What all can i do to optimize or calibrate my hp energy star notebook for online gaming

[PCARPENTER0318]

I have a hp energy star notebook with amd redeon x64 based. My pc runs very slow or freezes and or lags very bad during game play. Ive already killed some background processes but i am a little unsure what all processes i can kill or disable so that would be helpful.

Also, is there any system environment variables i can change that would help and what should i change or edit the PATH to? For some reason in the envirnmrnt variables in system variables it listed NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS ( 3 ) but, its supposed to be a (  4 ) core, so should i change it to 4? 

Also, is there any tweaking i can do to the hardware to improve the performance? And how do i do that exactly? I realize its an older pc but everything else seems to run fine. Even the edge browser is pretty quick. I just have issues with the 1 game that i love to pay in my free time. 

Ive also run the pc through hp's optimizer but that didnt change anything. Ive turned the Redeon graphics way down but no change. I turned off as many background apps from running and start up items. I went as far as turning off location thinking i could gain more resources for the game but im just not having any luck. Please save my pc from extinction.

[PCARPENTER0318]

Also in the environment variables. In PATHEXT, included .COM;,EXE;,BAT;,CMD;,VBS;,VBE;,JS;,JSE;,WSF;,WSH;,MSC

The PATH= C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Windows PowerShell\v1.0\;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\

DriverData= C:\Windows\System32\DriverData 

OS=   Windows_NT

PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE= AMD64

Does this look correct? 

And what if anything can i change that might help?

[Garp_senchau · Accepted solution]

@PCARPENTER0318, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

Here’s a full optimization checklist tailored specifically to your setup, covering software tweaks, system variables, and even a few hardware options that may help:

Check Your Hardware Basics

CPU Core Detection Issue (NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS):

Do not manually change NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS in Environment Variables. That variable is for reporting, not system control. If it shows 3 instead of 4:

Press Win + R, type msconfig, go to Boot > Advanced Options.

Check if Number of Processors is ticked—if so, uncheck it and reboot.

This forces Windows to auto-detect all cores again.

RAM and Disk Usage:

Check Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) > Performance tab.

If RAM is below 8GB or CPU usage maxes out during gameplay, consider:

Upgrading RAM if your notebook supports it.

Upgrading to an SSD if you’re still using a mechanical HDD (this makes a huge difference).

Graphics Optimization (AMD Radeon)

Open AMD Radeon Software:

Under Gaming > Global Settings, set:

Radeon Anti-Lag: Enabled

Radeon Chill: Disabled

Wait for Vertical Refresh: Always Off

Texture Filtering Quality: Performance

Tessellation Mode: Override Application Settings and set to 2x or Off

Ensure you are using the latest graphics driver 

Power Settings

Set Power Plan to High Performance:

Control Panel > Power Options > Create or switch to High performance.

Advanced Settings:

Under Processor Power Management, set:

Minimum processor state: 100%

Maximum processor state: 100%

Game-Specific Optimization

Lower resolution and disable shadows, antialiasing, and post-processing in-game.

Run in fullscreen (not borderless/windowed).

Check for game-specific config files (e.g., .ini or .cfg) to force lower settings beyond in-game UI.

Use "High Performance" GPU in Windows:

Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings

Browse to your game .exe, set it to High performance.

Lightweight Game Mode (Manual Way)

Before launching the game:

Disconnect internet if not needed.

Kill background tasks manually from Task Manager (be cautious with system processes).

Right-click on your game > Properties > Compatibility:

Tick Disable fullscreen optimizations

Tick Run this program as administrator

BIOS and Firmware Updates

Visit HP Support and check for:

Latest BIOS

Chipset and graphics driver updates

Be sure to select your exact notebook model

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

If my response helped, please mark it as an Accepted Solution! ✅ It helps others and spreads support. 💙 Also, tapping "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" makes a big difference! Thanks! 😊

Regards,

[PCARPENTER0318]

I adjusted everything you mentioned but no dice. Its still the same old laggy frezzing laptop. Maybe its just to old im guessing