
powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

To show Disable idle saver option, unecessary if you use Process Lasso:
powercfg -attributes SUB_PROCESSOR 5d76a2ca-e8c0-402f-a133-2158492d58ad -ATTRIB_HIDE

Note: change - sign in front of ATTRIB_HIDE to + sign to hide option in power plan.

Then in control panel/power options under Ultimate Performance plan, new option will appear: "Processor idle disable" set it to disable, this will keep your CPU constantly at 100% usage in c0 state. Only use if you have low enough temperatures, find on CPU manufacturer's site - your maximum allowed working temperature! Usually this is like below 85, or 69-79.

You verify idle saver is disabled in perfmon[6]. Except this time choose C1 time and idle time. And if both values are 0!

- also under Ultimate Performance plan, set under USB setting (selective suspend) - disables power savings!
this can disable USB 3 power savings (but I don't recommend to use USB 3 in the first place)
Add USB 3 Link Power Management to Power Options in Windows

Otherwise everything from default is fine here, except turn disk after x minutes, set it to 0 - otherwise damages ssd!!! Next PCI-E to disabled, but this is controlled by Nvidia driver probably anyways... If you use wifi, put it to maximum performance.

- also paste this to cmd to show Dipm-Hipm setting (set it to active to prevent disk power saving features):
powercfg -attributes SUB_DISK 0b2d69d7-a2a1-449c-9680-f91c70521c60 -ATTRIB_HIDE

- if you have UPS, you can disable disk write buffer caching in device manager for each disk - to prevent unnecessary disk writes! Otherwise not recommended, you can lose data, in case of power outage!!!

Ultimate utility for showing power plan options:
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/windows-power-plan-settings-explorer-utility.416058/

Also here you have some hidden power plan options, but Using Ultimate Performance plan and disable Idle saver should be enough, didn't find any other relevant here... https://gist.github.com/Nt-gm79sp/1f...b4fbc183731693

4.2 Debloating:

Uninstalling Appx packages:
Tutorial: Uninstall Apps in Windows 10
If anything is left click on that in start menu, or Win+i/Apps and click uninstall, some things you can't uninstall! So red text in powershell is fine! You can delete everything except store, to be safe!

- Also go in store and check, if there aren't additional things to uninstall. Also in Win+i/apps/optional components - there is also some garbage to uninstall.

- Go to Control Panel/Programs and Features/Turn Windows Features on or off. Disable everything, if you don't have use for it, except net framework - mb you can disable wcf services there, or at least TCP port sharing.
Disable Net Framework 4.8 for lowest latency, it is possible games/programs won't work, almost everything uses it! Not recommended!

- Uninstall/disable Edge:
First before you do this, open Edge and disable run on background and HW acceleration in System tab. Any any other crap you can find. Thing is: should you even open Edge? It may forcefully open, after and update anyway so...

No idea if this still works, but Edge is not only a browser, it also contains some core Windows features similar to IE. I would be afraid forcefully removing this would cause errors, or even lower security! So I settled no for denying all its permissions for my user account and SYSTEM, it doesn't run now! Simply right click icon and go to security tab/advanced/edit and check all deny boxes for your user account, if you are admin for users entries too!
Not sure if this is 100% safe to do also!

There is also a updater service and process running sometimes in a background. But you need security updates. That is the problem! So I wouldn't disable these for now.

- I do not recommend to use CCleaner for cleaning registry!
Reason: Registry were developed to be bloated, while there are some uses for it: you have to understand what you are doing. Also CCleaner was hacked and distrubuted malware in past to computers!
Best is to not to use it for registry cleaning! You can use it for cleaning temp files however!

Alternative use windows disk cleanup tool.

How to stay clean?
Use program like RevoUninstaller, Pro edition can log every change program does during installation and then completely removes all residues.
If something else happens during install, program has hard time telling, if it was caused by an installer. Can break Windows: doing restore points, or backup is strongly advised!

- PRO Uninstall Adobe Flash!!! Flash support has ended and it is a security risk!!!
Go to this site and install (KB4577586) for your respective version of Windows.
https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/search.aspx?q=4577586

I knew after restart... I immediatelly knew: it was gone! It causes so much input lag! Previously: you could remove it manually, but it was a security risk! Flash development was ended at the end of 2020, because HTML5. Microsoft said - they will remove it automatically, but nothing! Go figure... I am so glad this is gone!

- Disable focust assist and automatic rules in system section of Win setting (win+i)

- in privacy section disable background apps

- in system section disable notifications!
In Win+i/Update & Security/Open Windows Security/Settings/Manage notifications you can disable here Win Defender notifications. Not recommended so you can see what is going on!

- download OOSU10 and disable everything, except where it says no, where is "limited" it should be fine mostly. Recommend you read what it does at least under no and limited. Better read everything, which will take some time, to not disable something you need! And do restore point. Even program should be safe to use, if you don't disable features where is in red not recommended!

Here is some config, I use this pretty much currently, had no issues, but depends on what you are using:
https://www.tweakhound.com/2020/12/03/my-oo-shutup10-settings-03dec2020-win10-20h2/

Disable virtual desktops not sure if it works!

Other method using this .reg file[14]:

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MultitaskingView\AllUpView]
"AllUpView"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MultitaskingView\AllUpView]
"Remove TaskView"=dword:00000001

4.3 Startup:

- don't run browser on a background (may I interest you in a gaming browser?) or many programs! disable startup delay:
Enable or Disable Startup Delay in Windows 10
You can download autoruns and process explorer, which can even submit hashes of processes running on your pc to virustotal. To check what is set at startup and running on your PC and hopefully find quickly what it is and how to disable it.

Also win+r msconfig/services/hide microsoft services, here you can see startup of services on your pc. You can uninstall unneeded programs. But you shouldn't generally disable services here. Use services.msc for that, win button write services.msc - but not all services show there!

- task scheduler[15]: I Am even scared to go there, it causes weird lag, if you change anything there manually. Nothing fixes it, except reinstall. Or possible repair install, dunno...
Idea: perhaps changing this using autoruns, or cmd, wouldn't trigger bug?

go to Win+i/Devices/mouse:
- make sure option: "Scroll inactive windows when I hover over them" is enabled, disabling this cause heavy mouse movement (strange)!!!

4.4 Programs:

Firefox configuration guide: (chrome is spyware, tho firefox crashes from time to time) got some of this from RamenRider or r0ach posts:

You can download firefox as installer: Download the Firefox Browser in English (US) and more than 90 other languages
Directory Listing: /pub/firefox/releases/
Always verify your download:
Open PowerShell as admin, paste: $File1S = (Get-FileHash "C:\Users\username\Downloads\Firefox Setup 83.0.exe" -Algorithm SHA512).Hash

next $File1S, copy hash and paste into ftp site to check.

-Algorithm for algorithm (can be MD5, SHA256 etc.)
- in "" for path

You can install firefox without a background service, sometimes it will say it is not updated. Just launch it as admin. This is automatic with background service, adds lag. This can be also disabled in options/general, if you install using normal installer.

Now ctrl+t, write about:config, click accept risks and continue:
- if you don't want disk cache: write cache and double click on "browser.cache.disk.enable". It should change to false.
- also you may want to disable WebRTC, write: media.peer then double click "media.peerconnection.enabled". Same.

Click 3 - - - at top right/options/scroll down/under performance: uncheck recommended perf. setting and use HW acceleration! Holly lag! Check your game clients and apps like spotify, always disable HW acceleration everywhere! Holly lag

Again 3 - - - /addons/plugins double click on OpenH264 and off, same for second addon. Also click on 3 . . . and never activate. Unless you have usage for these. It adds lag!

Go to privacy tab and disable data collection, except maybe interactions data - helps firefox! I left first checked.

I close firefox anyways, but there is still aforementioned background service, if you don't disable it!

Install all programs on NVME/SSD. So when hard page faults[12] happen, performance loss is minimal.


4.5 Memory and SSD Tweaks:

Page file:

How to set proper page file size: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...page-file-size
ideal minimal size of page file = size of your RAM/8
ideal maximal size of page file = size of your RAM (in MB) * 1 - 1.5
recommended: system managed (there is a small overhead)

You can even disable page file completely, if you have 16GB RAM+ But it is not recommended! I currently use 4096 mb as minimal and maximal value. As page file is barely used. And to be safe, double of minimal value for 16GB RAM.

you can monitor page file usage in perfmon[6]: open start, write perf and choose performance monitor. Expand monitoring tools, click on Performance Monitor. Green + and seach for Paging File, click on it, then click little arrow expand. Everything should be selected. Then under "Instances of selected objects" click on total and add, click OK. New items should show in bottom window, you can click on them and see min. max. values. It is on scale of %, so 1 to 100.

Today SSDs last long (there should be no drawback by putting it on SSD). It is almost never used and has no impact on performance. There should no need for it, but Windows memory management is outdated and Windows uses it to page out some less important data from RAM to save space. I have 16 RAM and in BF1 with 0 free RAM left: I saw usage like 6% max. from 4GB.

Also if hard page fault occurs, it is better to have it on NVME/SSD.

for SSD put it on non system disk for most performance, on NVME it doesn't matter.

Also page file isn't encryped by default and can contrain passwords. Update: supposedly page file is protected when Windows is running... This is only relevant when someone has physical access to your computer...

Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10 Adds some overhead, alternatively in regedit: HKLM/system/currentcontrolset/controlsession manager/memory management, you may switch "CleatPageFileAtShutdown" to 1. Which will wipe page file at every shutdown!

IF YOU TURN ON PAGE FILE ENCRYPTION, DON'T CHANGE PAGE FILE SIZE!!! THIS CAUSED BSODS FOR ME First turn it off, change size, then turn it on.

I have Memory Leak oh wait it is Memory Compression:

Luckily now it should be disabled by default on Windows 20h2, so you may not need to do anything!

https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision...g_issues_with/

To query in evelated PS: write Get-MMAgent, under compression there should be false, also you can check in Task Manager, under RAM should be (compressed 0).

It was thought that Windows suffers from a bug, which doesn't release standby memory aka memory leak. Even with 32GB of memory, windows fills all free memory with a stand-by memory and then game crashes saying: there is no free memory left. So everyone put 2 and 2 together and thought it was memory leak. Some say: it isn't memory leak. Problem happens, because you want all memory used, instead of being free, as RAM is faster, so RAM is fully contained! But problem is, as windows fills all remaining free memory, it will try to compress it and that's what is crashing your games!

SSD TWEAKS:

- open regedit, and edit value in path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management create dword DisablePagingExecutive=1 (keeps kernel in RAM, 100% safe, but needs 8GB+ RAM prob.)

- and disable prefetcher in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters create dword EnablePrefetcher=0

Create DWORD (32 bit) in same location EnableBootTrace = 0, to speed up boot, however it won't collect diagnostics about drivers etc. when booting, you can re-enable for debugging.

- In start, write services.msc and set startup of service SysMain to disabled. It is Superfetch!

Disable hibernation: first go to explorer and view/options/view and check show hidden files and check 4 boxes which say hide system files etc. Then check: if you have hiber.sys on a system disk. If you use this command (open cmd as admin) write: powercfg -h off, it should disappear! Then check 4 boxes again, you don't want to mess up system files! Doing this should also disable fast startup!

4.6 Sound:

- disable Nvidia HD audio in sound tab in control panel (it usually shows as monitor not the speakers) can be also disabled in device manager, which is better i think. Don't install Nvidia HD audio in the first place if you don't have use for it.

