How I Made Cyberpunk 2077 Run Smoother on My Mid-Range Windows 10 PC


Let’s be honest — Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most demanding PC games out there. Even with a decent graphics card, you may notice stutters, FPS drops, or even crashing if your system isn’t properly set up. After months of testing and tweaking, I’m sharing my personal checklist that made Cyberpunk run surprisingly smooth — even on my mid-range rig.

My PC Specs (For Reference)

Before diving in, here’s what I’m working with:

  • CPU: Intel i5-9400F

  • GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super

  • RAM: 16GB DDR4

  • SSD: 480GB SATA SSD

  • OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

This isn’t a beast of a machine — but with the right settings, I’m able to run Cyberpunk 2077 between 45–60 FPS on medium to high settings.

1. Game Settings That Actually Work

The in-game presets are a starting point, but I found better balance tweaking individual settings:

Turn These Off or Set to Low:

  • Film Grain: OFF

  • Motion Blur: OFF

  • Chromatic Aberration: OFF

  • Depth of Field: OFF

  • Volumetric Fog Resolution: LOW

  • Cascaded Shadows Resolution: LOW

Set These to Medium or High:

  • Texture Quality: HIGH (if you have 6GB+ VRAM)

  • Screen Space Reflections: MEDIUM

  • Crowd Density: MEDIUM

Ray Tracing? OFF — Unless You Have RTX

  • If you're not on an RTX card, keep it OFF. It's a massive performance hit. DLSS helps, but it’s not available to all cards.

2. NVIDIA Control Panel Tweaks

If you’re on an NVIDIA card like me, this helped reduce input lag and made the frames more stable:

  • Open NVIDIA Control Panel

  • Go to Manage 3D settings > Program Settings

  • Select Cyberpunk 2077

Apply these:

  • Power Management Mode: Prefer Maximum Performance

  • Low Latency Mode: On

  • Triple Buffering: Off

  • Vertical Sync: Off

3. Disable Background Services You Don’t Need

This alone freed up almost 15% CPU usage!

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager

  • Under Startup, disable apps like Discord, OneDrive, Spotify, etc.

  • Under Processes, right-click heavy apps and end them (like browser tabs, update assistants, etc.)

I also disabled Xbox Game Bar and Windows DVR under Settings > Gaming.

4. Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling

This is a hidden Windows 10 feature that helps some systems offload graphical tasks to the GPU better.

  • Go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings

  • Toggle "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" to ON

  • Restart your PC

This gave me a slight FPS boost (3–5 FPS) and reduced occasional stutters.

5. Keep Windows & Drivers Updated

Don't skip this part — performance patches and driver updates matter a lot.

  • Run Windows Update

  • Update your graphics drivers directly from:

I also use GeForce Experience to enable “Game Ready Drivers” for big titles like Cyberpunk.

6. Install on an SSD — Not an HDD

The game loads much faster and runs smoother on an SSD. If you're still gaming on a traditional hard drive, this one change will make everything — from city transitions to menu loading — noticeably faster.

7. Adjust Paging File Size (Virtual Memory)

This one's a little nerdy, but it helped smooth out RAM-related slowdowns:

  • Right-click This PC > Properties

  • Click Advanced system settings

  • Under Performance, click Settings > Advanced

  • Under Virtual memory, click Change

  • Uncheck Automatically manage

  • Set Initial size and Maximum size to:

    • Initial: Your RAM size x 1.5 (e.g., 16GB = 24,576 MB)

    • Max: RAM x 3 (e.g., 16GB = 49,152 MB)

Click OK, restart your PC.

8. Bonus: Use Process Lasso or ISLC (If You’re Advanced)

Tools like Intelligent Standby List Cleaner (ISLC) and Process Lasso can help manage CPU core parking and RAM standby lists — but they’re not for beginners. If you’re confident, give them a shot.

Final Thoughts

I was almost ready to give up on Cyberpunk 2077, but with a few smart tweaks, it’s now playable and enjoyable — even during intense firefights or driving through Night City. These steps worked for me, and I hope they help you too.

If you're struggling with lag or FPS drops, start with the basics above — and remember, you don't always need the latest hardware to enjoy AAA games.

💬 Have any personal tweaks or tricks that helped you run Cyberpunk better? Drop them in the comments!

Follow TechWisePH for more PC optimization tips, honest game reviews, and DIY fixes — perfect for budget-conscious gamers and tech tinkerers!

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