- Press Windows key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “devmgmt. msc” in the dialog box and click Ok.
- In the device manager window, double-click on Display adapters, and it will reveal the graphics units on your computer.
- Right-click on your GPU here and choose “Update Driver.”
- Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software” and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest version of graphics drivers on your Windows computer.
To perform the update manually, you need to visit the website of Nvidia and look for the latest version of drivers for your GPU model. Once you find it, download it and install it on your computer. Then restart your computer to complete the installation, and the latest graphics drivers will be installed on your Windows computer.
Finally, you can opt for a third-party utility program that scans your computer for potential driver updates. If your graphics drivers are outdated, this program will detect them and install the latest version on your computer. These programs charge a bit for their service, but the price is worth it since you donnered to worry about outdated drivers on your computer even.
After updating the drivers, your control panel is ready for optimization.
How to launch the Nvidia Control Panel
A straightforward way is to right-click on the desktop and choose Nvidia Control Panel from the dropdown menu. Alternatively, you can enter Nvidia Control Panel in the search bar, and once you see it in the results, click on it, which will open it up.
Nvidia lets you selectively set graphics settings for a particular application. So if you want to optimize your settings specifically for one specific game, you can do it in the Nvidia Control Panel.
There are different tabs in the Nvidia Control Panel, each with several settings you can customize as you like. Let’s take a look at everything one by one.
3D settings:
The 3D settings tab is on the left side of the Nvidia control panel. This setting is essential when it comes to gaming. So for gamers as well as some creators, this section would be necessary.
To access all the 3D settings, click Adjust Image Settings with Preview.
Here, just below the Nvidia logo, select “Use the Advanced 3D Image Settings” and click on Apply.
Now switch to the manage 3D settings tab on the left side to access all 3D settings. You can then edit it.
Image sharpening
As the name suggests, this setting can increase the sharpness of the content you see on your screen. Specifically speaking, this setting lets users increase the edge of their games and thus makes them more straightforward. This won’t affect the game’s performance, and you will continue to enjoy your games like before without any significant performance drop. Only the graphics will appear more apparent if you can adjust this setting properly. Oversharpening can destroy the gameplay as well. So set the amount appropriately and do not go overboard with the environment.
Ideally, gamers set the ordinary sharpening level at 0.50, and the film grain is around 0.17. If you are unsure what would be ideal, select these two settings.
Ambient occlusion
This adjusts the shadows and environmental lighting in your games. For the ideal setting, set this to performance mode.
Anisotropic filtering
This increases the quality of the textures in your game, especially when the camera angle is at a steep slope.
Antialiasing – FXAA
FXAA stands for Fast approximate antialiasing, which is Nvidia’s screen-space antialiasing algorithm. Ideally, it would be best if you had this turned off.
Antialiasing – Gamma correction
Gamma correction corrects the brightness levels in images that are usually enhanced when Antialiasing is enabled. It would be best if you had this turned off.
Antialiasing – Mode
This basic setting in antialiasing smooths out the images to make them look less grainy. Set this to Application-Controlled for the best results.
Antialiasing – Transparency
This setting lets users apply antialiasing to transparent textures. Ideally, it would be best if you had this turned off.
Background Application Max Frame Rate
This regulates the fps or frames per second that your games and applications will have when minimized in your system. If you have a system heavy on performance, you can turn it off. However, if you do not wish to have games running in the background at full fps, you can set it to 30 fps or 60 fps, depending on your GPU model.
CUDA – GPUs
Set this setting to all. This controls the CUDA cores in your graphics cards that any game can use. So if you want to extract the full GPU performance, set this to all.
DSR – Factors
DSR or Dynamic Super Resolution upscales rendered images to a higher resolution to improve overall image quality. It might sound good when we put it up like that. But it draws a lot of power from GPU. So if you want a better performance, it is best always to have this turned off.
DSR – Smoothness
Similar to the previous setting, you also need to have this set to Off.
Low Latency Mode
Low latency mode is something we mostly hear with Bluetooth audio devices. But here, a specific setting assembles the game’s frames into a render queue and uses it up to push in higher frame rates. You should turn this on if you want higher frame rates in your game. However, this might slow down your system if you have an underpowered GPU. So try this setting, and turn it off if it works abnormally.
Max Frame Rate
This limits the frame rates of your games. Ideally, you wouldn’t want to keep your frame rates limited to any number, but if you are struggling to keep your battery usage while playing your games or if the match is overheating your machine, you can try this feature to limit the FPS for your games.
Ideally, if you want the best possible FPS for your games, you should have this turned off completely.
