Overlays inject into your game process and render additional UI layers on top of the game frame. Each one adds overhead. Here's a breakdown of what each costs and whether it's worth keeping.
Steam overlay
Injects into the game process. Renders the overlay UI when Shift+Tab is pressed. Even when not visible, the injection hooks are active.
Cost: small CPU overhead from hook maintenance, occasional frame drops when the overlay transitions in/out.
Worth keeping if: you use Steam chat, screenshots, or achievement notifications frequently.
Disable: Steam → Settings → In-Game → uncheck "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game"
Discord overlay
Renders who's speaking in voice chat as an overlay. More active than Steam overlay because it updates in real-time as people speak.
Cost: GPU overhead from rendering the overlay layer per frame, CPU overhead from the voice activity detection.
Disable: Discord → Settings → Overlay → disable "Enable in-game overlay"
Xbox Game Bar
Runs as a system-level overlay. Can show FPS, CPU/GPU stats, and the recording controls.
Cost: GPU encoder stays warm for potential recording. DWM has to composite the overlay layer.
Disable:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\GameBar
UseNexusForGameBarEnabled = 0
GeForce Experience overlay
Covered in a previous article. Disable ShadowPlay + overlay in GFE settings.
Keep one, disable the rest
If you need an overlay for voice chat notifications, keep Discord overlay only. Disable Steam, Xbox, and GFE overlays.
IzanagiOP disables all overlays via registry in Safe Optimizations. https://terweb.lt/
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