Use an optimized power plan for gaming on Windows 11.
Use an optimized power plan for gaming on Windows 11.
I've noticed both High Performance and Balanced options being suggested. In practice, the High Performance plan seems more logical since it lets the CPU operate at its full power. However, with Intel's space heater CPUs they might generate too much heat, causing them to throttle quickly. This could be manageable if you have a solid cooler, though it's worth considering. It might be a good idea to reflect on this around 3 a.m. when you're struggling to sleep due to allergies and a cold.
Balanced is the suggested configuration, unless you prefer consistently high clock speeds. In most cases, you achieve improved performance with balanced settings, since the CPU maintains the set turbo levels regardless of workload or core count.
Balance claims aren't always accurate. That's why Microsoft hid that feature. Today laptops mainly offer Balance, unlike in older systems when CPU speed changes weren't as fast. In reality, this limitation actually slowed things down.