Tech Tips to Speed Up Your Gaming PC

In 2026, PC gaming delivers incredible visual detail – and it’s more advanced than ever before. But that level of fidelity places serious demands on your system.

Maximise your gaming potential by fine-tuning your setup to match modern hardware. While high-end graphics cards are a great start, a few adjustments ensure you get the smoothest possible performance alongside the latest March 2026 Windows security updates.

As high refresh 4K gaming becomes the new standard, taking an active role in your system's configuration helps you maintain a winning edge over the competition.

Enable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling (HAGS)

This toggle is the most effective way to reduce input lag and improve frame consistency on modern Windows systems. By enabling HAGS, you allow your graphics card to manage its own video memory independently. This process effectively eliminates the micro-stutters that often disrupt fast-paced multiplayer matches.

You can find this setting by navigating to Settings > System > Display > Graphics, then selecting ‘Change default graphics settings’ to switch it on.

Use a VPN for better routing and lower ping

A high-quality VPN for Windows improves speeds by bypassing congested ISP pathways. By connecting to a gaming-optimised server through your VPN provider, you often shave 10–20ms off your ping.

This setup also masks your home IP address, which prevents disgruntled opponents from targeting you with a DDoS attack. It’s a risk that extends beyond gaming PCs and is worth looking into across all devices.

Optimise your shader cache size

Modern game engines compile shaders (small programs that form the rendering process in your game) while you explore new environments. If the graphics driver constantly deletes older shader files, the system must rebuild them when the game needs them again.

Open the NVIDIA Control Panel, navigate to ‘Manage 3D Settings’, and increase Shader Cache Size to 10GB or Unlimited. A larger cache allows the driver to store more compiled shaders locally, which means the game can load them instantly. This change often reduces the frame drops that occur when entering a new area or triggering complex visual effects.

Disable Core Isolation/ Memory Integrity (carefully)

Microsoft includes Memory Integrity (VBS) as a core security feature, yet it often creates a performance hit in CPU-intensive games. You can find this option by searching for ‘Core Isolation’ in the start menu and toggling it off to unlock a higher frame rate. This adjustment allows the processor to focus entirely on game logic rather than maintaining a virtualised security sandbox.

Only follow this step if you use your PC exclusively for gaming, as disabling it reduces your protection against sophisticated kernel-level malware.

Clean your driver baggage with DDU

Standard driver updates frequently leave behind registry fragments and old files that eventually cause DirectX errors or crashes. You should use the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) utility in safe mode once every six months to wipe your graphics environment completely clean.

After the wipe, perform a fresh install of the latest March 2026 drivers directly from the manufacturer's website. This thorough process stabilises your 1% low frame rates and ensures that new software features function without interference from legacy code.

Match your monitor's refresh rate

Many gamers mistakenly leave their high-end 240Hz monitors running at a default 60Hz because they haven't updated the Windows display profile. You must go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display to verify that your refresh rate matches the maximum capability of your hardware.

Once you've set the correct frequency, enable G-Sync or FreeSync in your GPU settings to synchronise your frames perfectly. This combination removes screen tearing and provides a fluid visual experience without the heavy input lag associated with traditional V-Sync.