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Discord is one of the most popular communication software for gamers around the globe, but running Discord in the background while gaming can affect your performance.
Discord can affect your computer’s overall performance, affecting your gameplay and lowering the FPS significantly. But it can be resolved by following simple solutions, such as upgrading your computer’s CPU and RAM for better performance. Some setting tweaks can also modify your Discord to reduce its usage.
This article will find out if Discord affects gaming performance and FPS. We will also find out the possible reasons with their step-by-step solutions for you to easily fix the performance and FPS issues while running Discord in the background. Let’s dive into this topic without wasting more time.
Does Discord Affect Gaming Performance and FPS?
Yes, Discord can affect your gameplay when too many unnecessary programs run in the background. Some settings can also be the cause of reducing the overall performance of your computer, such as the hardware acceleration of Discord, which increases the usage of your graphic card, reducing its performance.
Unupdated drivers, Discord in-game overlay, notifications, and cache files can also cause such issues, lowering your overall gaming performance. You may also need to check the CPU usage to determine if it’s struggling to multitask, and low memory can also reduce gaming performance while using Discord.
Like all other applications and programs running in the background, Discord also uses the performance of your computer (CPU, GPU, RAM) to perform the required tasks. It also requires an internet connection to communicate with the servers, which can affect your multiplayer games by increasing the pings.
Sometimes, you may have to re-install Discord to fix the issues. Some of the most probable causes of Discord affecting your gaming performance and reducing the FPS are mentioned below, but upgrading your system to match the specific requirements of Discord and the game you want to play is necessary. Here are the reasons why Discord affects game performance and fps:
- Unnecessary Programs
Useless or unnecessary programs running the backgrounds consume your CPU usage and memory, resulting in performance loss. - Slow Internet Speed
Slow internet speed is the main reason for high pings, and high pings due to Discord usage in multiplayer games can affect your gameplay and response time, causing delays and slow gameplay. - Hardware Acceleration
Discord offers hardware acceleration to utilize the performance of your GPU to make the experience smooth, but this can take a heavy toll on your GPU while decreasing the performance. - Discord In-Game Overlay
Discord in-game overlay displays your team members or voice chat that can decrease the FPS significantly. - Discord Notifications
Overall, notifications of your Windows displaying over games can seriously affect your gameplay by reducing the FPS. - Discord Cache Files
Cache files can consume the storage space and your memory to reduce the overall performance of your PC. - High CPU Usage
If your CPU usage is 100% while playing games and using Discord, the CPU cannot provide enough performance for both applications. Old 2-core CPUs with low GHz can cause such issues. - Low RAM
Low RAM will not be able to provide enough memory for both of these applications to run, affecting your game and lowering the FPS. - Low PC Performance
Low performance of your PC build can be the greatest concern because it will not be able to provide the requirements to do multitasking, such as playing games while using Discord.
How To Fix Discord Reducing Gaming Performance and FPS?
You can easily increase your gaming performance and FPS while using Discord by closing the unnecessary programs from the background. High ping issues can be solved by fixing your internet from device settings or contacting your ISP. Turning hardware acceleration off from Discord is also very accommodating.
Updating your Windows drivers regularly is suggested to avoid any driver errors that can potentially decrease your PC performance while doing multiple tasks. Turning off Discord in-game overlay and notifications can also boost your FPS performance significantly. Clearing the Discord cache is also recommended.
Sometimes, due to high CPU usage, the performance of your PC decreases significantly, causing the games and programs to affect each other while reducing the frames. It can be frustrating for competitive gamers; upgrading your CPU, RAM, and storage device is the only solution to increase performance and FPS.
Adjusting your PC/laptop performance can also help. Corrupted Discord can consume more memory and CPU usage, so re-installing the application can eliminate the effects. Keep your Windows and Defender up-to-date because an un-updated OS can cause serious performance degradation. Solutions are provided below:
Close Unnecessary Programs
Closing the unnecessary programs running in the background of Windows can increase the performance significantly by reducing the consumption of CPU, RAM, and storage devices. You can use the Windows built-in “Task Manager” to do such tasks. These programs include Google Chrome, Skype, Creative Cloud, etc.
- To close these excessive programs, open the Windows “Task Manager” from the taskbar or press the “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” shortcut keys.