Multi-Frame Sampled Antialiasing (MFAA)
This setting smoothes out edges in the images resulting in overall improved visuals. However, this impacts the frame rates substantially if your GPU does not have the necessary power draw to pull it off. So ideally, we would suggest you have this setting turned off.
OpenGL Rendering GPU
This sets the GPU that OpenGL will use as a graphics card. Usually, PC processors have a built-in GPU in them. So for OpenGL, choosing your dedicated GPU from the dropdown menu would be best.
Power Management Mode
As the name suggests, this setting lets you optimize the power and performance of your graphics card. You can choose to pick a mode to save your battery. But if you are looking for maximum performance, you need to select Maximum Performance here.
Shader Cache
This setting reduces the processor’s background usage. So it is best to have this setting turned on at all times.
Texture filtering – Anisotropic sample optimization
This setting limits the number of samples that your GPU uses. So having this turned on is best for optimal performance.
Texture filtering – Negative LOD bias
This setting makes static images sharper and enables texture filtering. This will make the gameplay experience smoother. Set this setting to Allow.
Texture filtering – Quality
Set this setting to High-Performance mode. It will optimize the texture filtering to value performance.
Texture filtering – Trilinear optimization
This setting is turned on by default. It is responsible for smoothening out the textures in the games. Ensure that you do not turn this off.
Threaded optimization
This setting lets your system utilize several processor cores at once, thus improving the overall performance. Set this setting to Auto for best results.
Triple buffering
This setting renders frames in one back buffer, improving the frame rates without tearing. But you might witness some lag if your GPU is not powerful enough. So ideally, it is best to have this setting turned off at all times.
Vertical sync
Vsync synchronizes the frame rate with your monitor’s refresh rate. This might limit the fps of your games if your monitor does not have a decent refresh rate. A refresh rate much higher than the games can draw will also result in lag. So it is best to have Vsync turned off at all times.
Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames
This setting limits the number of frames the processor prepares for the GPU to use later. Set the value for this setting as 1.
Once you set the settings accordingly, click the Apply button to save your changes.
Nvidia Control Panel settings
Navigate to Surround and PhysX to configure both of them here.
On the right part of the panel, you will see the PhysX Settings. Set this to the model of your GPU from Auto.
Coming to the display section, you will find the option to change the resolution here. Under screen resolution, ensure you have selected your monitor’s highest possible solution. If you have multiple monitors connected, you need to tweak the answer for each one. After that, adjust the monitor’s refresh rate to the highest value available.
To adjust the color profile, click Use Nvidia Color Settings and set the color depth to the highest possible value. Additionally, select the Output Dynamic Range to Full as well.
Finally, click on Apply to save all your changes.
Adjust desktop color settings.
This lets you adjust the color settings of your display. You can adjust your display’s brightness, contrast, and gamma. Change around the values as you like here, and once you are happy, click Apply to save the changes.
There is also a setting called Digital Vibrance that increases the color saturation and makes the shades brighter overall. Just set this value to 70% to 80%, and that should do the trick for you to enhance the overall gameplay further.
After this, click on Apply to save your changes.
Adjust desktop size and position.
In the Adjust Desktop Size and Position tab, pick the display you want to change, and then look down toward the Scaling section. Pick No Scaling here if you want the best possible fps at the highest resolution.
Under 3D settings, enable the GPU scaling and set the option to Aspect ratio here. If you are playing a game on a lower resolution than what your display can push out, select Integer Scaling.
Finally, tick the box for Override the Scaling Mode Set By Games and Programs and click Apply to save your changes.
You might have noticed that we skipped three sections: Rotate the display, View HDCP status, and Set Up Digital Audio. These do not impact gaming, so you do not need to worry about tweaking them.
Adjust video color settings.
This will help you optimize the color palette in the videos and games.
Nvidia Settings:
Click on the Advanced tab under Nvidia Settings in the Nvidia Control panel. Pick full (0-255) and press Apply to save all changes.
Adjust Video Image Settings
Nvidia also allows you to adjust how video is displayed on your screen. Nvidia has an RTX Video Super Resolution or VSR available strictly for Nvidia RTX series GPUs. This setting can be enabled in the RTC video enhancement heading option, and when it is enabled, the GPU will automatically upscale any video using the GPU’s Tensor cores.
This is only available on RTX 30 and RTX 40 series GPUs.
Enabling this will enhance your gaming experience and even video-watching experience slightly. So if you want a slight improvement overall, you can promote this setting.
Finally, save the changes you made by clicking on Apply, and your system is now ready with the best Nvidia Control Panel settings for FPS and performance improvement. If you have any questions or queries about this guide, comment below, and we will reply. Also, check out our other articles on iPhone tips and tricks, Android tips and tricks, PC tips and tricks, and much more for more helpful information.
