Wednesday, April 29th 2015
Reddit Discovers a Neat Performance Improving Trick for NVIDIA Users
An honorable citizen of the PC Master Race on Reddit discovered a neat little trick with which NVIDIA GeForce users could score a tiny but potentially useful frame-rate increase. The user discovered that disabling the "NVIDIA Streaming" Windows service (which is set to start-up automatically and always run, by default), results in a 3-5% frame-rate increase. It may not be much, but the increase could prove to be the difference between "playable" and "slide-show," particularly with machines built on a shoestring budget.
The service enables you to stream your game to an NVIDIA Shield handheld console, and unless you actually own one, we don't see the utility in "nvstreamsvc.exe" running at all times, especially if it has a performance penalty of any measure. To disable this service, simply look up "NVIDIA Streamer Service" in Windows Services (type "services.msc" in Run), and disable it by setting its "start-up type" to "Disabled," in its properties, and restarting your machine. This service is also required for ShadowPlay, and if you use that feature, you could set the service for "Manual" start-up.
Sources:
Reddit, Many thanks to dj-electric for the tip.
The service enables you to stream your game to an NVIDIA Shield handheld console, and unless you actually own one, we don't see the utility in "nvstreamsvc.exe" running at all times, especially if it has a performance penalty of any measure. To disable this service, simply look up "NVIDIA Streamer Service" in Windows Services (type "services.msc" in Run), and disable it by setting its "start-up type" to "Disabled," in its properties, and restarting your machine. This service is also required for ShadowPlay, and if you use that feature, you could set the service for "Manual" start-up.
38 Comments on Reddit Discovers a Neat Performance Improving Trick for NVIDIA Users
It looks like Nvidia has the same problems as Microsoft has. Windows lacks a good service which would turn off services which are not needed. That is a small piece of the puzzle "Why is Windows so slow especially newer versions"?
They correspond to Crossfire and Overclocking.
I saw that claim yesterday , and tested myself . I did 10 runs of ingame benches of Metro LL , Valley and Shadow of Mordor , took the avarage . Then I disabled this service and did the same . in Metro and Valley I got 0.5 of a frame more and in Shadow of Mordor , 0.7 fps lower , this resulsts are with 50-60 fps avrg.
As you probably know there is always a margin of error . Almost every test from the 10 , had different results , sometimes with 2-3 fps difference . People often mistake this for an improvement .
If you don't have shield , it doesnt harm you to turn it off , but do not expect improvements of your fps .
GeForce Experience 2.4.3 Release Highlights
- Bug fixes for intermittent user accounts and application crash issues.
- Fixed a bug that was causing the NVIDIA Streamer Service to use excess CPU cycles on some PCs.
Accounts for why it couldn't always be replicated.Over the years this has become standard practice on my PC; go for newest WHQL, run into issues, roll back to the most recent iCafe, problem solved and rock stable. Works a charm. Another thing, not every driver iteration gets an iCafé version, which is a telltale sign you really don't NEED the new driver. When it gets an iCafé, it usually brings improvements across the board.