DisplayMagician vs Gaming Optimizer
DisplayMagician
github.comGaming Optimizer
github.comSide by side
| Figure | DisplayMagician | Gaming Optimizer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Graphics Optimization Software | 7.9 (#7) | 8.3 (#2) |
| Spec score · Graphics optimisers | 7.8 (#12) | 8.5 (#2) |
| Intended users | The maker describes the tool as useful for managing game-specific display, audio, and helper-program setups, and gives sim racers as an example. | The maker describes it as a Windows-only tool for gamers, with particular potential benefit on Intel hybrid CPUs and systems where background activity causes frame-time spikes. |
| Purpose | DisplayMagician configures displays and sound for a game or application from a Windows shortcut, and can restore previous settings after the application closes. | Gaming Optimizer automatically manages CPU affinity for Windows games, pinning games to faster cores and demoting background processes. |
| Security support | The security policy says the latest version and one earlier version are supported, and that the project does not operate a bug bounty program. | The security policy says vulnerability reports receive a response within 72 hours and should be submitted privately or by email. |
Plans
In their own words
DisplayMagician
DisplayMagician applies display and sound setups when a Windows shortcut opens a game or application, and can restore earlier settings after it closes. Users can save display profiles, including wallpapers, and assign audio profiles or devices to shortcuts. Shortcuts can also start or stop helper programs around an application’s launch. Listed launchers include Steam, Ubisoft Uplay, Origin, Epic Games, and GOG.com; shortcuts can be launched from the desktop, notification tray, context menu, hotkey, joystick, or game controller. Display support includes NVIDIA Surround, AMD Eyefinity, Intel Combined Displays, cloned and extended displays, HDR, rotated screens, and refresh rates. USB and wireless display devices are supported, as are SuperDisplay and Spacedesk, including Android tablets used as displays. A field-of-view calculator is included for matching games to a sim-rig layout. DisplayMagician is free and supports per-game profiles and game library scanning. It requires 64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or 64-bit Windows 11, plus .NET 10.0, included in the installer bundle.
Gaming Optimizer
Gaming Optimizer is a free, MIT-licensed Windows app for managing CPU affinity in games and background processes. It can assign games to fast cores and demote background processes, but CPU pinning is off by default and changes do not occur until it is enabled. The app says it restores altered processes and system settings when a game closes. Its dashboard shows CPU and GPU metrics, network activity, ping and jitter, bottleneck classifications and process zones. It detects game launches through WMI and scans Steam, Epic Games, GOG, Ubisoft Connect and EA App libraries. Per-game reports include average and peak CPU and GPU metrics and bottleneck breakdowns, with a cumulative sessions.csv file. An optional setting locks NVIDIA graphics clocks while a game runs and resets them afterward. The maker says there is no telemetry, analytics or update checking; the only outbound connection is a configurable latency ping. It requires Windows 10 version 1809 or Windows 11, an x64 processor and administrator rights. The README describes ZIP distribution without an installer, while the Releases page lists no releases.