- It will open the “Performance” tab and now scroll to find the useless programs that are taking more “CPU” and “Memory” usage percentages.
- “Select” those programs and close them by clicking the “End task” button located in the lower left corner of “Task Manager.”
Fix Your Internet
Playing multiplayer games using slow internet while running Discord can greatly affect the gameplay by increasing the pings. Higher pings increase delay, reducing the response time of your game to the game servers and causing lag. It can be solved by configuring the modem device or contacting your ISP.
- You need to open the modem device to configure the settings. You will require your PC’s “Default Gateway” IP Address to do that.
- Open the Windows Command Prompt by searching “CMD” in the search bar from the taskbar.
- Run the Command Prompt, type “ipconfig,” and press “Enter.”
- It will show you the “Windows IP Configuration” details. Now located “Default Gateway” IP Address without alphabets.
- Copy the “Default Gateway” IP Address and open your browser. Type or paste the IP Address onto the search address and press “Enter.”
- It will open the “Login panel” for the settings. The username and password can be found written on the backside of your modem device.
- After logging in to your device, you can change the “Wi-Fi Password” to block unwanted users from “WLAN” privacy settings.
- You can also reset the device to eliminate cache files from the “System Tools” and “Reboot” tabs.
If you still experience lag and performance deficiency due to your internet speed and high pings, you should contact your ISP (Internet service provider) regarding the issue. In some cases, you may also be required to upgrade your internet package to provide more speed for multitasking, such as using Discord.
Turn Off Hardware Acceleration
Discord utilizes the GPU to provide a smoother experience in the name of “Hardware Acceleration” because it uses the GPU, so turning it off can significantly increase the performance and FPS of your computer system. Many users have increased their FPS by turning this feature off to utilize the GPU for gaming.
- Run your Discord and open the “User Settings” by clicking the “Gears Icon” in the lower left corner beside your username.
- Now scroll down to “App Settings” and open the “Advanced” tab.
- Turn off the “Hardware Acceleration” from the second row by disabling the slider.
Update Your Windows Drivers
Updating your Windows drivers can significantly boost your multitasking and gaming performance and reduce the effects of using Discord while playing games. Keeping your Windows drivers up-to-date is necessary to avoid errors and complications while performing the required tasks with maximum performance.
- You can easily update your Windows drivers from “Device Manager.” Open it from the search bar or use the computer’s properties.
- You can also open the Device Manager by pressing “Win + R” to open the “Run” command. Type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press “Enter.”
- From Device Manager, click the “Scan for hardware changes” icon above, as shown in the picture below.
- Now, it will automatically detect the available updates and changes of your entire operating system drivers. You may need to restart your computer.
Turn Off Discord In-Game Overlay
Discord’s in-game overlay renders a new display layer over the game to provide you with information about your voice chat members, but this display rendering reduces the FPS significantly. Turning it off from settings is easy and can boost your gaming performance by increasing frames and reducing delay.
- To turn off Discord in-game overlay, open the “User Settings,” scroll down to “Activity Settings,” and open the “Game Overlay” tab.
- Now turn off the “Game Overlay” using the “Enable in-game overlay” slider, as shown in the picture below.
Turn Off Discord Notifications
Discord chat and other notifications can render new displays over the gameplay, causing flickering and sudden FPS drop. Turning off Discord notifications by changing the profile status to “Do Not Disturb” while gaming is always suggested, but you can also turn these notifications off permanently from “User Settings.”
- From the “User Settings” of your Discord application, scroll down to “App Settings” and open the “Notifications” tab.
- Disable the “Enable Desktop Notifications” from the slider. This will permanently turn off all of Discord’s notifications showing up on your desktop while playing games.
- You can also turn off the notification and chat sounds from the “Sounds” options by scrolling further down.
Clear Discord Cache Files
If your Discord is using too much CPU and RAM percentage that is affecting your gameplay by decreasing the FPS, you can fix it by clearing the cache files of your Discord application from Windows. Clearing cache files of your installed applications can boost their performance by eliminating history files.
- To clear the cache files of your Discord application, open the Windows “File Explorer” and go to the directory location “C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming,” also known as the “Roaming” folder.
