Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: should you turn it on?

The “Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling” switch is in Windows 10 and 11, but few people know what it does. In short: what it is, who it helps and how to check.

What it is

Normally the CPU arranges the graphics card's work queue. With hardware scheduling the graphics card schedules its own work. The feature arrived in Windows 10 version 2004 and needs a graphics card and driver with WDDM 2.7 or newer. Turn it on in Settings → System → Display → Graphics, or with one click in NyxBoost; either way a restart is needed.

What it gives

• It may slightly lower latency and CPU load — more noticeably where the CPU is already busy.
• It is required for DLSS Frame Generation: without it frame generation won't turn on.
• If the card or driver doesn't support it, the switch changes nothing.

Possible problems

Older drivers may show artifacts or crash in some games. The fix is simple: update the graphics driver or turn the setting back. Before the change NyxBoost saves the previous HwSchMode value and reverts it with one click.

Bottom line

With a modern graphics card and an up-to-date driver it is worth turning on — especially for Frame Generation. If problems appear, revert it. To know whether you gain anything on your PC, measure the same scene before and after — with NyxBoost's FPS Lab that takes a couple of minutes.