More control, with clearer boundaries.

Windows can prioritise gaming workloads when Game Mode is active.

Modern Windows already manages Game Mode well on many PCs. Verify the native Windows setting after applying.

Can avoid background capture work when you do not use Windows game recording.

Background clips and Windows game recording will not work while disabled.

Can avoid Windows capture activity for users who never record through Windows.

Windows capture features will be unavailable.

Removes an unwanted overlay prompt.

This is a convenience setting and is not expected to improve FPS or input latency.

Can change frame pacing or latency on supported GPU and driver combinations.

Results vary by GPU, driver and game. Benchmark both states and keep the better one.

May improve responsiveness in unusual cases where a needed background process is being throttled.

Can increase power use and heat. It is not a general FPS boost and should stay in Advanced.

Can help isolate some flicker, black-screen or compositor problems on affected display/driver combinations.

MPO is a normal Windows display feature. Do not disable it as a routine FPS tweak.

Useful only when the normal per-user capture setting is not enough.

This is a stronger machine policy and can conflict with managed PC settings. Prefer the normal capture toggle first.

Can prevent Windows update peer traffic from using local or internet bandwidth while updates are active.

This does not reduce established game-server ping when Windows is not transferring update content.

Can reduce background Edge processes when you are not using the browser.

Edge extensions or background web apps may stop running after the browser closes.

Reduces reliance on multicast fallback name resolution and can be useful as a security-hardening choice.

This is not a ping tweak. Local device-name discovery can stop working on networks that depend on LLMNR.

Provides consistent Windows pointer movement for users who prefer no acceleration.

Games using raw mouse input may ignore this setting, so it does not guarantee lower game input latency.

Held keys begin repeating sooner in Windows text and UI controls.

This does not reduce keyboard hardware latency or game input latency. It only changes key-repeat behaviour.

Prevents an accessibility shortcut prompt from interrupting a game session.

Only change this if you do not rely on the corresponding Windows accessibility shortcut.

Prevents an accessibility shortcut prompt from interrupting a game session.

Only change this if you do not rely on the corresponding Windows accessibility shortcut.

Prevents an accessibility shortcut prompt from interrupting a game session.

Only change this if you do not rely on the corresponding Windows accessibility shortcut.

Reduces suggestion notifications and background content.

Windows will show fewer feature tips.

Reduces suggested apps and promotional content.

Some Windows recommendations will no longer appear.

Reduces personalised advertising data use.

Ads may become less personalised. It does not increase FPS.

Reduces personalised suggestions.

Some recommendations may be less relevant.

Creates a cleaner Start menu.

Recent and suggested items may be less visible.

Removes a taskbar item and its easy launch point.

Widgets remain available through Windows unless disabled elsewhere.

Reduces changing search content.

Search highlights will not appear.

Reduces promotional messages in File Explorer.

Some OneDrive-related suggestions may not appear.

Reduces promotional lock-screen content.

Windows Spotlight-style tips may stop appearing.

Reduces feedback notifications.

Windows will ask for less feedback.

Removes an unused taskbar button.

Copilot remains available through other entry points.

Keeps Windows search focused on local results.

This is a preference setting and does not improve game performance.

A lower Energy Performance Preference asks supported modern CPUs to favour performance and react more aggressively to load.

Can increase power use, temperature and fan activity. Some CPUs or power plans may show little or no gaming benefit, so benchmark both states.

Can make supported processors select boost performance more aggressively when thermal and electrical limits allow it.

Can increase heat, fan noise and power draw. Modern autonomous boost logic may already respond optimally, so this is a benchmark variable rather than a guaranteed FPS gain.

Can help bursty or latency-sensitive workloads on systems where core parking causes measurable wake-up or scheduling delays.

Many modern gaming PCs gain nothing from disabling core parking. It can increase idle power and heat. Test it rather than assuming it is faster.

Can make OS-managed processor performance-state increases favour responsiveness on compatible non-autonomous systems.

Windows documents this policy as not applicable when autonomous processor performance states are enabled. PHANTOM disables the control on those PCs.

Can reduce frequency downshifts during repeatable latency or benchmark testing on systems where lower performance states are causing measurable variation.

