Gaming is one of the most resource-intensive tasks a machine can be in charge of. Not only do you have to worry about the GPU’s computing power, but if your system is packing a high resolution display or multiple monitors, it needs its own strong processor and plenty of RAM to keep things running smoothly.
Of course, if your current rig is struggling with even basic titles, chances are that you’re just hoping for a graphics card upgrade when what your computer really needs is an upgrade in other areas as well.
Today, we’re going to discuss some ways you can get more power out of both your system and your games using a combination of simple software tricks and hardware choices.
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Upgrade Your Internet Connection
It’s no secret that a decent internet connection is vital for online gaming, but it turns out that even the most powerful PCs often need a little help when it comes to transferring data over their network interfaces.
This is because there are a number of things that can go wrong during the process of transmitting and receiving packets from your ISP’s servers. Your computer may not be able to handle the strain imposed by other people in your household using bandwidth-heavy apps while you’re trying to get work done or play games, or your ISP could simply be having issues with its hardware or routing tables.
Whatever the reason for your slowdowns, updating your router’s firmware frequently or getting the best modem router combo for gaming can go a long way to improving your online experience by reducing the chance of packet loss and making sure your data is being transmitted as quickly as possible.
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Upgrade Your Gaming Build
The next best way to improve your gaming performance today is to upgrade your build instead of just replacing a faulty or underperforming component.
In most cases, newer hardware really won’t cost you much more than what you’re already paying, and after all, how could it hurt to get a faster processor, better graphics card, or more reliable case fan?
These days, many games are even designed with the idea that users have powerful PCs in mind, so while some games may not perform any better on an extreme machine, others will actually benefit from increased resources.
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Adjust your in-game graphics settings
One of the easiest ways to boost performance is simply by adjusting in-game graphics settings until you achieve a stable FPS. Dropping in-game graphics options will allow your system to render each frame faster. That means that less time is spent drawing frames that end up being thrown away if they don’t make it from the GPU to the monitor before the next frame is due for display. Indeed, this is why lowering detail levels can actually be a great way to increase framerate when things start getting choppy.
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Make sure your drivers are up to date
Drivers are code that interacts with your hardware on a low level, and they can have an equally low-level effect on how well your games run.
Device manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD release new drivers periodically in order to fix bugs or improve performance; these updates often come alongside game updates for popular titles, but if you’re seeing problems across multiple games it could be due to an old driver.
You can manually check for the latest drivers by using the “check for update” tools built into most modern graphics cards. If you do find out that there is a new version available, make sure to uninstall the old version completely before installing the new one. This increases stability as well as security, and you’ll never know for certain if a driver update will actually work until you try.
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Upgrade your PSU and Keep it Clean
If you’ve followed the advice above and still aren’t experiencing any of the speed. Improvements you’d hoped for. Then maybe it’s time to consider upgrading your power supply unit (PSU). And that doesn’t necessarily mean shelling out for a new one; sometimes all that’s necessary is some simple DIY.
Sometimes buying an aftermarket part can provide dramatic boosts in performance. But other times it’s just more cost-efficient to get a different model of PSU from your manufacturer. And or retailer of choice. Either way. make sure your supply is up to the task. Don’t expect the same performance from one 1000W PSU as you would from another one. Even if they’re both rated for the same wattage.
Before buying a new unit, check your requirements. And add up the total wattage of everything that’s currently in your computer. But (preferably with a kill-a-watt), this includes things like fans, drives. And CPU/GPUs. If you know how much power each part draws. When it is active and multiply it all together you will get close to (if not exactly). The amount of power supplied by your current PSU.
Also, make sure to keep your rig clean and dust free to ensure optimal airflow and cooling; overheating components can end up running slower than expected because they’re too hot to work near their peak capacity.
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Close anything running in the background
Your computer doesn’t run one program at a time; it runs many programs all at once, which is what makes multitasking possible. However, this also means that your PC needs to quickly switch between all those tasks. Which decreases it’s just a little bit every time (and puts added stress on your RAM).
If you’re noticing dropped frames when playing games. Then it may be worthwhile to force quit any unused programs in the background. Then (i.e., web browsers, instant messengers, torrent managers etc.). Closing applications can make a big difference in how well your PC performs while gaming.
Final Words:
As we all know, PC performance can be affected by a variety of things. There is never only one solution to an issue that exists; in this case, there are six! However, they are not necessarily in the same order as listed above. The best thing you can do is try them out and see if any improve your game’s performance.
