Create DALL-E images in Bing AI conversations

Improve graphics performance in Windows

Windows is the preferred choice of gamers as it is powered by the latest hardware in the market and gets new gaming-related features. By default, these features are not enabled, and thus the computer does not give you the performance you expect in games, and a good example of this is the GPU Scheduling feature. As you know, the central processor is responsible for many tasks that may cause the computer to slow down. Even if the graphics card is powerful, the processor must be powerful because it is the computer’s mastermind. Therefore, this feature eases the burden a little on the processor and engages the graphics card wisely and intelligently. We will explain “GPU Scheduling” in some detail throughout this article, and we will know how to activate it and when to do it.

GPU Scheduling technology in Windows

First: What is GPU Scheduling technology?

It is a technology specifically designed to reduce the burden on the central processing unit, or as it is known the processor, especially during heavy tasks that consume it. In order to understand the complete picture, you must understand the nature of the processor’s work and the coordination that takes place between it and the graphics processing unit or graphics card.

Under normal circumstances, the processor (CPU) assigns all tasks that require graphic effort, such as video games or photo and video editing applications, to the graphics card (GPU) in order for it to undertake the task of processing them, by collecting and arranging these files and then sending them directly to the graphics card. The problem is that this process exhausts the processor and may cause several problems. To solve this problem, Microsoft developed Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling technology and introduced it for the first time in Windows 10 as part of the May 2020 Update (also known as version 2004), and it certainly remained present until Windows 11.

  What this technology does is reduce the load on the central processor and give more tasks to the graphics card, but in a sufficient amount and with priority, so that the capabilities of the graphics card are not permanently consumed, in order to accelerate graphics performance in demanding tasks. That's why this technology is called graphics card scheduling. In order for this technology to be supported in your device, you will need to use a GT 1030 graphics card or later from NVIDIA graphics processing units, or a graphics card from the 5600 series from AMD or later. It is also preferable to update the graphics card definition to the latest version.

Second: Should you disable “graphics card scheduling”?

In most cases, it will be worth activating this feature, especially if the processor is weak, but it is necessary to know that activating this feature in some cases may lead to adverse results and negatively affect your device, especially if the graphics card is feeble (don’t forget that it takes Some processor tasks), and this will appear in the form of frame delay and slow gaming performance. In general, on the positive side, we find that activating this feature will reduce the processor’s consumption so that it does not have to work continuously to produce the frame data required by the graphics card.

But it is worth noting that there is a problem that you may encounter if you activate this feature, which is the problem of the blue screen or screen of death, which will appear as a result of an error in the Windows service “dxgmms2.sys”, which in turn will occur as a result of an error in the DirectX definitions. Last but not least, compatibility conflicts may occur between this feature and some software or hardware components.

Third: Activate/disable the graphics card scheduling feature

By default, you will most likely find this feature disabled, but if you want to activate it or it is activated and you want to disable it for fear of the problems it may cause you as a result of a weak graphics card or for any other reason, then let us quickly discuss how to access the option responsible for activating/disabling it on Windows 11. And Windows 10. But before that, you should know that we advise you to activate it if your graphics card is powerful because it will speed up the performance of games and applications that require high graphic effort.

All you have to do is open the “Settings” application in Windows through the “Start” menu or by pressing the Win keys + the letter I (e) together on the keyboard, then from the settings window go to the “System” section and then press the first page, which is "Display". Now scroll down until you find an option called “Graphics settings” if you are using Windows 10. In Windows 11, after scrolling down, click on Graphics and then Change default graphics settings. On the next page, you will find the "Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling" option through which you can activate or disable the technology. Regardless of your action, you will need to restart the computer for the changes to take effect and for their impact on performance.

If there is a problem with your graphics card drivers or something similar, you will not find the Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling feature when you enter the regular Windows settings in the first place, but you can still activate the technology by making a simple modification in the registry using the Registry Editor tool. Let's see how this is done, but before you start implementing any step, always make sure to save a copy of the registry settings to restore them in case problems occur.

Start by pressing the Win + R keys together to open the Run window, then type the “regedit” command and press Enter, or you can type “registry editor” Run the utility from the list of results after typing it in the Start menu's search box. After the Registry Editor window appears, copy and paste the following path into the address bar at the top of the window, then press Enter:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers

When you reach the GraphicsDrivers folder from the left side menu, click on it with the right mouse button and choose “New” from the menu, then click from the drop-down menu on the “DWORD (32-bit) Value” option. A new value will be created inside the folder and you must name it “HwSchMode” and then Press Enter. After making it, double-click it to display the Edit value window. You will replace “0” with “2” in the Value data field and press the OK button. You can now close the Registry Editor window and restart your computer to find that GPU Scheduling has been activated.

In the end, just because we explained how to disable the computer’s graphics card scheduling feature does not mean that this feature is bad. Quite the opposite, and as we said above: We advise you to activate it if you trust the strength of your graphics card, or at least you can try if the device runs more smoothly. Its speed increased, “so good and blessed.” If you encounter problems like the ones we talked about, you know how to disable this feature.