Usually unnecessary for normal gaming and can substantially increase idle power, temperature and fan noise. Keep this as a test-only control.

Keeps supported PCIe links out of link-level power-saving states while plugged in, which can be useful for latency or stability testing on some GPU and PCIe configurations.

Uses more power and can increase platform heat. Microsoft treats this as a power-management control, not an FPS boost, so keep it only if your own benchmark or troubleshooting result improves.

Prevents an accidental Game Bar overlay from interrupting keyboard input during play.

Win+G will no longer open Game Bar until you switch this back on. This does not increase FPS or reduce keyboard hardware latency.

Keeps Windows suggestion UI out of the way when typing in chat, launchers and desktop apps.

Windows will stop offering predictive text for a hardware keyboard. It does not change keyboard polling or game input latency.

Prevents Windows from replacing typed words automatically in supported text fields.

Spelling mistakes will no longer be corrected automatically by the Windows typing feature.

Reduces the chance of opening voice typing by mistake from a keyboard shortcut or supported keyboard key.

The Windows voice-typing key preference is disabled until you switch it back on.

Keeps the pointer exactly where you left it when Windows opens a dialog, which is usually more predictable for gaming setups.

If you rely on Windows moving the pointer to default dialog buttons, that convenience is removed. This is a preference, not a latency tweak.

Removes the pointer trail effect so the cursor stays visually clean and predictable.

Users who rely on pointer trails for visibility will lose that effect. This does not change mouse polling rate or raw-input latency.

Prevents an accidental Game Bar overlay when pressing the controller Guide button during a game.

The Guide or Xbox button will no longer open Game Bar until you switch this setting back on.

Makes desktop window transitions feel more immediate and removes a small amount of visual work outside games.

Windows transitions look less animated. This is a desktop responsiveness preference, not a game FPS tweak.

Reduces nonessential Windows UI animation and can make desktop navigation feel more immediate.

This is mainly a usability and visual preference. Some Windows editions or shells may apply it only after sign-out.

Menus open sooner in desktop applications and Windows UI.

Menus can appear more readily when moving through the desktop. It does not change keyboard, mouse or game input latency.

Removes translucent shell effects and slightly simplifies desktop composition.

Changes the appearance of Start, taskbar and supported Windows surfaces. Any performance difference is normally small.

Reduces distracting taskbar attention effects while gaming or working.

Apps may be less noticeable when they request your attention.

Reduces taskbar notification clutter.

You will not see badge counts on supported taskbar apps.

Removes an unused taskbar control and reduces visual clutter.

Task View remains available through Win+Tab, but its taskbar button is hidden.

Can reduce background activity from Store-packaged apps you do not need while gaming.

Notifications, syncing and background features from affected apps can stop. Windows Search or other inbox apps can behave differently on some systems.

Stops Windows from publishing Activity Feed items and roaming that feed through the user device graph.

Cross-device activity and related history features will not work while the policy is enabled.

Reduces activity-history sharing by preventing new User Activity records from being published.

Timeline-style and cross-device activity features that rely on User Activities will not work.

Prevents Windows User Activity records from being uploaded for cross-device activity features.

Cross-device activity history that relies on uploaded User Activities will not work.

Stops Win+V clipboard history from retaining multiple copied items in memory.

Clipboard History and its Win+V item history will be unavailable. Normal copy and paste still works.

Prevents clipboard contents being shared to other devices signed into the same account.

Cross-device clipboard sync will not work while enabled. Local copy and paste is unaffected.

Keeps app notifications local to this PC instead of mirroring them to connected devices.

You will lose notification mirroring features across connected Windows experiences.

Prevents lock-screen notification popups and reduces distractions when the PC is locked.

You will not see application toast notifications on the Windows lock screen.

Reduces Spotlight suggestions and rotating promotional content.

This is a Windows content preference, not an FPS boost. Some editions may ignore parts of the policy.

Reduces promotional suggestion notifications.

Does not improve game performance; it changes Windows suggestion behaviour.

Removes extra suggestion content from Settings.

Purely a Windows preference.

Avoids post-update promotional/setup screens.

You may miss Windows feature-introduction screens.

