Graphics drivers

Install graphics drivers first—they enable display and gaming. This guide covers NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel.

Multiple Graphics Cards

If you have integrated and dedicated graphics, you must install both drivers. For example, if you have an Intel CPU with integrated graphics and an NVIDIA GPU, install both Intel and NVIDIA drivers.

Quick check

First, check if Windows Update has already installed your graphics drivers:

  1. Open Settings Windows Update
  2. Click Check for updates
  3. Install any available optional updates

Tip

Windows Update often installs basic graphics drivers. For better performance, install manufacturer-specific drivers afterward.

NVIDIA drivers

Use NVCleanstall—a GUI alternative to manually stripping drivers.

Installation steps

  1. Download NVCleanstall

Slow Download?

If the download is unusually slow or stuck, go to NVIDIA’s advanced driver search and download the latest Game Ready Driver after selecting your hardware and operating system. Launch NVCleanstall, choose Use driver files on disk and locate the previously downloaded driver.

  1. Select components

    • For Desktops: Make sure that only Display Driver is checked and click Next
    • For Laptops: Check Display Driver and Optimus and click Next (More info on NVIDIA’s Website)

  2. Configure installation After the driver is downloaded, tick the following:

    • Disable Installer Telemetry & Advertising
    • Perform a Clean Installation
    • Disable Multiplane Overlay (MPO)
    • Disable Driver Telemetry in Show Expert Tweaks
    • Use method compatible with Easy-Anti-Cheat
      • Automatically accept the “driver unsigned” warning

  3. Click Install and continue with the NVIDIA driver installation as usual.

NVIDIA Control Panel configuration

Open the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on the desktop and configure:

3D settings
  • Anisotropic filtering - Off
  • Antialiasing - Gamma correction - Off
  • Low Latency Mode - On (This setting limits pre-rendered frames to 1)
  • Power management mode - Prefer maximum performance
  • Shader Cache Size - Unlimited
  • Texture filtering - Quality - High performance
  • Threaded Optimization - Off (if CPU bottlenecked)
  • Vertical sync - Off
Display settings
  • Configure your monitor resolution and refresh rate
  • Output dynamic range - Full
  • Output color depth - Value matching your monitor specification

Optional: Increase Digital vibrance in Display Adjust desktop color settings for better color saturation. For an alternative way to adjust digital vibrance, check out VibranceGUI.

Force P-State 0 (advanced)

Warning

This will force P-State 0 on your NVIDIA card AT ALL TIMES, making it always run at full power. Not recommended if you leave your computer idle for long periods, have poor cooling, or use a laptop.

Run the following command in CMD as administrator: 
for /f "tokens=*" %a in ('reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}" /t REG_SZ /s /e /f "NVIDIA" ^| findstr "HK"') do (reg add "%a" /v "DisableDynamicPstate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f)

After running this command, download and extract NVIDIA Profile Inspector. Open the tool, scroll down to 5 - Common section and set CUDA - Force P2 State to OFF. Press Apply changes and restart your device.

AMD drivers

Use RadeonSoftwareSlimmer—an open-source GUI alternative to manually stripping drivers.

Installation steps

  1. Download Drivers

    • Download the latest WHQL recommended driver from the AMD Drivers and Support page
    • Download RadeonSoftwareSlimmer - choose the latest release matching your .NET version (e.g., RadeonSoftwareSlimmer_1.x.x_net8.zip or RadeonSoftwareSlimmer_1.x.x_net9.zip)

  2. Configure installation

    • Open the application and go to the Pre-Install tab
    • Select your installer file by clicking Browse and then confirm by double-clicking Next
    • After the extraction process, untick everything in the Packages tab apart from:
      • AMD Display Driver
      • AMD Settings (Required for Radeon Software)
      • These settings might be required for monitor sound:
        • AMD Audio CoProcessor Bus Driver
        • AMD Audio filter driver
        • AMD HDMI Audio driver
        • AMD High-Definition Audio Controller
        • AMD Streaming Audio Filter Driver

  3. Finalize installation

    • Untick everything in the Scheduled Tasks tab
    • Untick everything in the Display Driver Components. If you use audio from your monitor, don’t remove High Definition Audio Bus
    • Click Modify Installer and Run Installer, then continue with driver setup as usual

Radeon Software configuration

  1. Open Radeon Software by right-clicking on the desktop
  2. Accept the terms and click the Settings icon in the top-right
Graphics tab
  • Wait for Vertical Refresh - Always Off
  • Texture Filtering Quality - Performance
  • Tessellation Mode - Override application settings
  • Maximum Tessellation Level - Off
Display tab
  • AMD FreeSync - Off (recommended for competitive gaming; it can increase input latency due to extra processing)
  • GPU Scaling - Off
  • Color Depth - Value that matches your monitor’s specifications

  1. Disable all settings in Hotkeys and Preferences tabs

  2. Configure your refresh rate and resolution by typing the following command in Win + R:

    Run in Win + R: 
    rundll32 display.dll,ShowAdapterSettings 0

  3. Disable the residual AMD services and drivers. Typically the AMD Crash Defender and AMD External Events Utility (required for VRR) services.

Disable Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO)

Disabling Multi-plane Overlay (MPO) can fix flickering or stuttering in desktop apps during hardware-accelerated video playback in browsers.

Run the following command in CMD (run as administrator): 
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm" /v "OverlayTestMode" /t REG_DWORD /d "5" /f

Force P-State 0 (advanced)

AMD Force P-State 0 is an advanced optimization similar to NVIDIA’s, keeping the GPU at maximum performance. Community guides may be available for specific AMD cards. Contributions to this documentation are welcome.

Intel graphics

Install Intel graphics drivers from one of these sources:

  1. Official Intel Website

  2. Device/Motherboard Support Page

    • Recommended search query: manufacturer + model + driver
    • Example: MSI B450-A PRO driver

  3. Snappy Driver Installer Origin (SDIO)

Troubleshooting

Driver installation fails

  • Disable antivirus temporarily – Some antivirus blocks driver installations
  • Run installer as administrator - Right-click installer Run as administrator
  • Clean previous drivers - Use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) for NVIDIA/AMD

Games not performing well

  • Update to latest drivers - Newer drivers often include game optimizations
  • Check GPU power settings - Set GPU to maximum performance
  • Verify GPU is being used - Some systems use integrated graphics instead of dedicated GPU

Multiple GPUs

If you have both integrated and dedicated graphics:

  1. Install drivers for both GPUs
  2. Configure in BIOS/UEFI to use dedicated GPU for gaming
  3. Set preferred GPU in Windows graphics settings

Best practices

  • Download from official sources only – Avoid third-party driver sites
  • Keep drivers updated – Check monthly or when you have issues
  • Check manufacturer sites – NVIDIA and AMD provide the latest releases; avoid third-party driver update tools
  • Avoid beta drivers unless you need specific features—use stable releases

Next steps

After installing graphics drivers:

  1. Install network drivers and audio drivers if not yet done - Required for internet and sound
  2. Install chipset drivers - Important for system stability
  3. Install other drivers - Bluetooth, printers, etc. if needed
  4. Optimize hardware (optional) - Enable XMP/DOCP and Resizable BAR for better performance