- in sound tab click on speakers: use sampling 16 bit 44100hz, more adds input lag!!! Same humans can't hear more then 16khz ~

- also disable all enhancements and virtual audio! Don't forget to check when you select your speakers in menu and click configure, then in setup select left and right for full spectrum sound!!!

4.7 Prevention of freezes and FPS degradation:

- In Task Manager go to Options, check "ALWAYS ON TOP" When your screen blacks out, it is impossible to close a game otherwise and hard restart can cause permanent problems, which cannot be fixed! Only by a reinstall, also freezes are a big problem: can permanently mess up registry and cause permanent FPS drops! So back up PC from time to time, otherwise you can try sfc /scannow and dism, or system restore - which maybe cause input lag! Or repair install at worst case!

someone made this utility, which can kill unresponsive programs, I uploaded it on google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HJTTT0DSWsrf-9cDhD43VBX9N14QDyUM?usp=sharing
Launch it using bat file, you will have to change <username> to your username. It can save you from hard restart, so many games freeze, that even task manager with always on top and log out, login, won't save you...Even i read taskkill is not optimal way to close programs, but i didn't find anything better!

You may want to troubleshoot errors you see in Event Viewer.

Note: Even on clean install it is normal to see some errors, as these weren't probably high enough on MS priority list. So they weren't fixed, but they can be harmless. You can try google them by what it says: in general/description and include Source, EvenID. Or some other info, which seems relevant. If you find these can be safely ignored, don't worry about them...

I would focus on these which are happening consistently, you can see number of how many times they occured past 1/ 24 hours, or in 7 days. Also DCOM errors can be usually ignored...

4.8 Another optimizations (some also important tweaks):

- windows time get unsynced quickly [major]: this can cause input lag, sync time from time to time. There is program, which can do this automatically, but it uses a service and causes more lag, than it helps! I think time unsynces even after a day like about 0.7 second. It should sync automatically like daily, or so, but for some reason: my time was off by 7 seconds! Even while it said last sync yesterday! Maybe change a time server to sync from?
You could use task scheduler to schedule time sync[15]
Better would be use batch file at start to sync time every 30 minutes, or so, if game is not running. Because it could bug it out, doing that in game! I don't know currently how to detect programs. Will find out later...

HW Accelearation - worst evil there is...
Causes immense input lag!!!
disable hardware acceleartion everywhere you can (browsers, spotify, game clients etc.)

Tweak 1 [Major]:
Go to Control Panel/Internet Properties/Advanced:
- check use software rendering instead of GPU rendering
- scroll down in Browsing section and uncheck use smooth scrolling

Tweak 2 [Major]:
Win+i/Time & Language/Language/Add language and choose English Philippines.
You can delete old language, after.

Others:

- disable smart screen for edge[minor think it did something], go to Update & Security/Windows Security/App & browser control and simply flip the switch. No reason to use this, unless you use Edge, then RIP

- disable auditing of successful events [minor]:
Paste in evelated cmd: Auditpol /set /category:* /Success:disable
This does not work for security events however, you can check in Even Viewer overview at bottom number of successfuly audited events and from which categories they are.


4.9 Visual Effects and everything which is related to visual setting and performance:

Window's Visual Effects [major]:
Open start and type adjust the appearance and performance of windows, open as admin if on local acc:

Disable every feature you can see here, these options add so much lag, except smooth edges of windows fonts:
PRO For that I have an utility called "ClearType Switch" to disable quickly ClearType when playing. Don't forget to uncheck first "ClearType" and then "Enable smooth edges for screen fonts" both are different things!
Disabling theme service may improve polling stability, however it can cause Visual Effects settings to not apply!

Windows color profile [major] (UPDATE 2/3/2021): You can find this section at control panel/all items/Color Management. First lets look at this window. This is how you add a color profile. Optionally you may check this box and add no color profile at all. Not sure, if no color profile will be used then. But mouse feel changes, after doing that! You can also go to tab "All Profiles" and click add: to add a custom color profile. After you add custom color profile. You can also set it in Advanced tab. And viewing condition should be same as color profile type (ICC, or sRGB).

If you have a profile for your monitor, you can try use that and compare it with sRGB, or scRGB Windows Color Profiles (WCS): to see what feels better. You can check if your monitor has a specific color profile on your monitor manufacturer's website. It is possible to even create yours, but that would require probably expert knowledge about color profiles and some equipment, so if you was literally obsessed with input lag, you could test it with 1000fps camera, as even small reduction of input lag can scale!

It was confirmed by BlurBusters staff. That indeed some color profile may cause input lag and some can be laggless. Default ICC color profile from Windows is the worst, at least for me on multiple monitors!

I also tried to download color profiles from TFTCentral from lowest input lag monitors on the market and all felt worse, tho it depends on HW - so try it out. They exist so colors are reproduced same on each device, not because input lag, that's byproduct. It doesn't seem ICC cares about input lag. As gaming wasn't primary reason for their existence, or at all!

I recently tried this profile - "sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc", from ICC website - http://www.color.org/srgbprofiles.xalter#v4pref. Feels better then sRGB WCS color profile in terms of precision. Color profiles besides input lag, can make your mouse feel completely different. sRGB has much lower input lag then default ICC, but mouse is somehow floaty. Checking box and adding no color profile, can also feel better also then ICC on some HW configurations. But this profile I recently added, makes my mouse feel accurate and consistent, I think I like it more then sRGB, also it has pretty low input lag. But maybe I will use sRGB for VR, if it shows there.

Not entirely sure: this will probably differ per system, but no color profile has lowest input lag! sRGB has maybe better feel, it comes to personal preference in the end...

Windows appearance and other setting: "userpreferencemask" [minimal but discernible]:
in regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Deskto value "UserPreferencesMask" right click/modify, click at the end and delete all data with backspace. Then it should have as data all zeros!

With this great program, you can see changes you have active:
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/.../UPMCalc.shtml

Some setting even set to 1 won't work in newer versions of Win. Even after setting userpreferencemask to all 0 - ClearType is still on in the Visual Effects menu and it still works (i see anti-aliasing). Which makes me doubt if some setting after setting prefmask. to all 0 are applied?! But after doing this, I can notice it on my mousemevent!

Better to turn these features you see you have on in their respective locations tho!

Up (03/28/21): :tiP: right-click taskbar/taskbar setting/combine taskbar buttons and choose "never" seems it caused a little bit input lag!

- Also you can try to kill Explorer.exe when in-game, to re-open write in Task Manager/new task explorer.exe, while even this reduces input lag (did that in Win7 no problems) it makes mouse movement inaccurate in Win10, same if I change core affinity for this process - mouse feels weird!

PRO try this [major] (update 03/30 21):
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]Win8DpiScaling=1 Should help a lot!

Ultimate tweak: disable force AA in Windows!!! 3rd post from end!
It is possible you will have crossed W with _ instead of / and google docs will not display text properly, otherwise I had not issue with this.


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5.Windows services:

-disable what you can (blackviper.com for services you can disable safely), services which cause literally lag are hid and dwm, his is behind keyboard media functions and some devices may not work without it!

- if you disable explorer when gaming, improves input lag a lot!

Do not disable Windows firewall service, even if you are using 3rd party firewall. It is used for IPSec and other things...

DWM:

For easy of access this .reg file to tweak DWM (improves input lag significantly):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cTZ...ew?usp=sharing Link stopped working I replaced it!
I make a lot of typos, it should be OK, but be sure to check it, or export particular registry keys!!!

[matters a lot, major tweak!!!] (OUTDATED) - it is probably not a good idea to disable it, you could run to errors, or pc could freeze. I though you could turn that on/off with something like bat file, because procedure is laborious. I have no idea how windows drivers and DWM work. This sometimes worked and didn't for me: dwm
Temporarily disable Desktop Composition in Windows 10? - Super User

(MAIN METHOD): If you don't wanna risk this, there is a safer solution (update 2021):
read this at end of first post you have downloads, you will have to google what they do: https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?t=7168
and this (recommended): https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4512

(UP 2022) Note: in Process Lasso, under memory priority select 1 (very low), 0 (lowest) doesn't work, it will be fixed in Process Lasso that 0 will be very low, but for now...

Another methods:

UPDATE 5 12 19: This guide works, but can bug out your PC: Is it worth disabling DWM Desktop Composition for good performance in borderless windowed games? : Windows10

UPDATE 7/12/2020: doesn't seem to work, there is still DWM usage while in-game is there a way to disable DWM on Windows 10 1903+? - Super User
It should disable DWM only while in-game, if i am not mistaken. Not sure if this matters: I launched regedit as admin and if you don't and you are on local account, you will have different values there! I created new string under this key for a game, when I launched regedit as admin.

Prevent Processes from running:

"Host for setting synchronization":https://www.thewindowsclub.com/host-...high-cpu-usage

"Text input app":
https://superuser.com/questions/1615...-from-starting
However I don't recommend editing DCOM, it is really easy to mess up permissions there and there is no info about it, it could compromise security:

Task Scheduler (disable useless scheduled tasks) UP 04/09/22:
Project: Which Scheduled Tasks can be Disabled WITHOUT Drastic Impact.



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6.Hardware:

RAM: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- BTW even RAM reduce input lag discernibly, you can try to overlock them, specifically to reduce timings will lower latency! But both frequency and timings determine final throughput and latency! Higher frequency is not always the best. Changing RAM timings shouldn't damage your RAM, only cause instability. Even corrupting RAM shouldn't be possible by doing this: I am not 100% sure! I myself had problem with a corrupted RAM after doing that, while I did a very small change (it was cheap one so ). Don't do that if you don't know what you are doing!!! But if they are warranted - you can reclaim warranty, so you are fine, they can't tell - as far as I know, same with CPU OC! Don't tell them There are many guides how to do that and AMD has calculators, however it can be daunting, if you have no experience. I myself don't do it! I use 3200gskill cl16.

I disabled RBG on RAM and stopped driver, which controls it. Woah, now I can snipe again. Everything is so much smoother now!

- older USB drivers don't support msi/msi-x for sending interrupts and cause a lot of DPC

Update 2020: if you have USB 3, you have probably Xhci drivers, Xhci drivers should work on newer motherboards in msi mode, even on old PC: switching them to msi mode did nothing!

never use PCI-E cards: tremendous amount of input lag, if you don't need them, like PCI-E nic/sound card. NVME should be fine tho! I have no problems on PCI-E gen3 x4.

If you touch your cable and mouse is jittery, or you have weird input lag and mouse feels floaty: bring your PC to a friend. It could be a grounding in your flat/house. You can try to buy an UPS, it will smooth out current, also think about using an outlet extender with over-voltage protection! Even if your house is protected against that, it is still good to have!

6.1 Speakers/headphones:

- don't use headphones with a USB sound card!!! USB soundcards in general cause huge DPC latency!

- Nvidia HD Audio with onboard sound card disabled in BIOS has higher input lag, than onboard sound card! Also it can't use lower mode than 24 bit 48000hz!

6.2 Peripherals:

- if you use <=500hz polling rate, use PS/2 instead of USB that is: if your mouse and keyboard supports it (probably don't), it has lower input lag, i heard at 1000hz almost not discernible

use top USB 2 ports for mouse and keyboard! Try different how it feels!

- USB 3, USB 3.1 and newer are actually worse, its architecture works like: with higher throughput, there is more lag, says r0ach

- don't use any additional USB devices, if you can help it!

never EVER plug your mouse into USB hubs, avoid at all costs!!!

