Optimize Windows for Valorant: from safe to advanced

The short answer

Five Windows settings matter for Valorant. Each one carries its level in the text, so you know what you risk before you click.

• Essential: update the graphics driver and Windows.
• Essential: switch off the startup apps you do not need.
• Essential: untick "Enhance pointer precision" and keep the pointer speed at notch 6 of 11.
• Worth testing: the "Best performance" power mode.
• Advanced (experienced players): leave memory integrity on, because Vanguard checks it.

The rest of the page covers these settings, then the ones that call for more care. For the game's own options, go to the Valorant graphics settings. For the driver and your monitor, see the graphics card and monitor page.

Essential: no risk, apply these first

These three settings undo in a few clicks. Apply them in order. Each one names its source, because it is not the same for all three.

Update the graphics driver and Windows. With a low frame rate, Riot asks you to check these two first, to free background processes with a clean boot, then to lower the graphics settings. That is Riot's own advice, the most direct source for this game. Open Settings > Windows Update and install whatever is waiting. The driver comes from your card maker's site: the steps are on the graphics card and monitor page.

Disable startup apps. Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, then the startup apps tab. Cybertek notes that the real culprits often hide there. This is supporting advice, not a Microsoft or Riot page. Switch off launchers, chat clients and sync tools you do not need the moment the PC boots. You can turn any of them back on from the same tab.

Untick pointer precision. Open Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse > Additional mouse settings, then the Pointer Options tab. Untick "Enhance pointer precision" and leave the speed at its default notch, 6 of 11, as the Sensitivity Finder asks. The source here is the Road2Radiant tool itself, which writes that Windows acceleration can skew the measurement.

Worth testing: reversible, effect varies

A setting at this level breaks nothing and undoes fast, but nobody can promise its effect on your PC. Change one thing at a time, judge the effect as explained in "How to judge the effect" below, then keep it or cancel it.

Power mode. Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. Windows offers three modes, and Best performance maximizes performance. If the menu is greyed out, a custom plan may be active: pick Balanced in Control Panel under Power Options, then come back. On a laptop this mode runs hotter, spins the fans harder and drains the battery faster, so plug it in.

Game Mode. Turn it on under Settings > Gaming > Game Mode. Cybertek explains that it favors the active game and limits some background interruptions. That is a supporting source, not a Microsoft page, so treat the effect as a hypothesis to check.

Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. The switch sits under Settings > System > Display > Graphics. It needs a compatible card and a WDDM 2.7 driver. Microsoft shipped it as an opt-in, off by default, and writes that for most users the transition will be transparent. Microsoft publishes no gain, so your own test is the only proof.

Optimizations for windowed games. This one lives under Settings > System > Display > Graphics. It targets DirectX 10 and 11 games in windowed or borderless mode: Windows moves them from the legacy blt presentation model to the flip model and cuts frame latency. Microsoft's page speaks only of those two modes. If you play in fullscreen, do not count on this setting.

How to judge the effect. Apply the setting, replay the same situation under the same conditions and judge how it feels in game. The browser reaction test does not measure this setting: it helps you follow your reaction over time. If nothing changes in your feel, cancel it: a setting with no visible effect has no place in your setup.

Advanced (experienced players)

Here the risk is real and can be recovered with precautions. Before you start, create a Windows restore point and write down the original value of every setting you change. None of these settings has a reliable measurement published for Valorant, and each entry says so in plain words.

Memory integrity (leave it on)

• What it does: memory integrity is part of the virtualization-based security that Vanguard checks. Vanguard requires TPM 2.0, UEFI firmware and that security.
• Measured gain: no reliable measurement published.
• Risks: when Vanguard does not detect the expected setup, Valorant shows the VAN 9005 error.
• How to undo: Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation, switch memory integrity on, then restart.

bcdedit commands (useplatformclock, useplatformtick, disabledynamictick)

• What it does: they change boot options tied to the system timers. Microsoft says to use them for debugging only.
• Measured gain: no reliable measurement published.
• Risks: Microsoft warns that changing some boot entry options with BCDEdit /set could render the computer inoperable.
• How to undo: if Windows still starts, remove the option you added with bcdedit /deletevalue followed by its name, using the output of bcdedit /enum that you saved before the change. This procedure does not come from the Microsoft page cited. If the PC no longer starts, this command can no longer be run from Windows; the restore point advised above is a common-sense precaution, not backed by a source.

ISLC, a third-party utility

• What it does: Wagnardsoft publishes ISLC to clear the Windows standby memory list. The publisher promises less lag and shows no measurement.
• Measured gain: no reliable measurement published.
• Risks: none of the pages read documents its compatibility with Vanguard, and it is a third-party program acting on your machine's memory.
• How to undo: close the tool and uninstall it.

Windows services and SysMain

• What it does: Microsoft's guide describes SysMain as a service that maintains and improves system performance over time, with a manual startup type and no recommendation. That page is written for Windows Server 2016.
• Measured gain: no reliable measurement published.
• Risks: the effect on Valorant is unproven, and you lose whatever the service does. A service stopped by mistake can get in the way of something else on the PC.
• How to undo: open Services, put SysMain back to the startup type you wrote down, then start it.

Settings that stop Valorant from starting

Do not touch Test Mode, nointegritychecks, TPM or Secure Boot. If Test Mode (Test Signing) or driver signature enforcement has been changed, Vanguard may refuse to run, and the game no longer launches. Riot gives bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING off and bcdedit /set nointegritychecks OFF to return to the normal state. On Windows 11, Valorant also requires TPM 2.0 and UEFI Secure Boot, so turning either one off in the BIOS ends the same way.

Measure before and after

Mouse settings are the ones you can measure best on this site, with the Sensitivity Finder and the sensitivity converter.

In Chrome and Edge, the browser reads raw mouse movement, without Windows acceleration. In any other browser, untick pointer precision first. Then go fullscreen in the test room: the perceived speed will match the game, 103° FOV.

The conversion rests on one fixed number: Valorant applies 0.07° of rotation per mouse count and per sensitivity point. The converter covers 6 games, no account needed.

To compare before and after, keep the hardware the same. Your monitor, mouse and browser add their own delay to the result, so compare your tests on the same device.

The cost stays low. Road2Radiant is free, and only the Sensitivity Finder uses tokens. An account receives 25 tokens and one test costs 5, which leaves you 5 tests to check a mouse change.

What these settings do not change

No Windows setting replaces training. A clean system removes obstacles, it does not place your crosshair for you and it wins you no rank. The gain depends on your hardware: on a machine that is already smooth, it will be small, and that is normal.

To get started:

1. Update the graphics driver and Windows, switch off unneeded startup apps, untick pointer precision.
2. Test one "Worth testing" setting at a time, and judge it by how the game feels.
3. Touch the advanced settings only if you know how to undo them, and never the ones that stop Valorant from starting.

Next, open the whole section or move on to the Valorant graphics settings. To follow your aim over time, create your account: it is free.