Reduces third-party recommendation content.

This is a privacy/content preference, not a latency tweak.

Keeps desktop content more static and user-controlled.

Only applies on Windows versions that expose the desktop Spotlight policy.

Reduces cloud-delivered promotional/configuration content.

Some Windows editions may not enforce this policy.

Reduces account-related promotional content.

Some editions may ignore the policy; it is not a performance tweak.

Prevents Windows feedback prompts from interrupting use.

This only changes feedback prompts; diagnostic settings are not disabled.

Keeps Start/Search results local to the PC.

OneDrive/SharePoint cloud results will not appear in Windows Search.

Reduces location-aware search behaviour.

Local search results may be less location-aware.

Avoids storing searchable metadata for encrypted files in the index.

Encrypted files may be harder to find through Windows Search.

Avoids indexing removable media in the background.

Search on removable drives may be slower or less complete.

Reduces remote index exposure on shared networks.

Network-share search from other PCs may lose indexed results.

Reduces taskbar clutter.

This is cosmetic and does not disable Windows Search itself.

Prevents pop-up toast interruptions while gaming.

You will not receive normal application toast notifications while enabled.

Reduces live tile/badge activity where Windows still uses it.

Some Start/tile badges will stop updating.

Removes account, backup and subscription prompts from Start.

Requires Windows 11 24H2 or newer; purely a preference.

Reduces taskbar clutter.

Newer Windows builds may not expose the legacy Chat button.

Makes taskbar transitions more immediate.

Visual transitions are reduced; FPS impact is normally negligible.

Avoids accidental desktop Peek activation.

Removes the hover-to-preview-desktop behaviour.

Prevents accidental window minimising while moving a window quickly.

Removes the Aero Shake convenience gesture.

Reduces Snap suggestion UI.

You lose automatic suggestions for filling remaining snapped space.

Removes the maximise-button Snap layout popup.

You can still arrange windows manually.

Reduces grouped snapped-window suggestions.

Snap Group convenience features will be reduced.

Prevents the top-screen Snap layout bar appearing during window movement.

Removes one Windows 11 window-arrangement shortcut.

Can reduce Edge background processes after Windows sign-in.

Edge may take slightly longer to open the first time.

Can reduce browser background work when Edge is not the focus.

A new tab can take slightly longer to render.

Avoids disk spin-up delays on systems with mechanical drives.

Uses more power and is usually irrelevant for NVMe/SSD-only systems.

Prevents the display switching off during long gaming/benchmark sessions.

Uses more power and is a convenience setting, not a performance boost.

Prevents a desktop or plugged-in laptop sleeping during long downloads or tests.

Increases power use and leaves the PC awake until you sleep it manually.

Avoids automatic hibernation during long sessions.

Uses more power and may be unavailable on Modern Standby systems.

Can simplify sleep behaviour on desktop gaming PCs during troubleshooting.

Reduces protection against power loss while asleep; keep this in Lab/Power only.

Can reduce Wi-Fi power-saving latency on supported adapters.

Uses more power and may not be exposed on every PC.

Reduces unnecessary scheduled wake-ups without disabling every important wake event.

Some scheduled tasks may no longer wake the PC; support varies by power model.

Can help diagnose controller, headset or USB wake/disconnect issues on systems where selective suspend is involved.

Uses more power and is not a universal latency improvement. Keep this Advanced/Test unless it fixes a real USB issue.

Prefers increasing fan cooling before reducing processor performance when Windows and the platform expose this policy.

May increase fan noise and some modern firmware ignores or hides this Windows setting.

Prevents Recall snapshot capture and avoids its local snapshot storage when the feature is present.

Recall history based on saved snapshots will not be available.

Removes an optional AI creation feature if you do not use it.

Paint Cocreator will be unavailable.

Removes an optional AI editing feature if you do not use it.

Generative fill in Paint will be unavailable.

Removes an optional AI image-generation feature if you do not use it.

Image Creator in Paint will be unavailable.

Disables the legacy Windows Copilot pane and removes that entry point on supported builds.

Microsoft has deprecated this policy for newer Copilot app experiences, so PHANTOM labels it capability-dependent.