6.3 Device Manager:

NEVER UNINSTALL DEVICES IN DEVMGR, WINDOWS BUGS OUT AND CAN CAUSE LAG, THIS GOES LIKE FOR SYSTEM DEVICES NOT YOUR CAMERA ETC. ALWAYS USE DISABLE UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING

- go to device manager and under mouse and keyboard and all hid devices and all USB entries double click and uncheck "use this device to wake up computer" and "allow turn this device off" to save power!!!

- You can try uninstall drivers for USB Root Hub (sometimes there are 2 drivers) but then frontal usb ports may not work if you uninstall it, or disable it in bios in the first place, if you don't use it! To test this you would have to schedule restart (e.g. using bat file) and uninstall it. It should reinstall after restart if needed. No guarantees!

Above settings reset when you re-plug mouse/keyboard so keep that in mind! These setting cause huge lag!

- you can find your ehci/xhci controller (usb controller) there should be 2, one is useless you can try disable that, but first plug-in ps/2 mouse! So you don't have to do a hard restart!

6.4 Spectre/Meltdown:

- GRC made an utility which allows you to disable Spectre and Meltdown and get some performance back (should be minimal on new computers). I heard that you shouldn't worry about Spectre, however I don't know anything about this, so don't take my word for it!!! It causes input lag tho, at least on my old PC! If you don't do anything sensitive on your computer, i guess you can disable it. GRC is legit, it was referenced in multiple online magazines and has a history. Recommend their ShieldsUP for security!

I wouldn't worry, if it shows you are not protected against meltdown and you own a new CPU, which is protected vs Meltdown only on Hardware level. Check 2nd link. Don't know for 100% sure tho!

GRC | InSpectre

https://software.intel.com/security-software-guidance/processors-affected-transient-execution-attack-mitigation-product-cpu-model

6.5 Overclocking/Undervolting

Overclocking:
Any tutorial on internet will do (find specific for your mobo/CPU)...

Manufacturers have no way of telling, if you don't tell them! If you overclock CPU, or GPU probably too. So don't tell them! Even about using Intel XPM profiles (as they are not supported even it is INTEL technology LUL)!!!

CPU: useful for old 1 core games, or if you are CPU bound, or in general to boost performance
RAM: you can easily OC your RAM (check your mobo maximal freq. specs) but be careful when changing timings (not sure about this)...

Undervolting:
Many components are overvolted by factory setting which increases heat and reduces their lifespan (you don't need to do it if you are not mining) but it is also good for gaming let me tell you why - It reduces input lag, as you GPU doesn't have to switch frequencies as often and improves performance and reduces potential stutters! It is also good for OC ,as you GPU can run on higher frequencies because of throttling... see below:

It is confusing, but straightforward, any youtube tutorial will do... There are 2 methods: 1. either you choose your maximum voltage - start with like 950mV (950mV is generally considered as a good starting point) and put every node after 950mV to your maximum frequency (which you can find as highest point in V/F curve, or play a game which fully utilizes your GPU and see how far it boosts! 2. Or you make curve in front of your maximal frequency steep, so you GPU doesn't throttle frequency.

check Afterburner hotkeys: https://defkey.com/msi-afterburner-v...urve-shortcuts

I prefer 2nd method: https://youtu.be/GPs7Uufvoyw?t=877
You can check using HWinfo, or GPU-Z if your GPU is not throttling (this is determined by power draw and temperatures).

put GPU power limit to maximum possible (it won't go much if at all after 100%)
you can also increase your temperature limit, anything under 85C is considered safe long-term (in general)

Voltage:
Some mobos don't report voltages right, when you overclock you could push over safe limit! E.g. ASRock, low-mid range mobos especially (ASRock Taichi should be good, but expensive)!

CPU: On a majority of mobos BIOS overvolts VCCIO and VCCSA, experts told me you should start from 1.1v and should not exceed 1.2v. If it is under 1.3v, or 1.35v - I think, it is still ok, but it reduces lifespan, or causes problems when OC!

RAM: Some motherboards let too much current into RAM by default. Check your manufacturer site for specifications (standard voltage is 1.35V). Otherwise if RAM voltage fluctuates about 0.01-0.02v, that should be nothing to worry about says G.skill.


6.6 Timers, Timer Resolution Window:

Generally these timer settings should not be changed, except for disabledynamictick!

For references: https://www.tweakhound.com/2014/01/3...s-benchmarked/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...t/bcdedit--set

Use eleveated CMD, when editing these:

- dynamictick: makes your mouse accelerate like the enhance pointer precision, to disable it:
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes | to delete value from bcdedit: bcdedit /deletevalue disabledynamictick

- you can also try: bcdedit /set useplatformtick true | to delete bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformtick. This option will disable synthetic timers, it will improve mouse accuracy, but can cause input lag, test it!

To benchmark your timer, also should tell you your current timer:
https://matthias.zronek.at/projects/timerbench
I think that's the official site. Or:
https://www.overclockers.at/articles...d-what-it-isnt

It has button enable/disable HPET based on if HPET is ON/OFF in BIOS (best to leave OS decide whether or not use HPET and if you want to disable it, it is preferably to do so in BIOS, note: some newer mobos don't have option to disable it in BIOS!):

However if you press it, it will change following settings in bcdedit:

enable = useplatformclock yes
disable = useplatformclock no (however this will force off HPET)

Use bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformclock to get rid of it! Useplatformclock no will prevent OS from using HPET forcefully!

In most cases best is to let Windows/Program to decide what timer it will use!

To enum write bcdedit /enum and look at bottom - to see current setting.

Timer Resolution Window:

I use "ISLC" for setting a Timer Resolution Window. It decreases input lag drastically (also improves CPU usage sligthly and decreases DPC latency!) as it allows to update code to a CPU faster for programs to use. It can be also used to clean standby memory. For more info.

Can affect mouse consistency, I use currently timer 1ms/500hz mouse polling on 144hz monitor.


6.7 HDD/SSD disks:

Best is to limit amount of drivers to reduce amount of interrupts for lowest DPC lat. I have: 1 NVME, 1 SSD, 1 HDD and my DPC lat. is under <100us, but I have a great low DPC lat. mobo! Rule of thumb: keep amount of disks to minimum!

HDDs: harddisks are not meant for games or I/O intensive programs, but for storing data! They are getting worn out by frequent I/O. Most modern games won't run without constant freezing on HDDs...

defrag. your disks from time to time (can increase lifespan slightly)

run windows error checks from time to time (with commands /b /v if I remember correctly) or use some program for it, which is useful for checking disk health also!

SSDs: great for gaming and intensive I/O applications! Not for storing data, as SSD is slowly worn out by every write. Nowadays SSD should last very long, e.g. my PCI-E 3.0 NVME has lifetime of 1 petabyte... It will probably last you years, or you replace it sooner...

You can monitor writes in your SSD program!

Most writes are caused by a page-file, or browsers. It is possible to disable browser caching (in sacrificing bit of performance) or set page-file to lower amounts (if it grows too large)! Also you can use ISCL, or Process Lasso to trim RAM a bit (it doesn't work very well)...

How to determine size of a pagefile: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...page-file-size

Cooling: although temperature can make a tiny bit difference, unless you are missing a front fan - it doesn't matter!!!
- SSD shouldn't be cooled down and up, minimal difference in lifespan

NVME: I used to think that with NVME everything will open instantly, but reality is it didn't speed up WIndows and programs visibly, because today: software is poorly written... Also boot times are almost same as on SSD!

While today games are still CPU bound in terms of loading, some I/O intensive games load little bit faster than on SSD! Also it can be great investment into future (PCI-E is backwards compatible, but mobos have specific slots so not sure how long it will be viable!)

But you will be fine with SSD definitely!

don't forget heatsink, otherwise NVME will just throttle down... It won't be continuously maxed almost EVER, but in bursts!

some motherboards don't allow to disable NVME in BIOS (in case you want to isolate 2 OSes from each other)


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7.Drivers:

Windows updates(also relevant to drivers):

UP 05/23/21 I recommend to install Windows offline and then use Sledgehammer - still works but there is a better option[3] to stop Win automatic updates and by doing so prevent Win from automatically updating drivers for all your devices! Drivers can cause input lag, short story: by causing bottlenecks and slowing system responsiveness, generating DPC latency etc. It works!

I didn't use this before, as manually updating is annoying, but after an update deleted Windows folder...

Note: this will disable automatic updates, so you will have to install them manually with included tools, or by doing manual search in
Windows Update. It is easy to do... if you don't care about dangerous updates, you can simply check all boxes. It was created, because automatic updates are unreliable and can completely break your PC!

Only in case you choose Sledgehammer: read manual, and before using sfc /scannow uninstall script changes by using "uninstall script" (easy to do)! Use sfc /scannow offline, so Windows Update won't automatically install something!

If you want to just verify, but not to repair, use - sfc /verifyonly

Recently someone working in some company said: that these programs (Sledgehammer in this case) which stop windows updates cause bugs, I am not expert on Win update, so use for you own risk!!! Link - post #79...

Although WUTM is safe, it is only program for manual Windows Update!

Using WUTM - you can hide updates which prevent them from being downloaded when you click to search for Windows Updates, or you can search for UP using WUTM to choose updates manually.

WUTM source: Stop Windows 10 Updates Properly and Completely
INSTEAD SLEDGEHAMMER: you can use deferred updates to block Auto UP, add this to registry:

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\DefaultMediaCost and set values "Ethernet" and "Default" to 2

Also you can turn that in windows setting - network center, I did both!

Use this site to know when it is safe to update! It is great!

Drivers:

Turn off auto driver updates (Note - Windows comes with pre-installed offline drivers (windows driverstore) and even after restart they are back! In some cases uninstall works and then devices are marked with yellow exclamation mark But if not and you don't want them: you can fully disable these devices in DVMGR by doing which you disable their drivers):

DON'T DISABLE ANYTHING IMPORTANT OTHERWISE PC WON'T BOOT!!!

Code:

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
dword:ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate 1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
dword:SearchOrderConfig 0

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions
dword:DenyUnspecified 1

Note: I think: it will download only critical and security updates automatically, but nothing else! Which is reasonable...

Update 3/12/21 - try to also add this:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Installer
• Under that key, add a DWORD-32 value named DisableCoInstallers and set it to 1.

PRO use CMD, or program from link to check installed drivers and their status, or use msinfo32:

Use this link to stop drivers from running.

Also you can can use (Autoruns) to prevent drivers from being loaded into kernel at boot, this is risky and can your computer cause not to boot (so make system backup!!!) it is near impossible to find what these drivers do online, you will have to query manufacturer of each probably!

Don't turn off system drivers, or you could dmg. your system, or cause BSOD. Use with caution!
Use "Driver Name" field from"InstalledDriversList" program, otherwise nothing about driver will show!

Try to disable as many drivers as you can. I need automatic program detection and disable drivers based on program startup etc. LOL

Don't uninstall hidden devices (disconnected devices), they shouldn't affect you. Also uninstalling these can cause clown mouse feel!


Driver installation recommendations:
After Win install it is recommended to install chipset drivers first, then (sound, network, GPU) etc.

Tho I don't recommend to install Intel Chipset Drivers, it seems they can't be uninstalled, only by reinstalling Win. And they cause huge input lag, even they make your mouse more accurate!

Don't install new drivers unless you have some problems (you don't need newest drivers except for GPU and maybe Sound)...

Do not install Realtek audio drivers, unless you are having stuttering in your games, or having VR fps drops. They cause huge input lag!

Do not install Intel SATA drivers: cause tremendous amount of input lag!!! Unless you need them!

I installed manually following drivers, sadly I can't show you their Hardware IDs, it doesn't show after install. Same everyone has different... But WUTM shows driver IDs - so you can google them, even I doubt you will be able to find much!

