Optimizations for windowed games

[bitcoin325]

I've been plagued by high-FPS stutter issues with AMD GPUs for a long time — even when games run at 200+ FPS and stay well within the FreeSync range. Through my research, I suspect this is related to a conflict with Windows 11’s “Optimizations for windowed games” feature.From what I’ve gathered, this feature appears to function similarly to triple buffering. My guess is that AMD’s driver might conflict with this feature — either due to logical inconsistencies in how they interact, or because the Windows optimization layer overrides in-game or driver-level vertical sync settings.When this feature is enabled, I’ve observed what seems to be frame history regression — for example, after the 100th frame, instead of repeating frame 100 or proceeding to frame 101, it appears to revert to frame 99. This causes subtle but noticeable stutter.The game where this issue is most severe in my testing is the original Overcooked, which stutters even at 300–400 FPS. Other games show similar symptoms but to a lesser extent. The problem typically arises when the frame rate deviates from the monitor’s native refresh rate — whether it’s too high or too low — even if FreeSync is technically active.Additionally, in nearly all games, if Enhanced Sync is enabled and the FPS exceeds the display’s refresh rate, I consistently experience this stutter. It’s unclear whether the issue comes from Enhanced Sync’s own form of triple buffering (if I recall its mechanism correctly) or from the triple buffering introduced by “Optimizations for windowed games.” I haven't tested this specific interaction yet.Another observation: when FPS drops due to GPU being at 100%, FreeSync appears to function normally. But if the FPS drop is caused by CPU load, FreeSync often stops functioning properly — even though the FPS remains within the supported FreeSync range.These combined issues mean that any significant deviation from the display’s max refresh rate leads to either screen tearing or visible stutter.

 

[chrcoluk]

Its flip mode, allows VRR in windowed mode amongst other benefits. Full screen exclusive is on its way out with some devs having not used it for a decade, so Microsoft added this toggle to Windows 11.

 

[AleXXX666]

I've been plagued by high-FPS stutter issues with AMD GPUs for a long time — even when games run at 200+ FPS and stay well within the FreeSync range. Through my research, I suspect this is related to a conflict with Windows 11’s “Optimizations for windowed games” feature.From what I’ve gathered, this feature appears to function similarly to triple buffering. My guess is that AMD’s driver might conflict with this feature — either due to logical inconsistencies in how they interact, or because the Windows optimization layer overrides in-game or driver-level vertical sync settings.When this feature is enabled, I’ve observed what seems to be frame history regression — for example, after the 100th frame, instead of repeating frame 100 or proceeding to frame 101, it appears to revert to frame 99. This causes subtle but noticeable stutter.The game where this issue is most severe in my testing is the original Overcooked, which stutters even at 300–400 FPS. Other games show similar symptoms but to a lesser extent. The problem typically arises when the frame rate deviates from the monitor’s native refresh rate — whether it’s too high or too low — even if FreeSync is technically active.Additionally, in nearly all games, if Enhanced Sync is enabled and the FPS exceeds the display’s refresh rate, I consistently experience this stutter. It’s unclear whether the issue comes from Enhanced Sync’s own form of triple buffering (if I recall its mechanism correctly) or from the triple buffering introduced by “Optimizations for windowed games.” I haven't tested this specific interaction yet.Another observation: when FPS drops due to GPU being at 100%, FreeSync appears to function normally. But if the FPS drop is caused by CPU load, FreeSync often stops functioning properly — even though the FPS remains within the supported FreeSync range.These combined issues mean that any significant deviation from the display’s max refresh rate leads to either screen tearing or visible stutter.

I don't understand the whole point - to play IMMERSIVE 3D game not in fullscreen mode tho...

 

[bitcoin325]

I don't understand the whole point - to play IMMERSIVE 3D game not in fullscreen mode tho...

This is a built-in feature of Windows 11, just like the reply above, but this feature seems to forcibly enable triple buffering, which can cause some issues with game smoothness. Additionally, for fullscreen windowed mode, disabling it doesn't seem to affect VRR.

Its flip mode, allows VRR in windowed mode amongst other benefits. Full screen exclusive is on its way out with some devs having not used it for a decade, so Microsoft added this toggle to Windows 11.

Maybe it is the same problem as MPO，flip mode for game，mpo for system

 

[R-T-B]

I don't understand the whole point - to play IMMERSIVE 3D game not in fullscreen mode tho...

It's still fullscreen it just doesn't need to completely shutdown DWM to not lose performance.