How to get better performance with Watch Dogs in Windows 10, compared to Windows 7

hardwaretechnical-issueswatch-dogswindows 10windows 7

I am attempting to play Watch Dogs on Windows 10. The game ran fine at low settings on a Windows 7 PC (at least 30-35 fps) but Windows 10 does not give me even 20 fps.

I have dual booted Windows 7 and Windows 10 for comparisons. The specs are as follows:

  • CPU: Intel I3 5005u @ 2GHZ
  • RAM: 4 GB DDR3 ram 1600mhz
  • GPU: Intel HD 5500 Graphics
  • OS:
    • Windows 7 (latest updates installed), vs
    • Windows 10 1909

I have all the latest drivers for both OSs.

One other thing I noticed is that after exiting the game in Windows 10, CPU usage was always around 30-50%, RAM usage was around 3.1 GB of 3.9 GB and in Windows 7 CPU usage was not going above 20% and even ram usage was only 1.5 GB – 2GB.

I even edited the xml file to put graphics setting at lowest in Windows 10 but no good happened.

How can I increase the performance so that the game runs well on Windows 10?

Best Answer

Try disabling Windows 10's Game Mode

Despite Microsoft's claims to the contrary, it seems that some people have been getting poorer gaming results with 'Game Mode' enabled. What's more, it's enabled by default - so if you've done a fresh install of Windows 10, it's probably still turned on. To disable it:

  • Click Start -> 'Settings' Cog
  • Click 'Gaming'
  • Along the left-hand menu, find 'Game Mode'
  • Click the toggle to turn it off.
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