These are Intel Chipset Drivers. Except they are no drivers, they are .INF configuration files! Windows image already contains all necessary drivers. Installing these will configure your devices and provides them with new information and exposes them to OS, so they don't show yellow in devmgr.

Not updating these can also cause lag, after installing PCIe controller - input lag improved discernibly! But I avoid whole package from Intel, also these are OEM from Microsoft and aren't newest, but newest doesn't always mean good, it is opposite many times: when it comes to drivers! And Microsoft OEM usually have lower lag then Intels'...

I installed all these 3 drivers from pic. above, they contained following drivers, in this order - I think:

Then I uninstalled SMBUS drivers, check *delete software* so even driver packages are removed! Because they caused lag!

But these are needed for sensor in order to work properly, it is possible sensors won't work properly afterwards, but I didn't notice any change!

I also disabled Intel MEI, it causes lag, even you can't fully disable it - PC wouldn't boot. It is Intel spy-engine, it is like another small computer located in CPU!

PRO prevent installation of drivers for a specific device:




7.1 Diagnostics:

You can press win+r and write dxdiag, and check all tabs for any problems, also msinfo32 contains a lot of interesting things.

Install latencymon to measure DPC latency https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon also check in-depth latency tests.

How to use latencymon:
Default setting works best, you want to check all CPUs in Options/CPU, so it shows them in results. You should not run any games/programs at background. And test it 30 minutes at least! More info on website! Use default testing mode: interrupt to user process latency, which is most accurate!

Also do not use Intel SpeedStep and Turbo for more precise results and set bclk closest to 100! Disabling C states is self-evident. Or any other power saving features in BIOS!

- program for testing polling rate: MouseTester Software - Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community or use latencymon. Tho this may be better suited for in-game testing, as it doesn't simulate load!

Someone said about version 1.53, that is a virus, but it has even source code released: you can compile it yourself and it is most likely not! Depends on a source. This is original topic I believe!

V 1.2 should be enough. Also for testing polling stability: check how far dots are spaces from each other.
You know know frequency of your polling rate (125, 500, 1000hz, or more).
Or try this do small circles quickly and after you are done click again and read log. Not if you are not moving mouse, it doesn't have what to report, so don't be alarmed, if it is not always 1000 e.g.

Advanced users on these forums use MouseTester! For time it takes to handle DPC from USB driver by OS click on "Interval vs Time": Update time is on left in ms like: 0.005. Which would be 5 us. There should be blue dots and then small curved line. Bluet dots should show: how fast polls were handled by a system. When you compare them to vertical part of graph.
Also i have problem zooming in, so it shows values in microseconds, i get some error. However I can zoom to scale of 100ths of us, so you can still see it approximately..

Windows ADK is also an excellent tool for measuring DPC latency and much more: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ed/adk-install

If you are meticulous: test each driver before an update with latmon and after, if you have like about 10k more interrupts (high number 10ths of thousands), or significantly higher execution times: then you probably know it is a bad driver!


7.2 DPC LATENCY AND ISR:
Your devices generate ISR and then CPU schedules DPC - explanation. https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
Mostly only source of DPC latency are badly coded drivers, not the hardware! As a result there are poor execution times!

When you move your mouse for example:
What it does ? USB controller polls regularly for packets from a mouse and if it sent one, it will send interrupt to a CPU! Interrupt tells CPU - it has to stop all work and focus on a device which sent them. E.g. mouse, gpu... On some older pc, or old drivers - if drivers are not handled effectively, there can be times CPU has nothing to do and you hear clicks, or a cracking noise.

- download Msi_util2 from 3D Guru forums, set all your devices to msi, by checking a box
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/wi...i-tool.378044/
this can make your PC to not boot, it is 100% safe but you have to know what you are doing!

Otherwise switching msi on for: gpu, nic, sound card, USB, sata/nvme controllers and intel mei, these all were fine! Most devices should be in msi by default! Careful: i have 2 sound controllers here and if you select wrong one, your PC won't boot up, check id which is at the bottom and then find you sound card in device manager.

How to avoid this issue?
First do a backup, even restore point could be enough - not sure, but system backup is better! So go to device manager/view/resources by connection/irq. Find IRQ number of your Audio controller from msi_util2. To find what is Nvidia HD audio and what is realtek HD audio. What I do is - I disable HD audio controller and then check if I have sound to know what is what. But it can be tricky to find where it is afterwards, as it will disappear. You have to launch dev. manager as admin and click on view and show hidden devices, or change view type and you will find it somewhere, it is kinda frustrating tho! If you have a better method tell me.

- Great polling precision thread: USB polling precision - Overclock.net - An Overclocking Community related to DPC latency

Remember, even 50 us delay, can cause not the latest mouse position to render. And perceived smoothness is fps + amount of detail perceived per second. Not to mention motion blur and tearing... So you your mouse will lag many times out of 144 times, which will sum up. after 1 second you can perceive it. Also this matters on small adjustments! Where you need maximum consistency! Or like for doing circles and what not! Also imagine having 1000fps, you could track probably cursor better on screen in RTS game etc, it helps in many ways! And now we have 8k polling mouse...

-never use realtek audio drivers, holly lag!!! [EXCEPT if you experience low fps during sounds] - in CS GO outdated sound drivers may cause fps drops also in some games can cause stutters, but MS has new 2020 drivers for some realtek sound cards

-also sata drivers may cause lag, but you will experience very slow copying speed, hmm not true. Tested benchmarks using only 2006 sata drivers and had maximum theoretical speeds, depends what type of transfer tho! I found Intel sata drivers cause immense lag, many versions on 2 computers!!!

-intel engine management, or how it calls, omg laaaaaag , tho some people had problems not having these installed, so test this out, also i have feeling it improved mouse accuracy on older pc. Also you can enable to turn this device on/off in dev manager and what it does

- Mouse drivers cause input lag, because are badly coded in general, logitech drivers are good. If you have razer mouse: never install razer synapse, if you uninstalled and experience lag, check this: Razer Insider | Forum - input lag persist after razer synapse uninstallation

Usually best are default windows drivers, if your mouse drivers suck, you can test it with and without.

-if you have logitech drivers disable smoothing in drivers

- I don't use mouse calibration feels weird and adds lag

7.3 Interrupt affinity & priority:

You can use this great guide, it is very detailed and contains useful information about DPC, interrupts, power management etc. I wrote this section before then I found about this guide, maybe there is something useful, but I recommend to read this guide for this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...3vqmrau4/edit#

interrupt affinity:
I tested this thoroughly: (careful - setting this for disks can damage your PC!!!) i had no problems setting this for audio, graphic card, usb, nic. And i found out nothing feels better than having all at core 0. Even I tried all policies, there is a tool which lets you set these. It calls: Interrupt_Affinity_Policy_Tool - made by MS. Also There is microsoft doc about that: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...y-and-priority

Also there is a video tutorial for that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeBp3a5WIzE

- if you have high amount of cores, you can select cores, which will manage interrupts and select affinity for your game on cores which are completely unused for lowest latency.

I think general consensus is, that interrupt from one devices, shouldn't be set to more than 1 core, to avoid cache miss. Tho TBH i gave up on this, everything having on default core 0 feels best, then changing these interrupts to some other cores. Even it helped with DPC latency in some cases, mouse feels weird. Can be just a habbit...

Interrupt priority:
prioritizing system timer, gave me more roundabout mousemovement, but more input lag. Or prioritizing GPU first, than system timer second, or usb second. I tried all permutations and nothing felt better than default. There are tradeoffs e.g. prioritizing USB feels snappier, but at the same time aim is trash! Also can differ per computer. But windows probably knows what it is doing in this case.

From msi_util 2, i found out NVME & SATA controller is set (probably by its driver) to high priority by default and it feels best like that, than everything on undefined! Rest is on undefined on default. Tho on my old PC everything on undefined feels better i think. You have to test this yourself!

I recommend msi_util2 to change interrupt priority. You just select it from a box...

There is also an old Windows NT tweak, which still works for changing interrupt priority:

I talked to support from latencymon, which is a program for professionals to monitor interrupt execution times! And they said: interrupt affinity policy from regedit can be completely ignored on driver/hardware level - chipset etc. Tho these changes definitely were discernible! (i am afarid not for the best tho)

go toHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl

Right click to right section, where are values, create dword value and name it IRQ#Priority, where # is IRQ of your device. After you created it, double click it and enter number for IRQ priority, starts from 1 for (highest) and can go up to 16 (lowest).

Find your USB controller IRQ, or of any device. This can be found using Msi_Util2 quickly!

If you still can't find it: I recommend to plug mouse which works in ps/2 and disable all USB controllers and test when your mouse stops working. MAKE SURE U HAVE working ps/2 mouse before you do that, otherwise you won't be able use your pc! Than put into that registry location IRQ#Priority, when # is your irq channel reset and test it out, value 1,2 and so on 1 highest priority.
Restart and test how it feels, to remove just remove that value.

IMPORTANT: Some users had good experience putting cmos on 1 and than graphic card on 2 (lowest number = highest interrupt priority, can go like up to 16) test first 2 values in different order, than put entry for usb controller there. I had great experience puting my cmos to 1, ehci controller to 2 (usb mouse) and graphics to 3 (on my old pc) but still not sure if i like it. I feel like there is some drawback, it is hard to describe. As my input lag testing skills are bit worse currently, because i don't feel good, i could tell 6ms previously.

7.4 Nvidia drivers:

There is not much about driver installation procedure out there really, I see people ask on forums from time to time, chances are some people are not doing it correctly!

Nvidia driver installation:
Best solution is to install Windows offline to avoid Window's OEM drivers installation.

You don't have to uninstall previous drivers, before each driver installation - I heard from Nvidia. I have been doing it like that forever and didn't have any problems. It runs first an uninstaller, before it installs new drivers! Don't delete files in Installer2 folder tho, or you won't be able to uninstall drivers manually. If there will be ever need to. You should be able to still install new drivers over older ones - I think, not sure!

However you could Installer2 on another disk - I think.

Never uninstall GPU drivers using a device manager! Use programs and features!

[4]You can use NVCleanInstall to install only necessary components, as Nvidia drivers come with a lot of bloatware and telemetry! It should be safe to use, all it does, repacks nvidia installer to include only necessary components. But I Am not a driver programmer, don't take my word for it! You can choose custom install. I recommend to install only display drivers, also Physx is not used by majority of games nowadays! If you use audio over HDMI/DP, install HD Audio.

Don't install NVIDIA experience! Some people have problems with it.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download...-nvcleanstall/

Driver problems:
You can use DDU from Wagnasoft: to uninstall graphics/sound drivers, if you have serious issues which would classical re-install of drivers not solve! As Nvidia's own uninstaller doesn't remove all residues! It should be safe says: Nvidia support, but read tutorial and hash it with get-filehash. BTW works for AMD too, tho not sure, if you should use it for AMD.

DDU should not be used for every driver uninstallation, use it only if you have some serious problems! Read whole manual, write on Nvidia forums for setting: if you are not sure!

7.5 Get Rid of useless drivers


From this link read post: #4306, great guide how to get rid of useless drivers MS installs automatically (positive effect replicated on multiple systems supposedly): https://www.overclock.net/threads/gaming-and-mouse-response-bios-optimization-guide-for-modern-pc-hardware.1433882/page-216

disabling critical drivers will cause your system not to boot e.g. someone said: "i disabled some intel driver and Raid driver.... system did not start...."

