Is Timer Resolution Worth It?

[Muhlis]

Is it useful and does it improve the gaming performance? Also, does it risk my account to get a VAC ban?

 

Thanks.

[NinJake]

What in the world is timer resolution?

[SignatureSigner]

Sounds like cheating.

just play the game like a normal person

do you have problems running games?

[SignatureSigner]

9 minutes ago, NinJake said:

What in the world is timer resolution?

look it up it smells like fish

[Muhlis]

Guys please check out here: 

And this was what I used: https://github.com/windowtoolbox/powershell-windows-toolbox

 

[NinJake]

Here's someone's response to changing the timer resolution settings in a Tom's Hardware post:

 

Quote

ok, it literally doesn't do anything for me. So i'm not gonna use it. My current resolutionis by default at it's maximum, so there's no point of using it. It might however work for others. I have no idea

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

[NinJake]

Also, if you look at that thumbnail...

 

The up time is 4 hours and 31 minutes compared to 1 minute and 31 seconds... of course there's less utilization and processes open.

[Muhlis]

3 hours ago, NinJake said:

Here's someone's response to changing the timer resolution settings in a Tom's Hardware post:

 

Sounds like a waste of time to me.

Then why I'm getting better FPS right now?.. Previously I was getting 100 FPS in CS:GO same map and now I'm getting 120 FPS on average. 

[Sprawlie]

Be, Very, VERY cautious of any random people online, or youtube promising massive performance gains by “this simple trick!’ style claims.

 

I’ll take a look at this specific claim when i’m home from the office and can see what it does. But my bet is this is just another one of those pieces of information that some random on youtube thinks he discovered. Doesn’t understand what is happening enough to know what they’re pointing out, but think they can promise some magical performance gains.

 

take what you find like this with extreme caution. This is how misinformation does spread

 

 

edit:

 

Read through the github and a BIT of the code and I’ve seen enough:

 

1. This is nothing new nor special. This is just some person who wrote an easy GUI for your standard windows debloat procedures. Most of these fixes can be done with a little bit of powershell on your own.

 

Yes. Some of this debloat will help. By removing some of windows pre-canned installed appx executibles, you remove programs that actively use RAM and CPU cycles. So yes, you would get a performance gain in CPU / RAM limited gaming. However, the gains will not be universally applied accross games. It’ll be dependant on their utilization of resources (if your RAM is in use elsewhere but not needed by the game, you wont get benefits by removing other tsr’s and daemons from ram)

 

I think having a useful GUI designed here for some of that is inice. I tend to do most of the things on that with powershell as soon as I finish an install of windows.

 

There are a few things in there that I caution against using. Like the windows and office activation. That gets into massive licensing debate and piracy debate I’m not prepared to have.

 

 

[Muhlis]

3 hours ago, Sprawlie said:

Read through the github and a BIT of the code and I’ve seen enough:

 

1. This is nothing new nor special. This is just some person who wrote an easy GUI for your standard windows debloat procedures. Most of these fixes can be done with a little bit of powershell on your own.

 

Yes. Some of this debloat will help. By removing some of windows pre-canned installed appx executibles, you remove programs that actively use RAM and CPU cycles. So yes, you would get a performance gain in CPU / RAM limited gaming. However, the gains will not be universally applied accross games. It’ll be dependant on their utilization of resources (if your RAM is in use elsewhere but not needed by the game, you wont get benefits by removing other tsr’s and daemons from ram)

 

I think having a useful GUI designed here for some of that is inice. I tend to do most of the things on that with powershell as soon as I finish an install of windows.

 

There are a few things in there that I caution against using. Like the windows and office activation. That gets into massive licensing debate and piracy debate I’m not prepared to have.

It was a bit of pain using Debloater before, even it simplifed a lot of thing. I agree with all of your thoughts, including why they give free activation even it's not legal. Overall the tool seems legit.