Reduces one source of Start-menu usage tracking.

Frequently used app suggestions can become less personalised.

Reduces recent-item tracking and related suggestions.

Recent files and Jump List convenience can be reduced.

Removes an extra Start-menu notification/highlight.

New apps will not receive the normal Start highlight.

Can reduce RAM use from inactive Edge tabs while gaming with the browser open.

Sleeping tabs may reload or resume when you return to them.

Can keep browser rendering and video work off the CPU when supported.

Requires an Edge restart and can worsen stability on systems with a broken graphics driver.

Removes retail-domain shopping lookups and UI you may not use.

Coupons, rebates and price-comparison features in Edge will be unavailable.

Removes the Edge sidebar and its launcher surface.

Sidebar tools will not be available while managed.

Removes an optional content-collection feature if you do not use it.

Collections will be unavailable in Edge.

Reduces browser-data use for personalised ads, search, news and other Microsoft experiences.

Personalised Microsoft experiences based on Edge browsing data can be reduced.

Removes Rewards UI and notifications you may not use.

Microsoft Rewards experiences inside Edge will be unavailable.

Can reduce background Chrome processes when you are not using the browser.

Chrome background apps and extensions that rely on background mode may stop after Chrome closes.

Can move supported browser rendering and video work away from the CPU.

Requires a Chrome restart and can worsen stability on systems with a broken graphics driver.

Removes promotional browser UI you may not use.

Chrome will not show its normal product promotional content.

Removes an optional shopping feature and its side-panel UI.

Chrome price tracking and Shopping List will be unavailable.

Removes an optional side-panel feature and associated UI.

Google Search Side Panel will be unavailable.

Can reduce RAM use from inactive Chrome tabs while gaming with Chrome open.

Inactive tabs may reload when you return to them.

Stops the Widgets experience and its taskbar content on supported Windows editions.

Widgets will not be available while the policy is managed.

Avoids an optional local AI model download and removes an existing downloaded model where Chrome supports the policy.

Chrome features that depend on the local foundational model may be unavailable.

Can reclaim RAM from inactive Chrome tabs more aggressively while gaming.

Inactive tabs may be discarded sooner and reload more often.

Removes an optional shopping/checkout feature you may not use.

Wallet Checkout will be unavailable in Edge.

Can reduce CPU and power use from Edge while a game is running.

Can make background tabs less responsive on some systems.

Lets Edge save resources even on mains power when it is left open during gaming.

May reduce responsiveness of background Edge tabs.

Can reduce CPU wakeups from background tabs.

Some sites may delay background tasks or notifications until the tab is active again.

Can identify browser tabs that are consuming excessive resources.

Adds a small amount of browser monitoring overhead.

Helps identify extensions that consume CPU or memory while gaming.

May show occasional browser recommendations.

Can reclaim memory sooner from inactive Edge tabs.

Tabs may resume or reload more often.

Can prevent a large Edge session from consuming most available RAM while gaming.

Heavy browser sessions may reload tabs more often. Edge does not guarantee a hard memory cap.

Allows Edge memory resource controls to work where supported.

Older Edge versions ignore this policy.

Reduces browser startup activity before a gaming session.

Edge will not be pre-launched at sign-in.

Helps keep Edge closed after you close every window.

Background browser tasks that depend on relaunch may wait until Edge is opened.

Reduces an optional suggestion feature and associated processing.

Clipboard-based address suggestions will be unavailable.

Reduces optional suggestion traffic and distractions.

Trending suggestions will not appear.

Removes an optional cloud suggestion source when it is not needed.

Work-search suggestions will not appear.

Can reduce unnecessary local-network discovery when casting is not used.

Some cast discovery methods may no longer find compatible devices.

Removes cast-device discovery and media-router activity when you never cast from Edge.

You will not be able to cast from Edge while enabled.

Removes an optional AI browser feature when you do not use it.

Copilot inside Edge will be unavailable.

Removes an optional browser integration.

The Copilot Chat toolbar icon will not be available.

Prevents an optional generative-AI browser feature from being used.

AI-generated themes will be unavailable.

Removes an optional collaboration/browser workspace feature.