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8.Network card:

- disable power saving in control panel/network and internet/network and sharing center/change adapter setting, right click your adapter/properties/configure/power management. Also in configure/advanced, if you have different options you can easily google them what they do, at least for Intel nic! Next 2nd link will be for a nic configuration.

Note: If you don't know what is your adapter, easiest way to check is: look at all adapter pictures. Yank ethernet cable and it should have little x on it.

- navigate to speedguide.net for a comprehensive guide:
https://www.speedguide.net/articles/...ws-7-8-10-5819
https://www.speedguide.net/articles/...imization-3449
https://www.speedguide.net/articles/gaming-tweaks-5812
Can be easily changed with their excellent program: https://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

PRO I generally set everything to maximum performance according to this site, but there is one change which isn't good - I think. In Advanced: "Interrupt moderation" should be enabled and "interrupt moderation rate" should be set to medium. Or experiment with low/high... After I set this to medium it made mouse more consistent, because it lowered DPC latency and smoother!!! You can read about details here.

- you can try reduce receive/transmissiom buffers to 258/258, perhaps this reduced DPC lat. for me! Default for me 258/512. You should probably not change this, but you can try!

- also in device manager you can disable WAN adapters, some may be used for something, e.g. sstp for VPN, so you will have to google this, they should not be uninstalled however, click on show hidden devices under /view to see these!

- Also you can google interrupt channels, i didn't tweaked this yet.

- you can also disable DHCP by manually configuring your NIC local IP address and gateway, click on subnet mask and it will automatically fill, after you enter NIC IP

- you can add even 5 DNS servers in advanced tab, prefered servers will be used by need, for security check DoT, DoH. Mozilla can do DoH, but DoT is better I think, but it is considerably slower then unecrypted DNS and hard to set up link. Check also dnsbench for finding fastest DNS! (not a gaming tweak )

Security:
- disable netBIOS!!! Go to: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections right click your nic, properties, double click TCP/IPv4, advanced WINS and disable there LMHOSTS lookup and netBIOS! Also a netBIOS and UPnP service in services.msc. Then on your router, you will have to do port forwarding maybe!
- also after you click properties, uncheck every adapter you see there except IPv4, or IPv6 - if you use IPv6. Maybe leave QoS - if you use that, but it not good. It should be handled in router using different method...
- grc.com for security tips
- ruoter recommendation: pfsense (not absolute best for gaming, should be good tho if properly set and it is very secure, ISP routers are full of security holes!!!), turris omnia

WIFI:
https://www.martin-majowski.de/ tweak by Callender



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9.In-game setting + Game optimizations + MOUSE/setting:

In-game setting:

- if there is resolution scaling in-game: use 99%, it doesn't degrade quality that much and it lowers input lag

Never EVER use V-Sync! Hope you know it! Adds input lag of one frame e.g. 16.67 ms (if you have 60 fps) also if you have GSYNC disable this in-game for sure! Alternatives: fast sync, even better option.

- disable motion blur, sometimes this has to be done via in-game console, or cfg.

Learn about configs in each game! Sometimes there is a user.cfg, which you can customize, or GAME_PROF to which game writes by def.

Always put everything to lowest possible setting, especially:
- anti-aliasing (adds a lot of lag)
- ambient occlusion (worse picture), shadows, you can usually find balance between performance and quality.

You can use Nvidia experience if you want, but i don't install it, because all services and features, cause lag probably! Heard that many times!

Avoid special effects like: (filmic grain, chromatic abberation) etc. even with RTX 3070 holly lag!
Game Optimizations:

Windows Compatibility setting:
Right click game icon, or an executable: properties (some games have 2 executables - 1 x86, like: game.exe and 1 x64 like: game64.exe) go to Compatibility tab and check:

Tweak 1: disable fullscreen optimizations (FSO)

You have to enter following values into registry in order for disable FSO to work! You can save this as .reg file and edit registry. First save key in question by right clicking it and export, always do this so you can easily revert!

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\GameConfigStore]
"GameDVR_DXGIHonorFSEWindowsCompatible"=dword:00000001
"GameDVR_FSEBehavior"=dword:00000002
"GameDVR_FSEBehaviorMode"=dword:00000002
"GameDVR_HonorUserFSEBehaviorMode"=dword:00000001

This will disable FSO until DX12/Vulkan, which doesn't support Fullscreen Exclusive mode! You can verify by changing volume in-game (using keyboard media keys) or keyboard language. If you see a pop out window in fullscreen mode, it doesn't work and FSO is still on!!!

However Nvidia supports since 460.09 new overlay called MPO!!! Switch game to fullscreen mode called "borderless" and it should work automatically, you should be able to tell based on low input lag! This will bypass DWM and won't use anymore hybdrid fullscreen mode (FSO). It should be enabled by default. I noticed lower latency activating this!

V-Sync OFF Not Recommended as a Global Setting Starting with Driver Version 461.09 | NVIDIA
After updating to NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 461.09 or newer, some desktop apps may flicker or stutter when resizing the window on some PC configurations | NVIDIA

UP 05/23/21 using this tool you can check if game enters independent FLIP mode:
https://github.com/GameTechDev/PresentMon

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/c...ependent_flip/

Tweak 2: In same location click on change HIGH DPI setting, check override high DPI scaling behavior. Scaling performed by: select "Application". Sometimes this will help with input lag, or blurriness, but doesn't always have to be better!

Also I heard reports: you can disable FSO in win+i/system/display/advanced graphics setting. I don't have this option on Windows Pro 20H2. Source: How to Fix CSGO Stuttering? Top 4 Solutions

PRO best methods of FPS capping- depends on API like DX11!!

MOUSE/Setting:

UPDATE 2021: There is a new 8k polling rate mouse from Razer, not sure if it remembers DPI and polling rate without mouse drivers! Also you will need motherboard, which has DPC latency under 76us ~ specifically for XHCI controller, which is USB3. Called wdf01000 in latencymon! And still it can't be currently maxed to 8khz! Can be inconsistent check this: https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewt...hp?f=10&t=7569

General philosophy: don't use mouse acceleration, so you can build a strong muscle memory, try to use same sensitivity across all games! Tho this is a problem, in some games: it may be hard to find exact 1:00 sensitivity! Even in a config! And some games write to config programmatically! Some games have 1.00 sens. on 10/20/50 etc. name it! I don't know why there isn't simply field where you can enter 1:00, but okay...

In-game:- try to set sensitivity to what is 1.00
- try raw input[10] on/off (some games activate smoothing with raw input, but it makes feel mouse more consistent)
disable in-game smoothing if game has it, no need for modern mice, it causes lag and not 1:1 movement ratio!

Windows setting:

There is a mouse bug cause weird movement: https://www.overclock.net/threads/ho...eople.1750736/ I didn't even need delete anything, make sure you connect keyboard first (connect both to top USB ports) and try different permutations. As long as keyboard entries are on top, it should be fine! Also I solved it once by connecting old mouse and disconnecting it and than connecting a new one, but then make sure delete greyed hid, keyboard, mouse entries! As it caused lag after that!
- Control Panel/Mouse slider should be set to 6/11 (including first | ) which is default value! (for 1.00 sensitivity = no interp.)
- in same setting uncheck Enhance Mouse Precision (cause acceleration)
you can know by checking this location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse - mouse sensitivity should be 10 there
MouseSpeed, MouseTreshold1, MouseTreshold2 should be 0!!! Coul there be other values which affect mouse?

INFO - there are 2 types of acceleration:

1. Which will change your eDPI (effective DPI) = final distance cursor moves on you monitor.

Caused by:
- interpolation: when you change Windows/game sens. to anything else than multiplier 1.00 - it has to interpolate final eDPI by a software (leads to pixel skipping) e.g. you can't move to 0.5 of a pixel!
- sensor's acceleration: when you move mouse quickly - it will increase sensitivity, or decrease when slowly
- software acceleration: e.g. Enhance Mouse Pointer Precision
- smoothing: changes done to mouse curve, to smooth out mouse movement
Is absolutely critical, so if you move mouse about 1 inch (DPI is set per inch) it will move always about same distance on the monitor!!!

2. Dynamic input lag: cause mouse to feel like it is accelerating, or decelerating mostly by dynamic frame time, it takes longer time sometimes to render your fps! Also by complexity of a system and components not being synced etc.
This is still important, as it will help you to be consistent and with target tracking...

9.1 picking a MOUSE:

MOUSE SENSOR AND SENSITIVITY:

Buy only mice with optical sensors, which have no acceleration! Don't buy junk mice, which invite you with a cheap price, there are some cheap today and good like Zowie, best brand no crappy drivers!

However some of their mice suffer from high LOD!

Always set final DPI you want to use on a mouse and in game 1.00.
Some games have 1.00 on value like 10, 20, 50 - you will have to find what is 1.00 per game! link

Use raw input, but if you don't have acceleration no need probably! in some games raw input introduces lag, probably caused by smoothing, test it out!

Best sensitivity 800 dpi on Full HD (1920x1080/1200), if you think it is low, try to get used to it, you will understand why, as you get better fast!

I still use 500hz polling, because 1000hz captures even smallest mouse moves and it is difficult to do small adjustments, you can try 1000hz, or 2k and lower mouse sensitivity even more. Some pros play like on 400-500 dpi, or 700 with it. It is difference between consistency and input lag. I feel 500hz is more consistent and accurate for aim, but 1000hz reacts quicker. Depends on a game and sensitivity and overall input lag. At the end use what is best for you! But people told me that 500hz feels so much better in fps games, after i told them to use 800dpi 500hz, also you have to use 1ms timer resolution with it. Because 0.5ms adds too much inconcistencies on 500hz!

I had a good experience with mousedataqueuesize = 25, lower makes mouse incosistent. Test it yourself as you have to also factor your polling rate and resolution timer window. Also win32priorityseparation tweak ctrl+f it, on 40 gives least amount of input lag! But it can cause fps drops, but I actually measured more in benchmark. Also there are tons of settings for it!

You can use mousetester, to check if your polling is stable, check for vertical deviations!

sensor.fyi for best mice sensors, never use laser mice = acceleration cause by sensor!

More tips:
- also don't forget to check for a click latency!!! Some mice add couple ms like 8 - e.g. in case of Death Adder.
- if mouse has high lod, so if you pick it up, it will still track and when you put it down, it will be on a different location: you don't want that!
- always find what sensor it uses!
- try to find where is maximum sensitivity, before it splits pixels into sub-pixels and has less precision, usually like something around 800 DPI
- some mice are told to work best at certain DPI, this was also on some website, more like google docs (outdated now): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...Zcg/edit#gid=0

Weight/shape:
- Unless you are pro game you don't need 60g mouse, ideal weigth should be 90-105g, but no more. Otherwise there will be to much friction.
- Shape should be always prefered to a senser: find (Palm, Claw, Fingertip), Palm is generally best for least stress for hand and most control! But it comes to preference.

Other things to consider/Misc:
- mouse with least skates area, should have least amount of friction - not sure
- upgrade for mouse feet: https://www.pcgamer.com/stick-these-...stant-upgrade/
- otherwise ebay Hotline Game/s mouse skates, or hyperglides should be better but more expensive
- best is not take take out original ones, but you will need slim ones, or possible need to ajust lod!

