Frame issue

Question

Hey does anyone know what I can do about losing frames when I enter exclusive fullscreen on certain games. I have tried game setting and system settings and I have no idea why it keeps happening because these games should run fine on my pc. The only time i get good frames is when I am in windowed mode but then the second I change to fullscreen, they drop.

Answer 1

Hello Levi Nixon,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

Before we proceed, may I know if the AI assistant suggestion works for you? Please let me know if there are any issue after following it.

Per your description, I'm currently lean towards different settings between game mode. Can you please check if the monitor refresh rate, the game refresh rate or resolution change when you switch mode?

I'm waiting for your reply.

Answer 2

On some systems, especially with hybrid graphics (integrated + dedicated GPU), switching between windowed and exclusive fullscreen can change how Windows presents frames and can hurt performance.

Try these steps on Windows 11:

1. Turn on “Optimizations for windowed games” This helps DirectX 10/11 games in windowed and borderless modes and can reduce latency.
   1. Select Start → Settings.
   2. Go to System → Display → Graphics.
   3. Under Default settings, turn on Optimizations for windowed games.
   4. Restart the game and test in borderless/windowed mode. If performance is good there, consider using borderless instead of exclusive fullscreen for those titles.
2. Per‑game graphics settings (multi‑GPU systems) If the PC has both integrated and dedicated GPUs, make sure the game is using the high‑performance GPU:
   1. Start → Settings → System → Display → Graphics.
   2. Under Custom options for apps, select the game (or add its .exe), then Options.
   3. Set Graphics preference to High performance.
   4. Restart the game and test fullscreen again.
3. Try borderless fullscreen instead of exclusive fullscreen Some games offer “Borderless window” or “Windowed fullscreen”. Since Windows 11’s windowed optimizations move these modes to the newer flip‑model presentation, they can perform as well as or better than exclusive fullscreen on many systems. Use that mode if exclusive fullscreen consistently loses frames.
4. Check VSync and refresh‑rate behavior On hybrid graphics systems in Windows 10, VSync in windowed mode can cause tearing in some apps; the workaround is to use exclusive fullscreen or disable VSync. On Windows 11, if exclusive fullscreen is slower but windowed is fine, try:
   • Turning VSync off in the game and using the display’s variable refresh rate (if supported), or
   • Matching the in‑game resolution and refresh rate to the desktop’s settings.

If performance is consistently good in windowed/borderless with Optimizations for windowed games enabled, using that mode is a valid workaround until a specific game or driver update improves exclusive fullscreen behavior on the system.

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References:

• Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11
• Hybrid graphics and Vsync results in graphic “tearing” in some games and apps on Windows 10