Disable Power Throttling: stopping Windows from slowing your own game
Short answer
UpdatedSetting PowerThrottlingOff to 1 under SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling stops Windows from throttling processes it judges to be non-critical. It matters most on laptops and on anything where a game, launcher or capture tool spends time out of focus, because Windows will otherwise slow those threads deliberately to save power.
HKLMSYSTEM\
PowerThrottlingOff01
What it does
Windows watches which processes are in the foreground and throttles the rest, parking them at lower clocks to save power. The heuristic is good for battery life and occasionally wrong about what matters.
This is separate from your power plan. You can be on Best performance and still have individual processes throttled.
When it helps, and when it hurts
When it helps
- Stops background but latency-sensitive processes, like voice chat, capture, launchers and anti-cheat, being slowed.
- Removes a cause of first-frame hitching when alt-tabbing back into a game.
- Most visible on laptops, where the heuristic is most aggressive.
When it hurts
- On a laptop running on battery, expect measurably shorter runtime and more heat.
- On a desktop already set to Best performance, the gain is often small.
What it writes
Exactly what the switch changes, read from the app's source. Switching it off is what the app writes when you turn the tweak off again.
| Key and value | With the tweak | Switching it off |
|---|---|---|
| HKLMSYSTEM\ | 1 | 0 |
From the app's source (power_throttling.hpp), app 2.0.0, checked .
The same change by hand
You do not need the app for this one. These commands make the changes from the table above. Run them in a Command Prompt opened as administrator, and make a restore point first.
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling" /v "PowerThrottlingOff" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /freg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling" /v "PowerThrottlingOff" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /freg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling" /v "PowerThrottlingOff"How to undo it
In the app: Yes
Switching it off sets a standard Windows value, which may not be exactly how you had it.
Delete the PowerThrottlingOff value, or set it to 0, and reboot. Switching it off in Frozen Tweaks sets it to 0.
Changing several settings at once? The app's Make a restore point button, on every plan, makes a Windows restore point before you start.
Verdict
Low risk and worth doing on a desktop. On a laptop, take it while plugged in and understand it costs battery.
In the app
- Switch
- Disable Power Throttling
- Category
- CPU
- Plan
- Free
- Undo
- Yes
Related guides
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More tweak explainers
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Written by
Frost LIVEFounder of Frozen Tweaks, based in Hamburg, Germany. Publishes settings guides for competitive games on his YouTube channel, Frost LIVE.
In the app
- Category
- CPU
- Plan
- Free
- Undo
- Yes
Frozen Tweaks
Free for Windows 10 and 11
58 tweaks free, each with an undo switch. Never edits game files.
v2.0.0 · 6.4 MB · Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · free account, no payment details
Or type frozentweaks.com on your PC.
The free Windows app for competitive games.
58 tweaks free, each with an undo switch. Never edits game files.
v2.0.0 · 6.4 MB · Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · free account, no payment details
Frozen Tweaks runs on Windows. Send the link to your PC and download it there.
Or type frozentweaks.com on your PC.