Speaking of graphics cards, you have two names to consider. AMD and Nvidia. While AMD has caught up with Nvidia and is almost at parity, there are still one or two features that separate the two Big Mac GPU makers.
One of them is Nvidia GeForce Experience, Nvidia’s board game suite. It’s full of handy features and is a handy addition to any Nvidia GPU owner.
What Is Nvidia’s GeForce Experience?
Nvidia’s GeForce Experience is a suite of gaming software developed by Nvidia for its graphics cards. GeForce Experience features several performance and configuration tools for your game, automatic updates of GPU drivers, Nvidia Share (its live-streaming tool), and powerful tools such as Nvidia image scaling to enhance your game.
GeForce Experience is a desktop application that can be used for Windows. As long as you have Nvidia’s GPU installed, it will run on your desktop or laptop.
How to download and install Nvidia GeForce Experience
You download and install GeForce Experience as easily as you would any other software. However, during the installation process, there are several things to be aware of.
Download: Nvidia GeForce Experience for Windows (Free)
Once your download and installation is complete and you launch GeForce Experience, you’ll need to sign in or create an Nvidia account (there are also third-party login options).
When logging in to GeForce Experience, the first option you come across is whether you want to enable automatic game optimization for newly installed titles. It sounds like GeForce Experience automatically optimizes your game settings every time you install a new game, whether you’re playing on Steam, Origin, Epic, or other platforms (although many GOG games and Itch.io games won’t appear in GeForce Experience).
Turn off automatic game optimization, at least before you determine how it works in the games you enjoy playing. Sometimes, it may push the setting too high or reduce the setting in other areas that you know.
How to update your Nvidia GPU drivers with GeForce Experience
At the heart of GeForce Experience is driving updates. If you wish, GeForce Experience can serve as your Nvidia driver update center. There’s nothing stopping you from downloading and installing drivers for your Nvidia GPU directly. Many Nvidia users prefer to do this, eschewing the GeForce Experience altogether.
To update your GPU drivers with GeForce Experience:
1. In the GeForce Experience, go to the Drivers tab.
2. If no drivers are available, press Check for updates. If it doesn’t appear, you’re already up to date. Otherwise, the latest driver for your GPU will appear as available at the top of the window.
3. Press the “Download” key and wait for the process to complete.
4. When you’re done, select Quick and Custom Installation. We recommend choosing the customization option because it gives you the opportunity to skip some of the extra bits that Nvidia includes in the package, namely its HD audio driver. It’s not needed to run or use Nvidia GeForce Experience, so you can safely turn it off.
5. At this point, you can also perform a clean installation, if selected, which will restore all your Nvidia GPU settings to their default values and delete the profiles you have already created. Select this option only if you want to clear your custom GPU settings and start over.
6. When you’re ready, press Install. When installing a GPU driver, your screen may flicker a few times.
Enable automatic download of GPU drivers in GeForce Experience
If you want your GPU drivers to stay updated at all times, you can set up GeForce Experience to download the latest version. It doesn’t install drivers automatically (which is really a good thing, in case it’s faulty or you’re playing or working!). ), but you can also set up a desktop notification to alert you to this situation.
1. Press the gear icon in the upper right corner to open the settings menu.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Under “Downloads”, tick the Automatic download option.
3. In the Desktop Notifications box above, tick the Notifications option when the next GPU driver is available.
How to optimize your game settings with GeForce Experience
The second feature you’ll want to use in GeForce Experience is Nvidia’s game optimization settings. In short, GeForce Experience looks at the games installed on your system and checks your current configuration, then suggests that you should use your specific GPU and other hardware.
First, switch to the detailed view using the small tile icon under the username in the upper right corner. The details view adds an image of the game you’re optimizing for, and also adds some handy overlays to the image that explain what each setting does. Below the example image, you’ll find a list of your current settings and another of the best settings recommended by Nvidia.
If you hover over a different setting recommended by GeForce Experience, the above information box will appear. It won’t show you the difference because that would be difficult, but it does explain the settings.
Once you’re satisfied with the potential setup, opt for optimization. Remember, you won’t be subject to these game settings forever. If you don’t like the optimizations of GeForce Experience, you can change them back in the app or in the game itself.
How to customize Nvidia’s GeForce Experience game optimization settings
Also, you don’t have to use Nvidia’s initial view of your system hardware. There is a small wrench symbol next to the “Optimize” button. Pressing it opens the custom settings menu, which you can use to push GeForce Experience to optimize for better performance or better quality.
Pull the slider all the way to the right and GeForce Experience will optimize your game to the best quality, pushing your system to absolute limits. However, you may find that it makes your game unplayable, so make sure you know what you’re doing!
Nvidia GeForce experience for beginners
These are the two main features of Nvidia’s GeForce Experience, but they are far from the only ones.
For example, Nvidia’s ShadowPlay (also known as Nvidia Share) enables you to record and stream your games, while Nvidia Ansel enables you to capture and filter game screenshots. A range of features at GeForce Experience is why so many people choose to download and install it to optimize their games.
