Activate Hardware Accelerated GPU Programming in Windows 10

It is nothing new that Microsoft is striving to turn Windows 10 into an operating system that allows users to get the most out of gaming. In addition to the “Game Mode”, the “Game Bar”, the Xbox functions included in the operating system and its Game Pass and the Microsoft Store, with the arrival of Windows 10 May 2020 Update, the operating system has released a new feature as part of DirectX 12 Ultimate that will reduce latency and improve gaming performance. This is GPU Scheduling .

GPU Scheduling, or ” Hardware Accelerated GPU Programming ” is a new feature introduced in Windows 10 to further improve gaming performance. What this function does is allow the GPU to manage its memory instead of delegating this task to the operating system. In this way, when activated, users will achieve higher performance and lower latency. And this translates to more FPS and fluency in games.

Activate Hardware Accelerated GPU Programming in Windows 10

By default, this feature is disabled for users for compatibility reasons, since in order to use it we must meet a series of requirements.

Requirements

First of all, in order to use this function, it is necessary to have updated our computer to Windows 10 May 2020 Update. This feature is not available in versions prior to 2004 Windows 10 and therefore we will not be able to activate it.

In addition, it is necessary to have an NVIDIA graphics card that supports this feature, since graphics integrated into the CPU, for example, are not. Of course, we must also make sure we have the graphics drivers updated. GPU Scheduling support was introduced with version 451.48 of the GeForce Game Ready drivers. This new version of the drivers can be downloaded from here , or from the GeForce Experience panel if installed.

NVIDIA Drivers 451.48

If we comply with the above, we can already enable this new option.

Enable Hardware Accelerated GPU Programming

To activate this function, what we must do is open the Windows 10 Configuration menu (we can do it with the keyboard shortcut Windows + I), and within it we will go to the “System” > “Screen” section. And within the screen options we will look at the bottom of the section ” Graphics settings “.

We enter this section, and we can see a configuration screen like the following. The section that interests us is ” Hardware accelerated GPU programming “, which has a switch that, as we will see, is turned off.

Activar Programación de GPU acelerada por hardware en W10

We must click on this switch to turn it on and voila. This new feature will start working after restarting the computer. We won’t have to do anything else.

Performance issues? So you can disable GPU programming

Initially, this feature is designed so that all Windows 10 users can get more out of their default graphics card, without having to configure more than activating this function. However, some users claim that, after activating GPU Scheduling, gaming performance has dropped, and some titles, such as GTA V, experience significant FPS dips.

In case of experiencing these problems, it will be enough to return to the same section where we have activated this feature and uncheck its switch. After restarting the computer, the hardware accelerated GPU programming will be disabled, and the memory management of the GPU will work as it has always done, eradicating any possible problems that may have arisen from activating it.

Other Advantages of DirectX 12 Ultimate

In addition to being able to activate GPU Scheduling, the new DirectX 12 Ultimate brings a host of improvements related to gaming performance. The first of these is DirectX Raytracing 1.1 , a new API for Ray Tracing that includes new ray tracing capabilities beyond NVIDIA graphics. Thanks to this, all users will be able to take advantage of this impressive visual improvement without having to depend on specific hardware, as has been the case up to now. All that is needed is for developers to implement this API within games.

In addition, DirectX 12 Ultimate ray tracing is much more efficient than current, and offers outstanding quality.

The ” Variable Rate Shading ” has also been included. Shaders are in charge of telling the system what the color, brightness and contrast of each pixel should be. This implies a tremendous computational cost (and therefore a loss of performance). Thanks to this technology, only shaders will be used for the most important objects in the game, using intelligent algorithms to color the rest of the secondary elements (for example, trees). The user will not notice a difference, but it will gain performance.

Another similar feature is the new Mesh Shaders API , which uses smart algorithms to build more detailed and dynamic worlds much more efficiently. Primary objects will have much more detail, while secondary objects will have less polygons, allowing the GPU to better maintain high FPS without sacrificing quality.

And, finally, a new Sampler Feedback system has been included, similar to the previous ones, which allows improving the visual quality of games, reducing loading times and having much less stuttering, reusing colors and objects already generated and working in a way much more efficient.

The new DirectX 12 Ultimate is available for Windows 10 May 2020 Update (and future versions) and for the new Xbox Series X.