If you want to know more about how mouse works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc7JVjcPzL0
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-mouse-myths-busted/

Mouse accessories:
- Ceramic mouse feet: https://www.pcgamer.com/stick-these-...stant-upgrade/
- glass + aluminum feet: https://www.pulsar.gg/collections/superglides
- there are mousepads with nano fiber resistant to water and dirt, but because of that they are slower (more on control)
I just ordered this one: https://rog.asus.com/us/mice-mouse-p...bard-ii-model/


9.2 MOUSE TWEAKS:

Above in MOUSE/Setting: I consider this as default everyone should use. However, if you want to truly optimize your mouse movement read these!

to disable smoothing and to get 1:1 mouse movement ratio:
In regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse double click "SmoothMouseXCurve" and "SmoothMouseYCurve". Delete all data entries and it should show zero-length binary value - this is from intellimouse times! When mice had only 400 dpi and you had to use software sensitivity, which causes pixel skipping and mouse cursor jumping! So smoothing was important to smooth mouse movement! However in today times it only induces lag, you can find default values under HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\rest same path to change it, back if you don't like it, but it takes while to adapt to it and then you profit! Easist is to export the registry key.

Disable dynamic input lag (dynamictick) [9]

PRO Reduce mouse buffer size: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkVQm-hyL28

Misc:

download MarkC_Windows_8+7_MouseAccelFix for oldschool games to fix acceleration!

Also some games have negative acceleration hardcoded into them in 2020, i don't even... Check MarkC_Windows_8+7_MouseAccelFix, there may be a possible fix by adjusting windows smoothing. But it adds lag! I don't have understanding of how these curves are calculated. And you would have to know range of negative acceleration employed by a game, if it is not like standard -1, or -2 not sure.

Otherwise this is meant only for oldschool game like cs 1.6, broodwar to disable mouse acceleration. These games call mouse acceleration from Windows and don't allow to disable it in-game! This program will fix it by editing registry entry for smoothing to counter effects of acceleration. Contains registry for restoring it to default!
Smoothing cause input lag and not 1:1 mouse ratio, at least on default setting.

THIS BUG POSSIBLY AFFECTS MANY PEOPLE!!!

USE THIS ESPECIALLY FOR 8khz mouse, seems to made no difference for me but: I use only 500/1000hz.

//Benchmarking:(in progress)

FPS:
You want stable FPS ideally! As when your FPS drops: you will experience dynamic input lag and tearing! Which prevents you from being consistent! This is not exclusive to FPS, you may think: if you have FPS = refresh rate, that you are fine. But frame times are as important, we will get to that in next category...

Benchmarking tool: You can use Riva Tuner, it is installed with MSI Afterburner. This great tool can also measure fps etc. https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner
There is currently bug, download beta!

Monitoring frame time:

Frame time = time it takes for your CPU to draw a frame and for your GPU to render it.

To explain this: CPU prepares frames ahead for GPU (mainly geometry) and GPU performs most demanding operations "rending" like (effects, shadows, lighting etc.)

Therefore both CPU and GPU have their own frame times!
GPU frame time is usually faster e.g. 3-4 ms and CPU frame time like 6-12ms. Ofc it will depend on HW, details etc.

So consider when buying CPU: for some games i5 may not be enough!

As for maximum consistency: you want to have minimum fps = your monitor's refresh rate! Because if fps drops under refresh rate: you will experience dynamic input lag!!! Even couple ms can create very disgusting feeling!

Great I have constant 144fps, oh wait!

Even if you have 144fps (frame time for 144fps = 6.9ms) you can experience high frame time. This can feel as lag, or stuttering in-game. Some games have graphs, which you can activate by entering command in console. RTSS can measure this, but only for GPU. Usually CPU frame time matters most, as CPU is weaker than GPU!

Q: So how does system catch up to server 144fps?
A: GPU is very fast, it render frames much faster! I Am not 100% sure, but perhaps CPU increases queue to 2 pre-rendered frames, so GPU can catch up. This will create input lag!

I found this great NVIDIA's utilityfor measuring frame times!

Just press hotkey for running benchmark and then read csv log, it can be read using google disk! No need to install shit office... 99th percentile has a value, another percentile: any value from 0-100%. It means how much % of frame times of frames had equal, or less frame time to total average frame time. 99% because there are always small drops, 99% is standard used by reviewers. For smoth gameplay percentile for 99% should be as closest to 100% as possible. I have e.g. 2%~ on RTX 3070 in game, which maxes both CPU and GPU!

In case of high frame time consider lowering your details, or increase Pre-Rendered Frames. Or switch Physx to GPU, but not many games use Physx nowadays!

3D Mark:
Excellent bechmarking tool, it tells you if your PC is performing as expected and lets you compared results to people with save HW, even lets you set GPU/CPU freq.Can be also use for stress testing!

PRO Measure you own input lag!!! only for US for now, but coming international. No idea how precise it is!


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10.Ideas/Questions:

Ideas:

-virtual desktops[probably a lot] - Windows 10 has by default enabled virtual desktops, it is known it cause tremendous amout of input lag, i mean virtual desktops in general, that would be good somehow to turn that off

- Update 2: Net framework adds a lot of lag, but you need that almost for everything, so it is problem to disable it.

- Update 7/15/19: somehow if you could render sound on a different PC, like streamers use for capturing stream a second PC on PCI-E card. Sound card adds tremendous amount of latency... And pci-e cards are terrible and generate extreme amount of DPC latency, not a good alternative! HD audio also lags and supports only 48khz mode!

- You can try gaming optimization program. Which close services on background or set up tweaks, good program - smart pc utilities game fire pro, but don't let them change things automatically, always know what you are doing!!! Most of them are straight up trash, i used game fire pro as i had it free, but then i stopped, as it probably causes lag, even it doesn't utilize cpu and almost no memory. It is maybe something it sets, tho, i tried to set minimum things and still... These game optimizers sometimes have good tweaks, so i do them manually and don't even install program on my pc...

- it would be possible to make some script and activate it by hotkey, or more advanced in C++ to detect when application is running. To disable automatically processes, close applications etc. GameFire is not bad (doesn't take much memory, 1 process, don't use CPU. But even with that mouse feels weird, using minimal setting!

- perhaps you could flash firmware on the monitor to allow turn on some features, no idea if this can be done

- install all tweak programs, MSI dragon center, gamefire, razer cortex in VM to find out tweaks and do only manually

- looking for NIC stress test, even ping is caused mainly by your location and ISP (so not much you can do about it). But Windows by default is not optimized for latency, so maybe tweaks can help a little, also reduce DPC lat.

QUESTIONS:

Question: What features/apps you know about in Win 10, which are using HW acceleration?

Question: anyone by any chance knows how to create custom Windows Color Profile? This adds noticeable input lag, confirmed by Blur Buster's staff! Some profiles are laggless tho. How to find laggless profile for your monitor? I had best experience with virtual color profile - sRBG! Default ICC lags as hell! Recently I think "sRGB_v4_ICC_preference.icc" is even better! Depends on hw configurations tho. You may have different experience.


Question: anyone wants to create timer resolution util? Even ISCL, which has lower input lag than TimerResolution for some reason, causes hundreds of page faults! Even when cleaning of standby memory is disabled. Also dynamic timer resolution would be nice, so in-game it is highest (0.5ms) and in windows lowest (15.6ms) to save power: according to some sites megawatts are wasted, just by high timer resolution window. Chrome can force this to 0.5ms e.g. And having dynamic tick permanently on sucks as - it causes mouse acceleration!

Question: Can someone program application detection program, so when you launch a game certain processes are closed and after reopen? While it doesn't consume any CPU cycles?

Question: What language you use in Windows 10, not just input method, but for the display??? English Philippines has lower input lag, than Engish US. User X7007 found this on overclock.net Or RamenRider, no idea! Test it out, it is same english Tell me what language you previously used and what feels like it has lower input lag! I would be interested TY!

Question: BIOS mod to allow to disable HPET? on ASUS Z390 mobos?

Question: Anyone knows how to calculate timings for a custom resolution???

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11.BONUS NEW! Build your own gaming PC in terms of cost/performance and low input lag - (UP 2022):
If you are scared, or not good with computers: why not download PC building simulator, so you can train! And familiarize yourself with computers! Will save you great deal of frustration too! Please never ever buy complete builds, it is a scam!!! You can have an amazing PC, for half of a price almost:

PC building tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YwvOU6Jhc

Note: this tutorial is meant more for maximal optimization and cost-efficiency, if you don't know anything about building your own computer - it is not meant for beginners (but may still be worth to read)!

Note: these things change often, so get up to speed, not everything I write here is actual!!!

Start in this order - there will be always things to consider, or rethink! You can change them later, once you have some idea what you are doing... Consider all scenarios and what you want from your PC, perhaps there is something you will need, but you don't know it yet! Also if you plan upgrade. Check history of hardware (one good i7 should last at least 4 years to be viable for GPU upgrade) and things of this nature... take your time!

Read some guide for beginners how to build pc first, to understand this!
Think of it like LEGO, if you change some part, it may affect other parts and it builds upon itself.

BUYING TIP: Black Friday is really cheaper, checked price history on multiple shops.

There are 2 approaches to building PC:
1. (greater cost-efficiency) get decent CPU (which will make computer viable to upgrade roughly till 4 years from the purchase) and you don't have to change your motherboard to get a new CPU (to get a GPU upgrade)
2. (lesser cost-efficiency) to build PC for one time, in that case you will need to replace a motherboard the next time you want to upgrade a CPU (for a new GPU)

Note: AMD doesn't change socket as often as INTEL, so both approaches may be viable for AMD!


1. Motherboard:
When it comes to a price - mobo's price is perhaps is the most irrelevant thing when it comes to judging its utility!

If you omit these 3 factors:
- overclockability (all mobos are practically overclockable today, more important is quality of VRMs)
- number of slots and features (e.g. max RAM speed, PCI-E ver, number of SSD connectors, NVME support etc.)
- quality (there is dichotomy between ultra cheap and more expensive) but after some price, price is not a determining factor of quality!

Unless it is a complete piece of junk - (50$ vs 500$ mobo) there is literally 0 difference... I used to run on 40$ mobo high end PC no problems... It is true mobo can affect fps, but this is usually in couple of fps (nearly irrelevant)! Nevertheless you should aim for newest chipsets, also depends what features you want...

If you don't need those things - you can choose cheapest to save money!!! Price is not as important as you think, when it comes motherboards!!!

Brand:
INTEL vs AMD:
Intel doesn't have an active cooler for a chipset, whereas on some motherboards of AMD - GPU will block a chipset fan, which is not ideal! Also god knows who made it - heard concerns it can break possibly! Also AMD motherboards have problem with long start - sometimes it can take even 30 seconds (so be aware of that)! You don't need to buy a new motherboard each x years with AMD tho: whereas on Intel you will need buy a new motherboard often, because they change sockets more often!!!

Manufacturer:
Asus and ASRock (except some expensive ones) are worst manufacturers, ASUS mobos have even over 1ms of DPC latency, even these are priced 500$+... Also ASUS has problem with crackling sound! And has meh BIOS, ASRock has even worse BIOS and overvolts RAM and other components while reporting lower values - it can destroy RAM/CPU after months! So you need to reduce it manually, shouldn't be that huge problem, if you know a little bit about BIOS, but still, why would you want to risk that? When you can have Gigabyte, which is best manufacturer of motherboards, MSI dunno. Also when overclocking incorrect voltage is a problem! (when it can be already tight)...

Features:
- check if your motherboard can disable NVME (for separating OS installs)
- check if it can disable HPET
- check for EMI shielding to avoid crackling sounds (careful some mobos don't have separate EMI shielding for sound card)

Performance:
BIOS settings have biggest impact on input lag!!!

You should check all BIOS settings it has (visible BIOS settings are relative to HW in your PC, ergo it is impossible to know ahead - what options will your BIOS show exactly. So you should check Youtube videos and read manual to learn about all of them)!!!

