GameBoostHD
Dynamically adjust process priority of background applications to maximize game performance
About
GameBoostHD is a tiny application that will watch for various game launches. When a game is detected, GameBoostHD will lower the priority of common background apps that often use CPU. This includes things like game launchers (Battle.Net, Steam, etc) and web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE). The system power profile will also be set to "High Performance" while a game is running. This will hopefully improve performance of the game (increased FPS and fewer stutters) as it won't be competing for timeslices with other processes.
The idea behind this came about when I was playing Overwatch and noticed the Battle.net launcher was using up to 12% of my CPU due to the animated GIFs and javascript and whatever else it was running. Using GameBoostHD won't reduce the CPU usage percent - it only alters the scheduling priority. For example, after running GameBoostHD, the Battle.net launcher will never be allowed to "steal" CPU attention from Overwatch, but if there is spare CPU power it is still allowed to use it.
Supported Games
- CS:GO
- CS2
- Diablo 3
- Diablo 4
- Dota 2
- Fortnite
- Half-Life 2
- Hearthstone
- Heroes of the Storm
- League of Legends
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Overwatch
- PUBG
- Quake Champions
- Rocket League
- StarCraft 2
- VALORANT
Usage
GameBoostHD has no installer or user interface. Simply run the .exe file and the program will be running. It will work continuously until a shutdown / reboot. It's written in C / Win32 API so it's extremely lightweight and will use minimal resources running in the background. If you want it to run when you start your PC (recommended), make a shortcut to it in your Start / Programs / Startup folder or set up a scheduled task.
Download
The program will work on 32 and 64 bit Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10. No additional files are needed, just unzip and run.
GameBoostHD-1.41.zip (3 KiB). GameBoostHD 1.41.
Note: Some antivirus software may incorrectly flag the download as malicious, presumably because GameBoostHD opens handles to other programs. Please report the false positive to your anti-virus vendor's customer support if you are affected by this.
Version History
- v1.41 (2023-11-03)
Added CS2 and Diablo 4. - v1.4 (2021-01-11)
Added Valorant support
NOTE: The exe is no longer digitally signed as my code signing certificate has expired. - v1.32 (2018-05-09)
Workaround a Windows feature that shows a busy cursor for up to two seconds after starting the program. - v1.31 (2018-04-15)
Fixed a crash on startup that could occur since v1.3 due to a bug in the command line parsing. - v1.3 (2018-04-13)
Now sets the Windows power plan to "High Performance" when a game is detected, and back to the original state afterwards. Pass the --no-adjust-power-profile command line parameter if you prefer not to adjust the power profile (eg if you're gaming with a laptop on battery). - v1.2 (2018-04-10)
Updated with support for Fortnite.
Added version information to the .exe so it no longer shows an unknown publisher. - v1.1 (2017-08-01)
Updated with new detections for Quake Champions and PUBG as games.
Added Skype web content host, new League of Legends launcher and Bethesda Launcher as low priority targets. - v1.0 (2016-06-29)
First public version. Hard coded list of games (StarCraft 2, Overwatch, Dota 2, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm, CS:GO, TF2, Diablo 3, Hearthstone, Left 4 Dead 2) and target apps (Chrome, Battle.net / Blizzard App, Steam, qBitTorrent, uTorrent, DisplayFusion, Opera, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Visual Studio).
Donate
If you like this program, please support my work with PayPal or Bitcoin (bc1ql74yuuxaymlc8c2pmwhdmc28hzp4kr5zjn77k4) / Bitcoin Cash (qr60uckvnv32d8e0k3zdxqplku40lq7fks5qeec4ah). Thanks!