Today when you buy a computer, even if you are going to save money, you buy a machine with far more resources than would actually be necessary. However, when you run a 3D video game or a heavier program, one of graphics or video manipulation, you can see the computer suffer and slow down terribly. Generally, fixed PCs are better equipped to play the latest generation of video games while laptops are often incompatible or are too light to play with high graphic details. Laptops are also difficult to update from the hardware point of view, while on fixed PCs it is possible, for example, to change the older video card to put one with greater power.
The tips in this article are about the software changes that you can do on Windows to get the computer up to speed so you can play video games or to use those heavy programs that struggle to work smoothly.
1) Install updates and video drivers
The most important thing to do to make sure you have a full power PC is to install the latest drivers .
The drivers are the programs that manage the PC hardware, that is, the programs that make Windows see the piece connected to the computer (printer, scanner, sound card, etc.) and allow it to use it. Generally speaking, the drivers that come with most of the hardware are always the same and require no updates except in rare cases. There may be some minor updates from time to time, but installing a new driver for components such as the Ethernet socket or wifi antenna does not change the performance of a laptop or desktop computer. In addition, on Windows 10 PCs these drivers are always updated automatically.
The exception is the video card drivers and Nvidia and AMD, the major video card manufacturers, are constantly struggling to provide higher performance.
This means not only that new and increasingly powerful graphics cards are produced and sold every time, but also that the updates of the video drivers are very frequent and sometimes have a not insignificant impact on the power of the cards inside the computers. Whichever computer you have, maximum performance is guaranteed if the latest drivers have been installed (see how to keep drivers updated automatically).
Although it is always important to update the drivers, it is useless to think of playing the latest 3D games if you buy a laptop with an Intel video card or other brands that do not provide support for advanced graphics.
2) Overclocking
Laptops are more limited than desktop PCs when it comes to overclocking or the procedure to increase processor power which, by default, is set at a lower security level to ensure the stability of the machine.
While CPU (processor) overclocking is rarely possible, since it is usually not enabled in the BIOS, GPU or graphics chip overclocking is instead made available by the same management programs as the AMD or Nvidia video card. .
Thanks to these guided tools it is possible to increase the power of the computer without risking damage.
In another article I wrote the guide for overclocking the AMD graphics card while for Nvidia GeForce you have to use the nVidia Control Panel program.
In general there are two settings to configure: the core and memory clock. The core clock is the actual processing speed on the GPU, while the memory clock is the speed of the memory used for video data processors. Each processor has its individual tolerance for overclocking, so you need to proceed in small steps (increasing no more than 5% at a time) to find the maximum stable setting.
READ ALSO: Change CPU speed, Graphics Card and RAM: best programs
3) Deactivate energy saving
On laptops it becomes important to check the energy settings
Laptops, unlike desktops, are often used on battery power. Therefore, you need to manage the power settings so that you can quickly switch from a high-performance profile to an energy-saving one.
4) Video resolution
If a video game does not start or go very slow, you need to decrease the video resolution .
The memory available to a video card acts as a highway between the GPU and the screen so, if the GPU pushes too much data, a traffic jam is formed and, on the screen, the change of image becomes slow and jerky. The easiest way to play 3D video games smoothly is to lower the resolution and decrease the graphic effects from the game settings.
5) Suspend background programs
In order to get a computer running at maximum, all programs running in the background (usually visible from the taskbar near the clock) must be deactivated, which take up memory and resources.
In this regard it is worth mentioning that it is possible to disable the automatic start of programs when the computer is turned on with MSConfig or other programs to control the automatic start items.
In addition to this, a program like GameBooster is very useful for optimizing the computer for video games which offers the possibility of enabling, with a button, the " game mode " which temporarily disables programs and services that occupy resources and then reactivate them when the game.
In Windows 10, however, you can activate the Game mode to increase the performance of programs and games.
6) Since video games are very large and full of data programs that take up so much disk space, all the more reason to worry about defragmenting and cleaning a hard disk to optimize the computer .
7) Activate Better Performance
Windows has a setting to ensure that your PC runs at maximum performance.
This option is found in the Control Panel, by clicking on System> Advanced system settings> Performance, placing the cross where it says " Adjust to get the best performance ".
This mode of Windows deactivates all graphic effects, animations and window colors.
In another article, other tips to optimize Windows 7 for a fast PC and better computer performance and the Game Booster review.
I refer to a previous article for more details regarding the requirements and hardware specifications for playing computer games