All these BIOS features should be of a concern to you (now outdated): https://www.overclock.net/forum/6-in...-hardware.html

DPC LATENCY
Google your mobo for high DPC latency issues - including devices/drivers present (as DPC latency comes "mainly" from poorly coded drivers)!

Anandtech tests DPC latency for individual motherboards!
Note: this can differ (per BIOS version, installed hardware, drivers, tweaked/untweaked - they test them usually untweaked if I Am not mistaken.

It is hard to test mobos for DPC latency, because results differ per HW and SW configurations, also some tests can be tweaked or untweaked: so it is hard to compare them! Therefore don't take these tests literally! Still this gives you a decent estimate sometimes!

Some people say it doesn't matter, but you can tell even down to 50us - said one forum poster which made extensive post about this and looks knowledgeable! You can definitely tell if you are hogged by DPC latency from hundreds of us down to <=100us!!! Unless you use high DPI, or your system is already hogged with input lag!

Guide: if you picking a mobo for low DPC lat. you should pick by these rules, check 8th post. Good info can be found also on sound production forums...

Overclocking:
Check thoroughly reviews for VRMs, if you want to overclock! Sometimes manufacturers report like 10 phases. But it is 2x5 using some fake method! Which is sub-optimal to real VRMs! This is important for beefy CPUs if you want 5ghz+ stable overclocks, sometimes you may not get decent overclock at all!!!

General advice:
- check for layout, so some slots/connectors aren't blocked!!!
- it should have Intel NIC (network card)
- shouldn't have RGB (Reg Blue Green LED) or it should be possible to disable it
- shouldn't have WIFI and Bluetooth, or it should be possible to disable it
some motherboards limit GPU you put into them (because of their gigantic EMI shield)


2. CPU:

Basics:

Check benchmarks for a specific GPU and compare fps with different CPUs for it. Today there are websites, which allows you specifically check for bottlenecks which this CPU introduce to specific GPU, used only for an estimate. Rely both on benchmark scores and most on game benchmarks as practical tests show more than a benchmark! But you have to understand context of these tests! Best is to watch videos from professionals (which know how to benchmark)...

Intel vs AMD:

INTEL:

- Intel has a better single-core performance (it only matters for old single core games)
- Intel has lower interval of USB polling rate - 128us! Can be edited, tho it is risky, don't know how is it on AMD. I heard AMD has a significantly higher interval
- Intel has a little bit better CPUs for the moment, but late in 2022 AMD Ryzen 7000 is coming (so AMD will probably take crown again, at least temporarily)

AMD:

AMD is not anymore just underdog, but competition for INTEL, however there are few things to consider when buying AMD

Never used AMD, don't know about input lag, or specifics (but I heard AMD is worse in terms of input lag, it will depend from model to model)!

Pros:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- AM5 chipset is coming late 2022: it could be excellent time to upgrade to Ryzen 7000 (AMD doesn't change sockets that often as Intel) so it is better a investment into the future, as you don't have to replace a mobo each time...

- read you can disable equivalent of MEI on AMD called AMD Secure Technology... these were probably implemented because NSA, it is vulnerability and can read data directly in cpu, also TCP/IP stack. Can be abused by hackers, isn't that lovely? Soon we will use Chinese CPUs, or not, because they'll be botnet too... Lovely totalitarianism. Catching criminals is good, or in case of national security, but it is abused more then it is not for power and to reduce freedom! AMD Secure Technology can be disabled in BIOS, tho to what extent?

Cons:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- Also some Ryzens have worse input lag, but I saw in past AMD beating Intel in input lag (supposing these tests were correct). Intel doesn't have to be always best as you could see with Ryzen 5000. So always check out new CPUs!

- A lot of AMD USB chipset is terrible, people complain om dropped USB packets:

21 feb 2021: https://www.gamersnexus.net/news-pc/...e-intel-11600k

- It is known that AMD's USB chipset sucks, it was shows recently on VR headsets. They wouldn't work on AMD x570 mobos. They said: they did not even encounter issue yet and are just investigating - well this is not good! https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewt...hp?f=10&t=7033

- it has terrible support on Windows 10, Microsoft prioritizes Intel probably on purpose, but it is better now!

- requires some optimization to get most of it

CPU cooling:

I don't know if CPUs still come with coolers, default coolers are fine (even for small OC). But they can be a little bit noisy (not much - RPM can be adjusted in BIOS).

Passive water coolers were crap, don't know how it is now. Good air cooler is usually more than enough, even for 5GHz OC. Buy very good one, they cost almost the same, so you get maximum from overclocking, if you want to.
Make sure your mobo has enough pins for fans, so you can control rpm and reduce it drastically in windows! Shouldn't be a problem...

Bottom line: AMD is cheaper and better in gaming performance, except in input lag maybe and single core performance perhaps (and chipset problems). Even Intel 12 gen. CPUs are currently "slightly" better, we will have to see Ryzen 7000. So AMD is still a great investment into future and doesn't require new socket each x years!!! Tho it is not without disadvantages! I know it is hard to decide nowadays...


3. GPU:
GPU shortages will supposedly ease in H2 2022 (didn't read don't care) https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nv...ase-in-2h-2022

Again check benchmarks with proper CPUs which doesn't bottleneck its performance, to decide what you want from your PC!

2021:
3060ti rocks (3060 are usually best in cost-efficiency, it is not worth it go over 3070 in general)! Buy non-reference version, if you want to save money. Buy reference version, if you want extra features like fans which turn off in low GPU usage! Usually reference versions are overpriced and not much better!
2022: Nvidia 4000s coming at the end of 2022 Kappa no Kappa
Better Nvidia (even its drivers are now garbage)... there were some times, AMD had better price/performance GPUs, but AMD GPU's were mostly garbage, there was a bug: users couldn't even use their gaming 144hz monitors (only 60hz - wasn't fixed long time)! While NVIDIA had a driver, which by installing it, destroyed GPUs!

Today 1660ti is splendid choice and cheap too! Usually 80 models are to expensive and risky, may not age well, but 60 series may not be enough in terms of performance, depends of what you playing. So 70 isn't bad as well. Always check for performance/cost, you can buy new GPU later, if you have strong CPU, with no to minimal bottlenecks. I have intel i7 3770, i could get 1660 with only 16% bottleneck. And yet if you overclock CPU, it will be less!

Cooling:
Don't use vertical mounts they are really bad! I had random particle of dust in PCI-E: my GPU ran in PCI-E x2 mode... They have worse airflow! Not always, but many times GPU is stuffed near side panel of a case...

OC tip: not sure if relevant anymore: find a GPU, which can be overclocked a lot. One model of 780 could be overclocked about 500mhz on core, on water, while normally it would be only 200mhz. Think about water cooler. It may be worth it. I don't watch today hardware to closely so i don't know how is it today. Tho BIOS is locked on newer Nvidia cards, so you can't probably OC that much and this isn't worth anymore!

(Nvidia 2021):
Nvidia drivers are bugged for VR and cause fps drops, Nvidia drivers lately suck... Issues are not exclusive to only VR!

(AMD 2021):
Their drivers got better, but still: I see many people complain in VR with new AMD GPUs as well. AMD isn't about software, so also don't expect full blown opponent to DLSS!

Bottom line: it is really hard to choose GPU right now...

4. Ram:
Today high speed ram have huge impact on performance, Gskills are the best, particularly over 3200 mhz ones (which are the best in terms of cost-efficiency)! RAM latency also affects input lag a lot, you can tell a significant difference between RAM with high latency and low latency!!!

Always prefer Samsung b-die = best quality!

Even most RAM will work on your mobo, or can be trained (by semi-auto method)... check QVL list for supported RAM from your mobo manafucturer's web! This is also good for supported frequencies...

Avoid RGB LEDS (not sure if this is true) it can interfere with their function!

Some mobos disgustingly overvolt RAMs (not sure if it can be even detected in BIOS sometimes!) 1.35v is standard pretty much (you can check your specs)...

E.g. 2133mhz vs 3200mhz RAM = 20 fps difference on modern CPUs!

If you use 1440p you can benefit from RAM speeds over 3200mhz!

RAM latency (which is determined by frequency and RAM timings together - one affects another)matters a lot for input lag!
Performance is also determined by timings and RAM frequency (there is a sweet spot of frequency and RAM timings that gives the best performance)! Try to get to lower timings for less input lag (careful can also affect latency negatively, lower != necessarily better!) and try find out RAM with lowest timings!
E.g. CL16 is okay, tho cl14 has lower input lag, but cl14 is more expensive. But buying cl14 doesn't necessarily mean it has greater potential for achieving lowest latency, if its frequency is too low! Higher clocked RAMs will have higher timings, that doesn't make them worse! If you don't know what I Am talking about find some article about RAMs... There are good calculators for AMD e.g. (but I wouldn't trust these blindly)! Changing timings should be safe, but i once had corrupted ram, because of small change of basic timings, so dunno...

If you have like 2133, or 2400 RAM - try to tighten your timings to get fps boost.

Cooling:
Default heatsink is enough in 99% times, except when you OC.

OC: RAMs are great for overclocking today, you can get over 4k even 5k mhz on decent pieces...

Today min. RAM would be 16GB probably (more optimal is 32GB you will have to consider your individual case)
1. how long you plan to keep your PC?
2. what you will do on your PC (for 99% of games 16GB is enough)


SSD/HDD:
SSD is a must today, not only it is cheap (now price increased a bit) but HDD is not enough for many of the modern games to play without tearing. Also constant I/O reduce lifespan of HDD!

SDD have one small SSD only for windows solely (or partition a large one)!

Note: (don't know how this line was meant) SSD performance reduces gradually as there are multiple junk files, some programs needs to be on windows SSD, so plan accordingly!

Buy WD are best (have some vulnerability, which can allow hackers to get your data!) tho 7200 rpm are annoying with vibrations!!! Unless you have good case, or space to mod slot for it: get 5400rpm ones green/red, red can be used for NAS too I think for storage and high cache (it doesn't matter as much).

PSU - powersupply:
Calculators are a big scam in general (as they want you to buy more powerful PSUs than needed which is often the reality!!!)

You can check your component draw individually. But if you OC you have to count for a small reserve!

Don't worry with efficiency in terms of how much PSU can draw, if it is 600w, it can draw 600w, but it will take +20% from grid in form of heat, if efficiency is only 80%. Also it can differ on certain branches.
Get a decent one that will last you (like 10 years) and you can use it for your news rigs, also it will help with overclock stability!

PSUs can draw actually 10%-20% + above their specification, so even if you get over 600W you will be fine (before protection would crash your computer)!!!

Therefore focus on efficiency (gold min.) and quaility.

Most High-End rigs (even I9 10900k, RTX 3090) will be fine with 500-600W PSUs, since SLI is long time dead...

Use detailed guides before you pick this! GPU today has almost no draw, so 600W probably more than enough for any single GPU rig!

You should account for space in case, when you buy one! Don't trust even review sites blindly! Although Tomshardware is good for this. You get advice easily on forums like linustechtips...

Check amazon for reviews, because one PSU from Cooler Master had good reviews on review sites, but terrible on amazon and I eventually found it had bad over voltage protection! That's why it destroyed someone's PC, but don't get dissuaded if you find critical reviews, because if there is some problem (ppl which had a negative experience will write these reviews the most)! You need to double check with data!