 

How about the Timer Resolution? As I understand, the processor refreshes every 1500 ms? The tool reduces this to 500 ms, which claims it will reduce the input lag and may improve the gaming performance / increase the FPS. In my case, I realized the FPS average is higher and the input lag is reduced. But does this risk my account to get a VAC ban? I asked recently on Steam Discussions and no reply yet.

 

The tool do the changes only when first setting it, and forget it forever, it don't work at background or something like that, considering VAC may look on background 3rd party processes.

[Sprawlie]

That part I will have to actually test before I can provide feedback. Don’t like speaking without knowledge 

[Muhlis]

Also I found this on Reddit:

[Helpful Tech Witch]

3 minutes ago, Muhlis said:

It was a bit of pain using Debloater before, even it simplifed a lot of thing. I agree with all of your thoughts, including why they give free activation even it's not legal. Overall the tool seems legit.

 

How about the Timer Resolution? As I understand, the processor refreshes every 1500 ms? The tool reduces this to 500 ms, which claims it will reduce the input lag and may improve the gaming performance / increase the FPS. In my case, I realized the FPS average is higher and the input lag is reduced. But does this risk my account to get a VAC ban? I asked recently on Steam Discussions and no reply yet.

 

The tool do the changes only when first setting it, and forget it forever, it don't work at background or something like that, considering VAC may look on background 3rd party processes.

Your processor refreshes in the billions of times a second, not once every second and a half.

[Sprawlie]

Just looked through the timer resolution code. caveat, I am NOT a powershell expert. 

 

It doesn’t do what you think it does. It’s just changing the viewport and resolution that the render is done at. seems like it’s really just dropping your resolution ever so slightly for rendering.

 

Honnestly. Avoid doing shit like this. it usually has other consequences. especially if you’re not the one who wrote the code. 

 

Also Keep in mind that this particular set of code isn’t even being hosted on gitlab. The publisher is using gitlab as a front end, but sending you to another unmanaged and unvalidated website to pull down and run their code. Without going ythrough this things from top to bottom by a PS experct, I cannot, and will not advise running this. All the publisher needs to do is insert malicious code into his website and you’re fucked.

 

As I also said, MOST of the fixes in this tool can be done yourself without the tool. 

[Muhlis]

26 minutes ago, Sprawlie said:

Just looked through the timer resolution code. caveat, I am NOT a powershell expert. 

 

It doesn’t do what you think it does. It’s just changing the viewport and resolution that the render is done at. seems like it’s really just dropping your resolution ever so slightly for rendering.

 

Honnestly. Avoid doing shit like this. it usually has other consequences. especially if you’re not the one who wrote the code. 

 

Also Keep in mind that this particular set of code isn’t even being hosted on gitlab. The publisher is using gitlab as a front end, but sending you to another unmanaged and unvalidated website to pull down and run their code. Without going ythrough this things from top to bottom by a PS experct, I cannot, and will not advise running this. All the publisher needs to do is insert malicious code into his website and you’re fucked.

 

As I also said, MOST of the fixes in this tool can be done yourself without the tool. 

Ok then. I created a system restore point before doing all of this, and now I restored to it using Windows' own system restore tool. Onedrive is now present again, seems like it worked.

 

The code is definitely from an unknown website.

Like what the hell is "Copyright Protested"?, and what is toolbox.workers.dev?

 

Now, what would you suggest for optimizing Windows? Debloater maybe?

 

Thanks a lot for raising awareness, maybe you just saved my data right now. I am grateful to you

 

Edit: Just got recommended on Youtube the exactly same video as previous (all voice etc is same), but from another creator. This one has 50k views, another one got like 150k, that's why I thought it was legit.

[tim0901]

17 minutes ago, Muhlis said:

Like what the hell is "Copyright Protested"?,

Either someone has made a mistake with their English - a common sign of scams - or someone has lodged a copyright complaint against the site. Either way I wouldn't trust it.