- You can also open the Roaming folder by pressing “Win + R” to open the “Run” command utility, type “%appdata%” and press “Enter.”
- From there, open the “Discord” and “Cache” folder. Now delete the “Cache_Data” folder to remove the cache files of Discord.
Check CPU Usage
If your CPU usage exceeds its limit and shows 100% on the Task Manager’s graph, you would probably have to upgrade it to improve your computer system’s performance. Using at least a 4-core CPU with 3.0 GHz is recommended for multitasking in Windows 10. Check the compatibility options for your motherboard.
- From the Windows “Task Manager,” you can evaluate the usage of your computer system. During gaming and using Discord, open the “Task Manager” by pressing the “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” shortcut keys.
- Head to the “Performance” tab above and select “CPU.” If it shows “100%” CPU utilization, your processor fails to provide the necessary performance for both the game and Discord applications.
- Upgrading your CPU to increase performance is the only way to increase the multitasking performance while gaming.
Upgrade Your RAM
Upgrading your RAM by installing physical sticks onto the motherboard is the fastest way to increase overall performance and FPS while multitasking and using Discord in the background. To upgrade your RAMs, you need to determine the possible options by checking the compatibility of your motherboard.
- You will need to check your motherboard’s manufacturer and model to determine the compatibility options for your RAM.
- Open the Windows “System Information” application and locate “System Manufacturer” and “System Model.”
- With your motherboard’s model, with the help of the internet and verified shops, you can easily evaluate your computer system’s compatible DDR and MHz.
Adjust The Performance Options
Adjusting the performance options of your PC or laptop from Windows using “Performance Options” advance settings to switch between programs and background applications can be beneficial if Discord is affecting your gameplay. It lets you switch priorities between programs and background processes (Discord).
- To switch the performance priority, open the “Performance Options” from the taskbar’s search by typing “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.”
- Now switch the tab to “Advanced” and from “Adjust for best performance of:” select “Programs,”
- Apply these settings and restart your computer for them to take effect.
Re-install Discord
Uninstalling the previous corrupted Discord and re-installing the application from the official website is recommended. It will not only fix the corrupted files but will automatically remove the cache and unnecessary files loaded and saved by Windows. PC games can be affected by these types of useless data.
- To uninstall your Discord, open the Windows “Control Panel” and click the “Uninstall a program” option mentioned below the “Programs” icon.
- Locate and select “Discord” and click the “Uninstall” text mentioned above.
- After the uninstallation, download Discord from their official website and log in with your details.
Update Windows
An un-updated Windows tends to get corrupted with viruses and malware much sooner. It is always recommended to keep your Windows and Defender up-to-date to increase your operating system’s performance and life expectancy. Re-installing updated Windows is crucial if the files of the old OS get corrupted.
- To update your Windows, open the “Settings” by pressing “Win + I” shortcut keys. You can also open the settings from the Windows “Start” bar.
- Navigate to “Update & Security” at the bottom and open it. From “Windows Update,” click the “Check for updates” button on the right panel.
- It will automatically check for the available updates for your Windows, including Defender and drivers. Let Windows download and install these updates; some may require a restart to finish the installation.
Conclusion
Discord can affect gaming while running in the background by consuming more RAM and CPU usage, lowering the performance of your computer. It can have a significant effect on your gaming performance, with results in lowered FPS. You can easily increase the performance by doing the solutions mentioned above.
Updating your operating system’s drivers is one way to eliminate performance issues. Discord also offers various setting tweaks to utilize the performance accordingly. Turning the in-game overlay and notifications of the Discord application can help reduce CPU stress and increase memory potential.
Using Discord with slow internet while playing multiplayer games can increase the pings, and higher pings significantly affect the gameplay. High pings produce delays and fluctuations, which can frustrate competitive players. Users can easily resolve this issue by changing their Wi-Fi password from the modem.
Unnecessary programs running in the background can affect the overall performance of your computer, decreasing the frames. Closing these applications while gaming is the fastest way to free up some memory to increase performance and FPS. Windows offers many accessibility options to increase performance.
Hey, I’m Hammad. I have been writing for several years now and have amassed a wealth of experience within my field. My focus is on technology and gaming, two areas that I am highly knowledgeable about.