Existing Workspaces will not be available while enabled.

Avoids recurring import work at browser startup.

Automatic repeated browser-data import will be disabled.

Stops websites using the Idle Detection API unless the policy is restored.

Sites that depend on idle detection may lose that behaviour.

Can significantly reduce CPU wakeups from background tabs.

Some sites may delay background tasks or notifications.

Can reduce speculative browser network and CPU activity while Chrome is open.

Normal browsing may feel slower because Chrome will not preconnect or prefetch.

Reduces optional browser telemetry.

Chrome usage/crash metrics will not be sent to Google.

Stops background website notification activity and pop-ups.

Sites will not be able to show desktop notifications unless the policy is restored.

Removes optional browser cards that can surface content based on browsing behaviour.

New-tab cards will not appear while enabled.

Removes optional promotional/new-tab content.

Announcements will not appear on the new-tab page.

Removes optional new-tab UI content.

Extension attribution may not be shown in the footer.

Reduces optional new-tab UI.

Management notice text may be hidden.

Removes an optional cloud-integrated new-tab card.

The Outlook card will not appear.

Removes an optional cloud-integrated new-tab card.

The SharePoint card will not appear.

Removes an optional recommendation feature.

Media recommendations will not be displayed.

Reduces optional suggestion requests while typing in the address bar.

Online search suggestions will no longer appear while typing.

Stops sites querying screen layout and placing windows across displays unless the control is restored.

Multi-screen web apps that rely on Window Management may lose that capability.

Removes an optional browser service if you never use automatic translation.

Chrome will not offer built-in page translation while enabled.

Reduces an optional Microsoft configuration download path.

Some Windows components that depend on Services Configuration may lose dynamic configuration updates.

Reduces optional diagnostic log collection.

Microsoft support may have less diagnostic information available.

Reduces the amount of optional crash-dump data that can be collected.

Detailed crash troubleshooting may have less data available.

Removes an optional diagnostics feature.

You will not be able to use Diagnostic Data Viewer while enabled.

Reduces identifying information in diagnostic reporting.

Enterprise reporting tools may show less friendly device information.

Reduces optional typing/inking data collection.

Cloud-based language recognition improvements may be reduced.

Removes an optional assistant/search integration on systems that still expose it.

Cortana features will be unavailable.

Reduces optional app access to diagnostic information.

Apps that rely on diagnostic information may lose that functionality.

Reduces optional background access to account information.

Some Store apps may lose account-aware features.

Reduces optional app access to notification data.

Apps that integrate with notification data may stop working correctly.

Reduces optional background app access.

Task-management integrations in some apps may stop working.

Reduces optional calendar-related background access.

Calendar integrations in Store apps will stop working.

Reduces optional communications-data access.

Apps using Windows call-history APIs may lose functionality.

Reduces optional contacts-data access.

Apps that use Windows contacts will lose that integration.

Reduces optional email-data access by Store apps.

Apps relying on Windows email access APIs may lose functionality.

Can reduce presentation queueing and input latency when tearing is acceptable or another frame-sync strategy is being used.

Can cause visible tearing. G-SYNC/FreeSync setups may need a different V-Sync strategy, so test the result.

Keeps render resolution stable for repeatable competitive testing and avoids resolution changes during load spikes.

A fixed render resolution can lower FPS on a GPU-limited PC. Keep it only if frame-time testing is better.

Removes the game-side FPS cap for maximum-throughput testing.

Unlimited FPS can increase heat, power use and frame-time variance. A sensible cap can feel smoother on some systems.

Requests Fortnite fullscreen mode for a competitive A/B test while preserving all three exposed fullscreen-state fields.

Fullscreen does not guarantee lower latency on every Windows/GPU configuration. Compare it with your current mode and keep the measured winner.

Removes a visual post-process effect and improves competitive visual clarity.

The FPS difference may be tiny on many PCs. This mainly changes presentation clarity.

Can reduce scene complexity in configurations where Fortnite still honours this option.

Fortnite may ignore or rewrite this field in some rendering modes. PHANTOM verifies the saved value but cannot promise the game uses it.

Requests the exposed Fortnite mouse-acceleration disable flag without changing Windows pointer speed or mouse polling.

