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Best Nvidia Control Panel settings

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  • 3 min read

While Nvidia isn’t exactly a software company, they’ve built some pretty good utilities to manage the many GPUs the company makes. However, with so many settings at hand, it might be confusing to dial in the best possible settings for a particular setup.

In this article, we’re going over the many settings available in Nvidia’s Control Panel to help you decide the best possible settings for your rig.

Also read: Nvidia Control Panel missing: 7 fixes


Best Nvidia Control Panel settings

Here are the numerous 3D settings that you can change in the Nvidia control panel and their effects. The table below will help you understand what each of these controls in the Nvidia panel does and whether or not you should have them enabled.

Best Nvidia Control Panel settings | Candid.Technology
SettingDescriptionRecommended setting
Image SharpeningControls the overall sharpness of images and visual quality of games.Enabled
Ambient OcclusionImproves the depth perception and provides soft shadows for in-game objectsPerformance
Anisotropic filtering Improves the overall image quality by eliminating blurred textures at certain camera anglesApplication Controlled. 
Antialiasing FXAAImproves in-game visuals while reducing performance effect on other aliasing settingsDisabled
Antialiasing Gamma CorrectionControls gamma correction for antialiasingEnabled
Antialiasing modeControls how antialiasing is applied in-gameApplication Controlled
CUDA GPUsLets you select where CUDA cores are usedAll
DSR-FactorsDSR or Dynamic Super Resolution enhances the image quality by rendering images at a higher resolutionDisabled
Low Latency ModeReduces latency by limiting the number of frames for the CPU before the GPU can process themEnabled
Max Frame RateLimits the FPS to a certain number such as 60 or 120Enabled
Monitor CompatibilityAllows for control of an external monitor’s refresh rate policyEnable if you have a G-Sync compatible monitor
Multi-Frame Sampled AAMakes sample patterns appear irregularDisabled
OpenGL Rendering GPUSelects the GPU for OpenGL applicationsShould be set to your Nvidia GPU
Power Management ModeDetermines the GPU performance according to the power planMaximum Performance
Preferred Refresh Rate Lets you override the refresh rate in full-screen programsShould be set to highest available
Shader CacheSaves CPU usage by making a shader cache and fetching data from it insteadEnabled
Texture Filtering – Anisotropic Sample OptimizationLimits the number of anisotropic samples used per texture pixel sizeEnabled
Texture Filtering – Negative LOD BiasUsed to sharpen stationary images and enable texture filteringEnabled
Texture Filtering – QualityLets users change texture filtering qualityHigh Performance
Texture Filtering – Trilinear OptimisationAllows better texture filtering performance by allowing bilinear filteringEnabled
Threaded OptimisationAllows the program to use multiple CPU coresAuto
Triple BufferingAllows triple buffering for games and other OpenGL programsDisabled
Vertical SyncControls how the GPU render rate interfaces with the refresh rate of a given monitorDisabled
Virtual Reality Pre–Rendered FramesLimites the number of frames the CPU can generate before being processed by the GPU1
Configure Surround, PhysX SettingsPhysX settingsNo change required

Also read: Nvidia Control Panel access denied: 6 fixes

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah is a Computer Science graduate who writes/edits/shoots/codes all things cybersecurity, gaming, and tech hardware. When he's not, he streams himself racing virtual cars. He's been writing and reporting on tech and cybersecurity with websites like Candid.Technology and MakeUseOf since 2018. You can contact him here: yadullahabidi@pm.me.

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