19 minutes ago, Muhlis said:

and what is toolbox.workers.dev?

This site is straight up dodgy. The URL makes it appear like its connected to Microsoft, but the SSL certificate is provided by CloudFlare, not Microsoft (they sign their own SSL certs on their own websites). Any site pretending to be affiliated with a company that they are not should not be trusted.

21 minutes ago, Muhlis said:

Now, what would you suggest for optimizing Windows? Debloater maybe?

Just leave it alone. In my experience that's the best thing you can do for your operating system. The more things you tweak, the higher the chance of something going wrong.

[Sprawlie]

Really, the one thing I'd recommend you do is remove the "auto-installation" crap that Microsoft embeds into windows

 

You know, the default games and bloatware. that seems to re-appear after updates, despite you clicking "uninstall"?

 

there's a way to permanently remove that stuff:

 

Open up Powershell ISE with Admin Privileges.

 

First, Set your computer  to be able to even run powershell:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

This will let you run powershell stuff for now without prompt. we will turn this off when we're done. this is only for convenience. We for safety sake do not want to leave this permanently on (it will allow all unsigned Script to run uncontested.)

 

Now we're going to just throw together a bunch of lines to identify, and remove the application and then the auto-reinstaller that microsoft hides. Here's a copy of the Powershell script that I run on every new windows install. Look through it and edit where appropriate. For example, I remove "GetHelp". but if you wish to keep it, just remove the two lines for it

# Powershell script to remove default Microsoft Applications from Windows 10
# Will also prevent the reinstallation of these programs when  a new user logs in.

#Remove currently installed versions
# Remove Application Provisioning Package for future installations
# Includes all generic Apps. not all apps are installed by default. This will prevent them from being installed on new user login

# Remove Netflix
Get-AppXPackage *Netflix* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Netflix*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove McAfee
Get-AppXPackage *McAfeeSecurity* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*McAfeeSecurity*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove any Partnership promotions
Get-AppXPackage *PartnerPromo* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*PartnerPromo*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove BING Weather
Get-AppXPackage *BingWeather* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*BingWeather*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Online Help portal (microsoft)

Get-AppXPackage *GetHelp* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*GetHelp*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Basic messaging services (microsoft)
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.Messaging* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.Messaging*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove "Getting started" tutorial
Get-AppXPackage *Getstarted* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Getstarted*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove 3D Viewer
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Generic Office Hub and associated pre-installed office shortcuts.
Get-AppXPackage *MicrosoftOfficeHub* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*MicrosoftOfficeHub*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Microsoft Solitaire Collection
Get-AppXPackage *MicrosoftSolitaireCollection* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*MicrosoftSolitaireCollection*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Microsoft Paint/Print3d
Get-AppXPackage *paint3d* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*paint3d*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft3DViewer* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft3DViewer*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Removes Microsoft "People"
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.People* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.People*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Microsoft default MAIL app
Get-AppXPackage *microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Windows Phone App

Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.WindowsPhone* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.WindowsPhone*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.YourPhone* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.YourPhone*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Windows Camera App
Get-AppXPackage *Camera* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Camera*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Sticky notes
Get-AppXPackage *MicrosoftStickyNotes* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*MicrosoftStickyNotes*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Mixed Reality POrtal
Get-AppXPackage *MixedReality.Portal* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*MixedReality.Portal*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove generic install of OneNote
Get-AppXPackage *Office.OneNote* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Office.OneNote*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Skype
Get-AppXPackage *SkypeApp* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*SkypeApp*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove Windows Feedback hub
Get-AppXPackage *WindowsFeedbackHub* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*WindowsFeedbackHub*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Windows Maps
Get-AppXPackage *WindowsMaps* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*WindowsMaps*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remvoe XBOX components
Get-AppXPackage *Xbox.TCUI* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Xbox.TCUI*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *XboxApp* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*XboxApp*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *XboxGameOverlay* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*XboxGameOverlay*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *XboxGameBar* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*xboxgamebar*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *XboxSpeechToTextOverlay* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*XboxSpeechToTextOverlay*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *xboxgaming* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*xboxgaming*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.GamingServices* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.GamingServices*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online