Only applies when this Fortnite build exposes the flag. It is a preference/test control rather than a guaranteed latency reduction.

Can reduce GPU work and remove temporal smoothing when the active rendering mode honours this field.

Image edges will look rougher and the game may override the field in some renderer configurations.

Can reduce advanced geometry workload on systems or modes where Nanite is active.

Visual quality can fall and Performance Mode may already make this irrelevant. Benchmark rather than assuming it helps.

Avoids costly ray-traced rendering when competitive FPS is the priority.

Reduces lighting/reflection quality. Missing fields are treated as unsupported rather than injected.

Reduces lighting workload for a competitive graphics profile.

Lighting quality is reduced and different rendering modes may not use both fields.

Reduces reflection workload when the active renderer honours these fields.

Reflection quality is reduced and some rendering modes may ignore the setting.

Reduces geometry detail for a competitive-performance profile.

Visual detail and distant geometry quality may fall.

Reduces distant-object rendering workload for competitive FPS.

Distant objects and scenery can appear later or with less detail.

Reduces anti-aliasing quality/work for a competitive test profile.

Edges can look rougher. The effect depends on the selected rendering mode.

Reduces shadow-rendering workload, which can help GPU-limited competitive settings.

Shadow detail is reduced.

Reduces post-processing workload for competitive FPS.

Some visual effects and image quality are reduced.

Can reduce VRAM pressure on constrained GPUs and matches a low competitive preset.

Texture detail is reduced. On GPUs with plenty of VRAM the FPS gain may be negligible.

Reduces effects workload for a competitive profile.

Visual effects quality is reduced.

Reduces foliage rendering workload for competitive settings.

Vegetation detail is reduced.

Reduces shading quality/work for a competitive-performance profile.

Lighting and material quality can be reduced.

Can reduce terrain detail/work in configurations that use this field.

Terrain quality is reduced and some rendering modes may ignore it.

Renders fewer pixels than 100% and can improve FPS when the GPU is the limiting component.

Image sharpness is reduced. Epic troubleshooting guidance commonly starts at 100%, so use 90% only as a measured performance option.

Keeps the exposed Fortnite GPU crash-debugging flag off during normal play when it was previously enabled.

Usually already off and not expected to improve FPS by itself. Re-enable it when troubleshooting GPU crashes.

Requests maximum processor performance when Windows emits a supported latency-sensitive hint.

Only applies on supported processor/power implementations. More aggressive response can increase power and heat, so compare frame-time results.

Requests a performance-biased EPP when Windows detects supported latency-sensitive input/QoS events.

Requires Windows 11 24H2+ and autonomous performance states. It can increase power use and may not improve a game.

Keeps all eligible cores available during supported low-latency hint events.

Can increase power use and modern schedulers may already handle this well. Benchmark it.

Can request maximum performance for the secondary processor class during supported latency-sensitive events.

Only relevant on CPUs/platforms that expose the class-1 setting. Unsupported PCs show Unavailable.

Requests a performance-biased EPP for the secondary processor class during supported latency-sensitive events.

Requires a compatible heterogeneous CPU, Windows 11 24H2+ and autonomous performance states.

Keeps eligible class-1 cores available during supported latency-sensitive events.

Only applies on hardware that exposes the class-1 control and can increase power use.

A shorter autonomous activity window asks compatible CPPC v2 hardware to respond more sensitively to short utilisation changes.

Firmware may ignore it and a more reactive policy can raise power/temperature or create no gaming benefit.

Can reduce rapid downshifts during bursty workloads on compatible non-autonomous systems.

Not applicable when autonomous performance states are enabled and may increase power/temperature.

Allows processor performance states to step upward again after only one performance-check interval on non-autonomous systems.

Not applicable when autonomous processor performance states are enabled. Can increase power and may not improve every CPU or game.

Requests the strongest supported boost-policy preference for repeatable competitive testing.

Can increase temperature, fan noise and power draw. CPU firmware still owns electrical and thermal limits.

Prevents the maximum-unparked-core ceiling from limiting core availability on supported systems.

May increase power use and may be redundant when the existing core-parking controls already keep all cores available.