Vikram's Web Archive

20 registry hacks to make your PC more awesome | News | TechRadar UK

Save CPU time
The average PC has several programs wanting to use the processor at any one time, and so Windows allocates each a period of CPU time – a ‘quantum’ – before moving to the next. By default this is very short, which makes for a responsive PC, but it sometimes means that Windows wastes time just switching between processes.
The solution? You can try what Windows Server does: set up your system to use a long quantum. Set ‘HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPriorityControlWin32PrioritySeparation’ to 16 #hex#.
Longer quantums mean fewer switches between programs and so less wasted time. It can push some programs too far, though, and you might begin to notice games lagging or video playback becoming less smooth. If you spot any problems, just restore the original Win32PrioritySeparation value #probably 26 hex#.

[From: 20 registry hacks to make your PC more awesome | News | TechRadar UK]