Windows 10/11 has a built-in feature called "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling," which was added to Windows 10 in 2020 and is currently available in Windows 11.
In this article, I would like to provide a brief explanation of "hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" and whether you should turn the feature "on" or "off."
What is hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling?
"GPU scheduling with hardware accelerators" simply means that some of the work that is normally handled by the CPU is delegated to the GPU (graphics card).
The work is high priority, and offloading the work to the GPU reduces the load on the CPU.
The CPU is less loaded and can do more work.
This may make your PC run faster and improve its performance.
To use "GPU scheduling with hardware acceleration", your GPU must be compatible.
In addition, you will need a driver that supports this function. *This function can be used unless your PC is very old.
- NVIDIA GeForce 1000 series and above
- AMD 5600 series and later
- The driver is the latest version possible
Which is better: hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling "on" or "off"?
PCs are categorized by performance, such as low-end (low specs), mid-range (close to high specs), and high-end (high specs), but it's worth turning on "Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling" on low-end to mid-range PCs.
For example, if your CPU usage is approaching 100% when playing a game on your PC, turning on "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" will reduce the load on the CPU and stabilize your PC.
*The "stable" mentioned here means that there will be no stuttering or delays.
Conversely, if you have a high-spec PC with low CPU usage when playing games, you may not notice much effect and may even experience slowdowns.
For example, if your CPU is high performance and your GPU is low performance, turning on "GPU scheduling with hardware acceleration" may actually slow down processing.
To use an example from work, unless there is a very good reason, you wouldn't deliberately assign a task that you can easily do to someone who is several times slower than you.
The effect will vary depending on your PC, so try checking the stability and processing speed with "On" and "Off".
How to turn hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling on or off
1. Press Windows Key + R to open Run, type the following command and press Enter:
ms-settings:display-advancedgraphics-default2. The default graphics settings will open, so turn "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" on or off.
*Explanation will be given using Windows 11 screen.
In the latest version of Windows 11, the settings screen has changed, and when you click on "Advanced graphics settings," "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" will appear.
3. A restart is required to reflect the settings, so please restart your PC once.
You can turn this feature on or off at any time.
Side effects of GPU scheduling with hardware accelerators
If you already have "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" turned on and are experiencing unexplained crashes, try turning it off.
Some applications that are not designed to utilize hardware acceleration may crash due to "hardware/ware accelerated GPU scheduling" in Windows 10/11.
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