# REmove CORTANA
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.549981C3F5F10* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*Microsoft.549981C3F5F10*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
 

#Remove Zune music and Video player
Get-AppXPackage *ZuneMusic* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*ZuneMusic*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *ZuneVideo* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*ZuneVideo*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove "your phone" app
Get-AppXPackage *yourphone* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*yourphone*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

# Remove "Spotify" App

Get-AppXPackage *spotify* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*spotify*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Windows Calendar and Alarms
Get-AppXPackage *windowsalarms* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*windowsalarms*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Windows Sound Recorder
Get-AppXPackage *WindowsSoundRecorder* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*WindowsSoundRecorder*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Windows Store
Get-AppXPackage *store* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*store*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

# Remove Windows News
Get-AppXPackage *News* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*News*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 

 

# Dell Specific for Dell Laptops
Get-AppXPackage *DellCinemaGuide* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*DellCinemaGuide*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *DellCustomerConnect* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*DellCustomerConnect*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *DellDigitalDelivery* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*DellDigitalDelivery*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *MyDell* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*MyDell*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *PartnerPromo* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*PartnerPromo*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online
Get-AppXPackage *DellMobileConnect* | Remove-AppXPackage
Get-AppxprovisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object {$_.PackageName -like "*DellMobileConnect*"} | Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage -Online

 
# Remove Default OneDrive
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall

PLEASE review my code before running. This will seriously debloat. This also removes things like XBOX services for gaming, calculator. etc. Remove the lines for things you do need.

 

Then once that is complete. 

 

Set-ExecutionLevel -ExecutionLevel Restricted

we lock down powershell scripts again.

 

This is about as "debloated" you can get. There are a few other tweaks, like a Registry fix to disable news on the taskbar. but at this point you've removed just about everything.

[Muhlis]

6 hours ago, Sprawlie said:

This is about as "debloated" you can get. There are a few other tweaks, like a Registry fix to disable news on the taskbar. but at this point you've removed just about everything.

Thanks for all, I'll try this later today after the school. I'll remove the lines I think I need or use (like MS Store, Phone etc). I wish you a good day my friend, you really helped me a lot. Thanks again 

[Muhlis]

11 hours ago, Sprawlie said:

Set-ExecutionLevel -ExecutionLevel Restricted

Done that. Programs and services that I chose has been uninstalled, checked for it. Onedrive is for some reason didn't uninstall, even I tried the single command "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall". The last command was incorrect, I changed the "ExecutionLevel" to "ExecutionPolicy". And weirdly enough, the process count is still 170 like before, with the previous tool the process count reduced to like 120s.

[D3F3AT3D]

Time Resolution is FaceIT approved: https://support.faceit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015788779-What-is-deemed-to-be-a-cheat-
So it should be fine to use and is not considered cheating since all you do is evening out the Timer which can be different on different Windows systems.

Timer Resolution has been around for years aswell i heard about it the first time in 2016 in  the H1Z1 Community since it helped evening out the FPS on the Humongous Map it featured, its not considered malicious or cheating. But nontheless Timer Resolution has been around for even longer than that it costs money now to buy, but there has been not always a cost to it, after it's popularity has risen when it was a thing in H1Z1 the developer decided to put a price tag on it to make some money out of the idea he had. Back then it was about 10$? now it's 20$ since there are still Players trying to get the most out of their system.

This should answer all the concerns, also since it doesnt attach to the CS:GO process but only changes the WIndows Timer to a fixed value it should be VAC Safe aswell. But anyway everyone should do this at their own risk, i am not responsible for any banned accounts in case Valve changes What VAC checks.