Running computer games on your PC, you quickly discover that not every game runs that well. Some stall in the middle of a firefight and by the time the hardware catches up, you’re already dead. Other times, a poorly optimized PC will lower the graphical frame rate making the action unfold in a jarring, stilted fashion and the game virtually becomes unplayable.
Here are a few optimizations and upgrades to make to get a PC run games more smoothly.
Play Games After Rebooting
Whether from a cold start or after a reboot when your Windows system has just started up, there are no memory draining effects causing a slowdown in overall performance. Memory drains happen when using an application and then closing the application (or an open browser tab) and the memory does not get released afterward. The longer Windows is running since bootup, the slower the operating system will run applications including games as a result. For this reason, it’s best to play games after booting up.
Reduce Apps That Load When Booting Up
Reducing the list of apps that are set to load when Windows does speeds up the boot sequence, but it also leaves as much of the CPU cycles available for Windows as possible. Turning off non-essential Windows Services that are set to run at all times, some of which that are rarely needed, also helps to reduce the load on the PC to continue operating. Basically, reducing what Windows needs to run as an operating system aids system performance, preventing lags during gameplay.
Add More Memory
RAM memory is the cheapest upgrade you can make to a PC. Whether running a laptop or a desktop PC, upgrading from 4GB to 8GB or 8GB to 16GB often only requires adding a single sliver of silicone to make it happen. Without enough memory, Windows is required to save a larger swap file to the hard drive containing what’s currently in memory. In comparison to RAM, saving to a hard drive is many times slower and creates a drag on performance. Even a solid-state drive doesn’t fair that much better compared to the increased speed of RAM.
Use a Dedicated Graphics Adapter
The cost of a graphics adapter upgrade – see lolhit.com for inspiration – is lower than it’s ever been. Whether considering a Nvidia or another brand, the performance difference for games is huge. Much of the heavy lifting that the main processor was doing is now transferred over the graphics processor unit on the dedicated graphics card, which helps Windows performer better. The better graphics cards compared to an older version or using the graphics capability of an Intel or AMD processor improves frame rates at different resolutions, so gamers can turn up the textures and lighting effects.
It doesn’t take much to get a PC optimized to perform better to play games. Some tweaks are free and just take a bit of technological know-how whereas others are inexpensive upgrades that considerably boost performance within Windows when playing games and at other times too.