Guides/Windows
Timer resolution explained: does 0.5 ms help in games?
Windows wakes up waiting programs on a timer. By default that timer ticks every 15.6 ms; programs can ask for a finer one, down to about 0.5 ms. Tweak guides and tools like ISLC set it to 0.5 ms for gaming. Whether that helps depends on your games and your Windows version.
What the timer resolution is#
When a program waits, for example a frame limiter that pauses until the next frame is due, Windows wakes it up on the next timer tick. With the default resolution of 15.625 ms, a program that wants to sleep 2 ms may sleep up to 15 ms instead. Programs can ask Windows for a finer resolution (timeBeginPeriod, or NtSetTimerResolution for values below 1 ms), and the shortest possible is about 0.5 ms on most PCs.
Many games and launchers already ask for 1 ms themselves. The question tweak guides answer is whether 0.5 ms, held for the whole system, does better.
What changed in Windows 10 and 11#
- Until Windows 10 version 2004, the finest resolution any program asked for applied to the whole system. One tool holding 0.5 ms affected every game.
- Since Windows 10 version 2004, each program gets only the resolution it asks for itself. A tool holding 0.5 ms no longer changes how your game sleeps.
- Windows 11 can bring back the old global behaviour with the registry value
GlobalTimerResolutionRequests= 1 underHKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel(needs a restart). Windows 11 also ignores the request of a program whose window is minimized or hidden, unless the program opts out of that power saving.
Does it help?#
It depends on how the game waits. Games and frame limiters that sleep between frames can hit their target more evenly with a finer timer; games that never sleep don't change. Some players measure steadier frame times, others measure nothing, a few measure worse 0.1% lows. A finer timer also means the processor wakes up more often, so the PC uses a little more power at idle, which matters on laptops.
The honest answer: test it on your PC, in your game, with the same scene before and after. How to compare runs fairly.
Dynamic tick#
Timer guides usually pair the resolution with bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes. Dynamic tick lets Windows skip timer ticks while idle to save power; disabling it keeps the timer ticking steadily. It needs a restart and costs some battery on laptops. bcdedit /deletevalue disabledynamictick undoes it. Other bcdedit timer elements from old guides (useplatformclock, useplatformtick, tscsyncpolicy) are best left at the Windows default: why useplatformclock costs FPS.
Questions#
Is 0.5 ms timer resolution better than 1 ms?
Does ISLC timer resolution work on Windows 11?
Does a finer timer resolution use more power?
Frametide has both as one switch under Tweaks: Timer tweaks turns off dynamic tick and holds a 0.508 ms timer resolution while the app runs, including the Windows 11 registry value. Switch it off and everything is back to the Windows default. Frametide measures FPS, 1% and 0.1% lows and stutters per minute in your own game with PresentMon, before and after a change, so you don't have to guess (Premium).