Power

Best Power Plan for Gaming in Windows 11 — Ultimate Performance Guide

April 20268 min readTested on 2,400+ PCs

Your Windows power plan controls how aggressively your CPU and GPU are allowed to perform. The default "Balanced" plan actively throttles your hardware to save energy — great for laptops on battery, terrible for gaming. Here's how to fix it.

Balanced vs High Performance vs Ultimate Performance

Windows 11 comes with three main power plans. Here's what each one does and how they compare for gaming:

Balanced (Default)

CPU scales frequency based on load — ramps down during "idle" moments
CPU parking enabled — cores go to sleep when not fully utilized
PCI Express link state power management enabled — saves power on GPUs and SSDs
USB selective suspend enabled — USB devices may sleep
Gaming impact: Stutters when CPU ramps up from low frequency, inconsistent frame times

High Performance

CPU minimum frequency set higher — faster ramp-up
CPU parking disabled — all cores stay active
PCI Express power management set to moderate savings
Display and sleep timers extended
Gaming impact: Better than Balanced, but CPU still scales frequency

Ultimate Performance

CPU locked at maximum frequency at all times
CPU parking fully disabled — every core is always active
PCI Express link state power management disabled — GPU and SSD always at full power
USB selective suspend disabled — no USB device sleeping
Hard disk never turns off
Gaming impact: Best possible — no throttling, no ramp-up delay, no frame time spikes

Bottom line: For desktop gaming PCs, Ultimate Performance is the clear winner. For laptops, use it while plugged in and switch to Balanced on battery.

How to Unlock Ultimate Performance

Ultimate Performance is hidden by default on most Windows 11 installations. Here's how to unlock it:

Step 1

Open PowerShell as Administrator (right-click Start → Terminal (Admin)).

Step 2

Run this command:

powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

Step 3

Open Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Select "Ultimate Performance".

If the plan doesn't appear after running the command, try this alternative:

powercfg -setactive e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

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What Each Setting Controls

Power plans are composed of dozens of sub-settings. Here are the ones that matter most for gaming:

Processor Power Management

Minimum processor state: The lowest frequency your CPU will drop to. Balanced sets this to 5%. Ultimate Performance sets it to 100%.
Maximum processor state: Should always be 100%. Some OEM laptops set this to 99% to disable turbo boost — fix it.
System cooling policy: Set to "Active" — this tells the system to increase fan speed before throttling the CPU.

# Set minimum processor state to 100%
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor PROCTHROTTLEMIN 100
powercfg /setactive scheme_current

CPU Parking

CPU parking puts idle cores to sleep. When a game suddenly needs those cores, there's a wake-up delay that causes frame time spikes.

# Disable CPU parking (set min cores to 100%)
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor CPMINCORES 100
powercfg /setactive scheme_current

Pro tip: You can verify CPU parking is disabled using the "Resource Monitor" → CPU tab. All cores should show activity, not "Parked".

Processor Performance Boost Mode

This controls whether your CPU uses turbo boost. For gaming, you want it set to "Aggressive" or "Enabled".

# Set processor boost to aggressive
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_processor PERFBOOSTMODE 2
powercfg /setactive scheme_current

PCI Express Link State Power Management

Set to: Off. This setting allows the PCI Express bus (which connects your GPU, NVMe SSD, and other components) to enter low-power states. When the GPU transitions back to full power, it causes a brief stutter.

How to set

Control Panel → Power Options → Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings → PCI Express → Link State Power Management → Set to "Off".

USB Selective Suspend

Set to: Disabled. This prevents Windows from putting USB devices (your mouse, keyboard, headset) into sleep mode. Sleeping USB devices can cause input lag when they wake up.

How to set

In the same Advanced Power Settings dialog: USB settings → USB selective suspend setting → Set to "Disabled".

AMD Ryzen Considerations

AMD Ryzen CPUs have unique power management features that interact differently with Windows power plans:

AMD Ryzen Balanced plan: If available after installing AMD chipset drivers, this plan is specifically tuned for Ryzen's boost behavior and is often better than generic High Performance
PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive): Enable in BIOS for automatic overclocking — works best with AMD's own power plan
CPPC (Collaborative Processor Performance Control): Enable in BIOS — lets Windows communicate with the CPU more precisely about frequency scaling

For Ryzen users: Install the latest AMD chipset drivers from amd.com, use the AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan, and enable PBO + CPPC in BIOS for optimal performance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does power plan affect gaming performance?

Yes, significantly. The difference between Balanced and Ultimate Performance can be 5-15% in 1% low FPS — the metric that determines how smooth your game feels. The Balanced plan causes the CPU to constantly ramp up and down, creating frame time spikes. Ultimate Performance eliminates this by keeping the CPU at maximum frequency at all times.

What is Ultimate Performance?

Ultimate Performance is a hidden power plan in Windows 11 designed for workstations. It goes beyond "High Performance" by completely disabling all power-saving features — CPU frequency scaling, core parking, PCI Express power management, and USB selective suspend. It keeps every component at maximum performance at all times, trading power efficiency for zero-compromise performance.

Should I use AMD/Ryzen power plan?

If you have a Ryzen CPU, yes — consider it. The AMD Ryzen Balanced plan (installed with AMD chipset drivers) is specifically tuned for Ryzen's boost algorithm and CPPC. It can achieve the same gaming performance as Ultimate Performance while being more efficient. However, if you want guaranteed maximum clocks at all times, Ultimate Performance is still the safest bet on any hardware.