NVIDIA Optimize
This is one of Overimagine's Epic Guides!
Introduction
Welcome everybody to the NVIDIA Optimize guide! You're probably here because you want to take advantage of your GPU's performance by debloating and optimizing your NVIDIA GPU. The end goal is to give you the best performing GPU drivers without GeForce Experience and telemetry.
Requirements
Any GTX/RTX card and a program that lets you unextract files. I recommend 7-zip, but anything will work.
Uninstalling your GPU drivers
Installing DDU
We're going to be uninstalling our current display drivers using a program called Display Driver Uninstaller, or DDU for short.
To download DDU, click here and scroll down until you see these four download links, just choose whichever one is closest to your location. The download should start a few seconds after you click the link. I recommend saving it to your desktop for easier access.
Once you have downloaded it, right-click on the archive and extract it. You should see the DDU executable. Click on the executable then click "Extract"
After that, you should be left with these files, confirm that they are there, then move to the next step, which is booting into safe mode.
DO NOT RUN ANYTHING YET
Leave everything as it is. We will boot into safe mode so the display drivers can be uninstalled properly.
Going into Safe Mode
This part is simple, so let's run through it. You'll need to access this part of the guide through another device, such as your phone.
- Click the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner.
- Holding down the Shift key, click the Power icon, and then click Restart.
- Your computer will restart, and then open onto a blue screen titled Choose an option. Select Troubleshoot, and then Advanced options.
- Once the screen comes back, you'll be given a few options. Press 4 to start your computer in Safe Mode.
You are now in Safe Mode!
Uninstalling the Drivers
Once you're in safe mode, launch Display Driver Uninstaller.exe
. From there, the Options page should launch. Check everything in the "NVIDIA Specific Options" except Remove the NVIDIA Control Panel installed from the Microsoft Store
.
Once you've done that, you need to set your device type. Just click GPU and Nvidia should pop up. It says GeForce GTX but this works with RTX cards as well (Source: I have a 3060 and it worked just fine).
Once you've double-checked everything is proper, click the "Clean and restart" button.
After that's done, your computer should restart back into normal mode. It will look a little weird, but nothing is broken. We are done with this part of the guide.
Installing the Debloated Drivers
We're going to be installing our current display drivers using a program called NVCleanstall. The difference between this and GeForce Experience is that we get to install these drivers without bloatware and telemetry that take up system resources, thus making it better.
Installing NVCleanstall
We are going to download NVCleanstall here. Choose whatever server is closest to you, then launch the executable.
From there, copy the settings below.
After that, NVCleanstall should relaunch itself. Proceed to the next step.
Determining our driver version
See, this part wouldn't exist if Nvidia wasn't so shit, but here we are. The determination process is pretty simple, so don't get too nervous.
If you're using the RTX 30/20 Series or the GTX 16 Series, select Install best driver for my hardware
.
If you're using the GTX 10/9 Series or use the yuzu emulator, select Manually select a driver version
and select version 512.95
. This is because Nvidia did an AMD and broke their drivers on modern versions on those GPUs.
Once you've selected the version that corresponds to your GPU, click next.
Settings for the installation
Once you're on "Select Components To Install, copy these settings. Anything highlighted in red should be checked no matter what platform you're on.
Click next once you're done copying settings. You'll move on to the "Preparing Sources" page, just wait for this one out.
Once you're on the next screen, which is "Installation Tweaks", copy these settings.
Scroll down and check these as well, the window was too small.
Once you ensure the plugin settings looks like the one above, click Next.
Installing the Drivers
Congratulations my friend, you've successfully made it to the part you've been waiting for! But we're not done yet, hang in there!
We are now going to install the actual drivers for your GPU, click Install once you're on the "Finished" page.
Once the NVIDIA Driver Installer opens, click Agree and Continue, then select Custom (Advanced)
From there, just click next again, and your GPU drivers should install.
Midway through the installation, this popup will, well, pop up. Click "Install this driver software anyway".
And the rest is self-explanatory. Boom, you're done installing your drivers!
Changing your NVIDIA Settings
We will edit your settings to get less latency, less lag, and a better picture. This part is rather easy, just follow along.
NVIDIA Profile Inspector
We're going to download NVIDIA Profile Inspector using the download links here. Click the "Assets" text then click nvidiaProfileInspector.zip
. Extract it to your desktop.
We are also going to download PrincessAkira's profile that can optimize a lot.
Anyways, drag the .nip
file into the executable. You should get a message saying the file got imported successfully if you do.
NVIDIA Control Panel
We will now change our settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel. Follow along and change your settings.
3D Settings
Manage 3D Settings
You may not be able to see some of the Settings listed down below, just ignore that.
Ensure that your 3D settings match the following.
- Image Sharpening: Off
- Ambient Occlusion: Off
- Anisotropic filtering: Application-controlled
- Antialiasing - FXAA: Off
- Antialiasing - Gamma correction: Off
- Antialiasing - Mode: Application-controlled
- Antialiasing - Setting: None
- Antialiasing - Transparency: Off
- CUDA - GPUs: All
- DSR - Factors: Off
- DSR - Smoothness: Off
- Low Latency Mode: On
- Monitor Technology: Fixed Refresh
- Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA): Off
- OpenGL rendering GPU: Your GPU.
- Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance
- Preferred refresh rate (monitor name): Highest available
- Shader Cache Size: Driver Default
- Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: On
- Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Allow
- Texture filtering - Quality: High performance
- Texture filtering - Trilinear optimization: On
- Threaded optimization: Auto
- Triple bufferring: Off
- Vertical sync: Off
- Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames: 1
- Virtual Reality - Variable Rate Super Sampling - Off
Configure Surround, PhysX
Make sure this is set to your GPU.
Display
Change Resolution
Copy these settings, and replicate them on any other monitor you have.
Adjust desktop size and position
Copy these settings, and replicate them on any monitor you have.
Set up G-SYNC
Uncheck Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible.
About unchecking it
This is a debatable topic, whether G-SYNC causes additional input lag. Technically G-SYNC will add input lag, as it is a sync feature, meaning one thing has to wait for another, for them to be in sync. The question then remains, is the added input lag even perceivable? Probably not. You can probably get away with checking it if you don't play games competitively but to each of their own.
Set up multiple displays
If you have one monitor, skip this part, if you do, read this.
This step depends on how your monitors are positioned and adjusted. Take the time to adjust them to your needs by dragging the boxes.
Video
Adjust video color settings
Check "With the NVIDIA settings" then go to "Advanced" and set the dynamic range to full. Replicate this on any monitors you have.
Adjust video image settings
Under Edge enhancement, check "Use the NVIDIA setting" and drag the slider to the left so that it says 0%. Apply the same settings to Noise reduction by checking "Use the NVIDIA setting" then make sure the slider is to the left, yet again at 0%. Replicate this on any other monitors you have.
And now you're done!
Finale
Congrats, you're done! You've installed NVIDIA drivers that are free of bloat, and telemetry! Not only that, but they perform better than they used to before! Go into some of your games and enjoy those frames!
Credits
- Damon for making https://rentry.co/NVCleanInstall, I used some of his screenshots in this guide.
- PrincessAkira, as she made the original Nvidia Profile Inspector profile that I edited upon.