Disable:

• Depth of Field
  
• Bloom
  
• Animate Fog
  
• Animate Fog Border

All of the above options are redundant, even if one has constant 144 FPS. They detract from AoE's iconic aesthetics, and the Fog options significantly reduce the FPS. So, disable them. That's it, that's the guide. Your game should now run more smoothly and look extra crisp.



The significant difference isn't properly visible in this gif, but I'll try to make a better one soon. Basically, when these redundant settings are enabled, objects appear more blurred and washed out toward the edge of the screen. I prefer sharp and clean everywhere.

If disabling the options above doesn't quite deliver the punch, try tweaking the other settings as well.

If you have a dedicated GPU and an onboard GPU (CPU with integrated graphics) then verify if you're actually running the game on the dedicated GPU, not the onboard one. However, with older games the opposite might be true.