If you want to enhance your computer performance, hardware acceleration is one of the features you must turn on. You can complete certain tasks much faster when hardware acceleration is turned on. For instance, while playing a video game, rendering a video, or other cases. This post will share how you can turn on Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling in Windows.
Note: The feature is available on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
What is Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling or Hardware Acceleration?
In simple words, when you turn on hardware acceleration, your computer will offload certain tasks to specific hardware in your computer. In this case, the GPU. This way, your computer is more efficient than running the task on a general-purpose CPU alone.
Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling reduces latency caused by buffer time between CPU and GPU. Windows offers Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) GPU scheduler, which manages and prioritizes task submission to GPU. As the CPU submits commands in batches, it increases input latency but reduces the load on the CPU, which should balance the input lag.
How to Turn On Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling in Windows
There are two ways to enable Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling:
- Windows Settings
- Registry Editor
Make sure to use an admin account to make these changes.
1] Settings
- Go to Settings (Win + I) > System Display > Graphics
- Click on Change default graphics settings
- Toggle on Hardware accelerated schedule.
You can also enable optimization for windowed games. It will reduce latency and use advanced features in compatible games by using flip presentation mode. It means apps that use DXGI flip presentation model reduce the system resource load and increase performance.
2] Registry Editor
You can also use the registry editor to enable or disable hardware acceleration in Windows. Before starting, ensure you have taken back up of the registry or created a System Restore.
- Press Windows Key + R to launch Run.
- Type regedit and press Enter to launch Registry Editor.
- From Registry Editor, navigate to this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers
- Make sure you have selected GraphcisDrivers from the left pane, then move to the right pane and right-click on the empty pane.
- Now select New > Dword (32-bit) Value and name it HwSchMode.
- Next, double-click on it and set the Base to Hexadecimal and value data to 1 to enable Hardware acceleration in Windows. You can enter a value of 0 to disable it.
- Save the changes and reboot your computer.
Conclusion
So that’s how you turn on Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling in Windows. Now go ahead and try these methods out and see if it’s working for you. Also, it would be best if you had a GPU or other specialized device to turn on hardware acceleration. If you don’t see this option available on your PC, the integrated GPU doesn’t support it, and you don’t have an external GPU.
Should I Turn on Hardware Acceleration in Windows?
It is beneficial when you run a little older CPU but have a GPU. Using the scheduler, some of the tasks will be sent to the GPU, reducing the load on the PCU by a great margin. If you have a CPU with 80% and above usage, GPU scheduling can drop it by 20%.
What Happens if You Turn on Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling?
The Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling feature directs high-priority tasks normally managed by the CPU to a dedicated GPU-based scheduler. This alleviates some of the load on the CPU and allows it to execute more tasks.
