Multimedia Network Throttling (NetworkThrottlingIndex)
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Recommendation
Leave as defaultLeave the default value 10.
Fully disabling the mechanism does not reduce ping in games and may worsen the balance of streaming audio and video.
- Scope
- Multimedia audio/video streams
- FPS and memory
- FPS is not affected
What changes
Section titled “What changes”NetworkThrottlingIndex relates to the Windows multimedia network stack: the parameter sets how many network packets per millisecond are allocated to audio and video threads, protecting latency-sensitive multimedia streams from network congestion. The default value is 10.
The popular “full disable” (setting the maximum value) only removes this limit and does not affect game ping: the scope is multimedia streams, not the game connection.
Exceptions and differences
Section titled “Exceptions and differences”Why the tick is under “Legacy”: there is no confirmed benefit for games. According to the visible BoosterX description, starting with Windows 10 the mechanism is almost unused by the TCP stack, so the change is perceived as a placebo; the app recommends the default state. For network gaming, measure packet loss, jitter, route and bufferbloat separately. Full disable may worsen the balance of streaming audio and video.
How to verify the result
Section titled “How to verify the result”If you experiment: take several identical ping and jitter measurements before and after the change. The only documented benefit scenario is a reduction in streaming video stutter on slow networks (according to the visible BoosterX description).
How to change and revert
Section titled “How to change and revert”In BoosterX, open “Optimization” → “Legacy” → “NetworkThrottlingIndex” (the item in the app’s list is named by the key without translation), set the value and click “Apply”. If “Instant apply” is enabled, a separate click is not required. To revert, select the default value 10.
Confirmation
Section titled “Confirmation”- Microsoft: Multimedia Class Scheduler Service — the multimedia profile to which the parameter relates.
- TCP and delayed ACK research — why a single Registry parameter does not describe the entire network latency.
Last checked: 2026-09-20.