Buying Corsair RM650x 2018. is a legendary (10 year warranty) [has stiff cables AF and maybe too short - depends]
- also Bitfenix should be great!
- Seasonic slacked lately (at least in lower price ranges)

Case:

I recommend to use Big Towers only! Even Middle Tower is relatively big: it can be pain to change parts in it! Also in Big Tower you can have a much better cable management, to have everything in back of a case to have maximum airflow and it has usually a lot of fans (good for OC) not to mention better airflow in result... Check fan's db so it is not too loud !!! Try to find some that have cfm at least 49, but low rpm and db, so you have a quiet case. But most noise comes from GPU/CPU...

Check reviews extensively definitely, a bad case can make connecting things and cable management a nightmare! And it will be used for your new rigs!!! AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT AIRFLOW, THERE SHOULD BE TONS OF REVIEWS COMPARING THEM OUT THERE! A LOT OF CASES HAVE BAD AIRFLOW!!!

Overclocking: Find a good guide and don't do anything until you fully understand what you are doing, also consult people on forums- if not sure! They usually change part, if you break it while overclocking, but still better safe than sorry. Don't worry to much about temps, take it slowly and do stress test 5-10 minutes each time, than you can do longer overnight (if you are confident) and see if your PC crashed, you can set warning in bios it will shutdown, or have on thermal protection, or in windows app, check temperatures in summer. In terms of longetivity it will last 10-20 years, you probably get new one sooner, so that's not a problem in most cases!
Modern CPU have usually max temp. 85C) check your vendor sites and GPU should not also operate more than 85C long-term!

For silent PC:
- buy PSU which will turn off fan in a low usage
- buy GPU which will turn off fans in a low usage (may not be good on input lag, can be adjusted in Afterburner!)
- buy Big Tower with good sound proofing, or big fans = lower RPM and more CFM! Also a better cable management!
- don't be lazy when it comes to cable management = lower RPM, less temp
- learn how to apply a thermal paste properly, don't underestimate a good and properly applied thermal paste!
- buy (air CPU coolers are best) like dark slim pro, or noctua dh-15, pick one which has enough performance for what you want and is more silent, there are benchmarks everywhere!
- 7200 rpm hdd = holly noise, better have sound proof case, or easily moddable for this! otherwise pick 5400rpm
- don't put PC on surfaces, which are not firm and flat, like carpets!
- if a lot of dust gets in quickly, use compressed air, vacuum can theoretically damage your pc from a static discharge, tho i had never a problem. I use vaccum only to catch dust in air! Compressed air is cheap and lasts long! Hold it straight, or some liquid will be released!!! Not best probably for your computer, but it happened to me sometimes and it was fine. Don't use this on a monitor! Most people don't know how to clean monitor properly check howtogeek for that!

never use when PC is on, unless you have special compressed air!!!


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12.Most notable TWEAKERS to google:

Ramenrider, R0ach, x7007, FR33THY, Adamx, mbk1969. HAGGARD, Calypto, LowSpecChaos, Melody

13.Most notable TWEAKGUIDES to google:
I add most: tweaks I do, but I also don't want to be rewriting everything I see!

MOST EPIC TWEAKGUIDES EVER:
https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7168
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c2-lUJq74wuYK1WrA_bIvgb89dUN0sj8-hO3vqmrau4/edit#I recommend win32priorityseparation tweak!
[/HTML]https://sites.google.com/view/melodystweaks/basictweaks (basic Tweaks? even google didn't find this...)
https://github.com/BoringBoredom/PC-Optimization-Hub#mouse
https://www.overclock.net/threads/usb-polling-precision.1550666/
AMD: https://community.amd.com/t5/red-team-discussions/input-lag-and-mouse-movement-tweaks-for-gaming-v3-2020-edition/td-p/373595
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowPC/co...mbed&ref=share
Excellent TWEAKGUIDES:
Chef Kochs guide (mousesync.com is likely a scam!)
https://www.overclock.net/threads/re...mmcss.1774590/
https://github.com/djdallmann/GamingPCSetup
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...1HNHJWrQU/edit


13.1 Tweak posts to follow:
https://www.overclock.net/threads/gaming-and-mouse-response-bios-optimization-guide-for-modern-pc-hardware.1433882/ (warning roach picture)
EPIC: https://www.overclock.net/threads/us...ision.1550666/

13.2 Useful Tutorials:
https://www.minitool.com/news
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/

Forums to read (stay up to date about input lag):
https://www.overclock.net
https://forums.blurbusters.com/viewf...085ae7a11c81f4

Terminology:
- interrupt: devices sends interrupt to a CPU, if it requires immediate attention from a CPU
- msi: message signaled interrupts https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/wi...i-tool.378044/
- CPU Affinity[16]: assigning number of cores to a process
- Interrupt Affinity: assigning interrupts from a device to specific groups of CPU cores
- Hard Pagefault[12]: (difficult to explain, best read yourself) - https://www.resplendence.com/whysosl...hardpagefaults
- nic: network interface card
- LOD (graphics): Level of Detail
- LOD (mice): light of distance
- Timer Resolution Window: frequency of which code can be updated to a CPU
- Intepolation: extrapolation of data done by SW, e.g. calculating eDPI if you use sens. other than 1.00, it has to determine how far mouse should move by applying multipler like 1.1, which leads to pixel skipping!
- NVCP: Nvidia Control Panel

Misc:
- PS = Power Shell
- mobo = motherboard


Explanations (serves to add details, to make guide more brief):

- There is a Timer Resolution Window e.g. 15.6ms to update code to a CPU, in that case your mouse will have to wait each 15.6ms before it is updated. This can be brought down to 0.5ms! Windows should be already set for 0.5 ms - not sure, also apps can change it on its own. And there was some article, that you shouldn't force it upon applications and let them choose (not sure about context). But I was using this years, no problems! It greatly reduces input lag and can help reduce DPC latency and doesn't break anything, never heard of any problems, it is even listed on SC2 forums in tweakguide from MVP! It simply allows windows to update data to programs faster, this can even give you more FPS! As it increases CPU usage! CPU can receive data faster, but can be updated 0.5ms only. I Am not and expert to explain you how this exactly works and didn't care to read more about it. It has practical implications and just works!

- 400 dpi myth: there are sites online, which claim pros still use 400 dpi and 2-2.5 in-game. Which I think is BS. I was Supreme Master Class in CS GO, used 800 DPI, 1.00 in-game. You want to use in-game always 1.00, as anything else then 1.00 multiplier will cause software scalling (interpolation). And cause immense inprecision and pixel skipping. I tried 400 dpi and set in game 2-2.5 and it caused so huge shaking with every movement that I couldn't kill even AI! Also this is why smoothing in regedit exist to counter inprecision caused by interpolation.

- Dynamictick: there is a thing in Windows called Timer Resolution Window. It controls window each 0.5ms e.g. in which code is updated to the CPU. CPU can recieve code faster, but can be updated at max. 0.5ms windows. Dynamictick was created for power saving, when there are running no performance hungry apps, so it will lower itself up to 15.6ms = tremendous amount of lag. Also it changes often even on desktop and make your mouse accelerate and deccelerate. Disable this for consistent mouse movement!!!

- Raw input[10]: should allow for a game to take data straight from a mouse (instead having to go through Windows first) and to reduce latency. Unfortunately it is not always the case! Some games activate smoothing with raw input, therefore making your mouse movement possibly != 1:1 ratio. And smoothing causes input lag! Some pros in CS GO use raw input on, some off. I used off in CS GO, as I have no acceleration. And smoothing was annoying. But it depends on a game! I recommend to test this for each game how it feels!

- Driver store: Here are stored all Windows drivers, these are called driver packages, because they include serveral components, which are important for driver installation. While Installed drivers are in Drivers folder. Driver store explorer, will allow you to remove old drivers from your system, which could cause conflicts otherwise. Same can be done using device manager, when you click show hidden devices.

- DPC latency: stands for (deferred procedure calls) is type of an interrupt your CPU schedules and needs to deal with immediately! Interrupts are generated by HW devices which needs immediate attention from CPU! You can benefit from choosing a motherboard which has DPC latency <=100us, but anything under 250us is OK (except if you need 8khz mouse - then it should be as low as possible)!

DPC latency is caused mainly by poorly coded driver, although hardware plays a role (it is minimal)!

DPC latency is mainly important for mouse consistency, but it can affect overall input lag, because it slows down kernel responsiveness... Also you can discern this on small adjustments!



THEORY: EXPLORING INPUT LAG INSIDE OUT:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/guides/system-latency-optimization-guide/
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/reflex-low-latency-platform/#end-to-end-system-latency
Little bit outdated, but still should give you overview: https://www.anandtech.com/show/2803


MYTH BUSTING:

Myth: Human eye can't tell more then 24 fps - wrong from test on pilots human eye could tell even 1/250fps, or more!
Myth: about mice https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-mouse-myths-busted/
Myth: higher refresh rate and lower input lag won't make you better - I got to Supreme Master Class in CS GO thanks to input lag tweaks, on clean Win Install I couldn't kill even gold league player...
Myth: DNS affects ping - DNS doesn't affect ping, don't know why rumors are spreading about this: at maximum it can affect initial speed when connecting to a server.

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Credits:

RamenRider, Fluffy, R0ach, x7007, FR33THY, mbk1969, Timecard, djdallmann, HAGGARD, ucode, Chief Blur Buster, Calypto, LowSpecChaos, Melody

PS: Windows is so annoying, user has to do so much optimizations. It is so annoying for user. You would have to have 3 PHDs from Computer Science + 25k WPM to optimize your PC... And Linux gaming probably won't be feasible any time soon. It is already pain to program games on Windows. So much hardware configurations and C++ isn't especially user-friendly... And code is becoming less efficient and less optimized and games are very complex nowadays and devs want release them quick as possible to satisfy investors and they don't get optimized (cyberpunk 2077)... Also they rely on people having 3080, 10900, 5000mhz ram, optane to be even able play... This is dick move, they want you to spend more on hardware, it is win-win for Corporations which make games and hardware manufacturers... Some old single core games, work only on high-end computers, even if you have more then recommended specs like: CS GO nowadays! It used to work on single core on an old hardware better (138fps min), then on most computers today... Because they broken them with updates... We are stuck with Windows... GNU page says: Windows is a malware...

Thanks to this forum, I would lost 1 hour edit, if it didn't auto save

If you know some other gaming tweaks please let us know!!!


TAGS - ignore this, its for google only:
input lag, gaming tweaks, reduce input lag, cs go tweaks, cs go fps guide, cs go fps boost, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2021, 2020, 2021, 2022, most comprehensive input lag guide, gaming tweaks, tutorial, list, tweaklist, tweakguide, tweaking, tweak, energy efficient, saving electricity, low power consumption, saving power, reduce pc computer power draw consumption, save

Very interesting reading, thanks for sharing!

never use realtek audio drivers, holly lag

What drivers should you install instead?

Or just get a beast of a computer and most of those will not matter.

Lugh said:

Thanks for your effort, empleat.

Re your recommended Intel CPU & nVidia GPU:

I've used that combo for at least a decade now, but I recently read/saw that AMD's new products have made them serious contenders again. So for 'sweet spot' building in 2020, they should be considered since AMD is usually a bit cheaper.

AMD Ryzen has gone long way since it's introduction, Intel is now 2 years behind in latest technology and Nvidia under serious attack.
How about a 16 core and 32 threads CPU (Ryzen R9 3950x) with boost to 4.7GHz, 4400MHz RAM and x570 motherboards with PCIe 4.0 giving it twice PCIe 3 bandwidth for GPU and over 6000Mbps M.2 NVMe SSD ? Intel will not have that in consumer segment for at least another year, maybe two and all of that for half the price.