I often play League of Legends while encoding videos and chatting with friends on Discord. However, this sometimes causes buffering and game lag issues. When lag occurs, my CPU usage spikes to 100%. I looked for ways to reduce CPU usage without upgrading my hardware and discovered that the problem was due to Windows system settings. Windows places limits on CPU usage, which is why these performance issues occur during multitasking. To enjoy smooth gameplay and multitasking, I researched how to unlock these CPU limitations. Windows places limits on CPU usage Why Doesn't Windows Use All CPU Cores? By default, Windows doesn’t enable all CPU cores during boot. There are two main reasons for this: Compatibility Issues: Some older software and hardware may not function properly when all CPU cores are active. To prevent these issues, Windows limits the number of active cores by default. Power Consumption and Heat Management: Keeping all cores active increases power consu