How to improve CPU performance for gaming
How to improve CPU performance for gaming? Let's find out
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Is low FPS and lag ruining your gameplay experience? Your CPU may not be delivering as much performance as it could be. In this article, we’ll look at how to improve CPU performance for gaming.
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Some of the improvements are really easy to perform, but some are a little more advanced. Don’t worry though, we’ll be here to guide you through.
Close background apps while gaming
This one’s pretty obvious. Check for and shut down any background applications that might be diverting your processor’s resources away from your game engine.
Other than the applications visible on your bottom taskbar, there may be background applications sapping up your PC’s resources.
Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys simultaneously to launch Task Manager, an application that will give you an overview of your system’s resources (including CPU) and let you identify any unwanted background processes that may need to be shut down.
It’s best to avoid shutting down processes you aren’t familiar with. Doing so can cause system crashes. But if you see an app or process that you launched earlier but don’t really need anymore, shutting it down will help save your system’s resources.
Turn on Windows Game Mode
This is very simple. Simply type “Game Mode” in your Windows search bar and open the menu that pops up. If Game Mode isn’t enabled already, turn the slider to enable it.
With Game Mode activated, Windows will automatically slow down or pause unnecessary background processes and dedicate more system resources towards your running game, making for better performance.
Adjust your power settings
Make sure your PC isn’t set to power-saving mode. This is especially important if you’re on a laptop, as limiting the amount of power available to your processor will severely hamper its performance. Also for laptop users – game with your power adapter connected.
Most gaming laptops don’t have strong-enough batteries to fully satisfy the power demands of their internal components without any inflow from the adapter.
Optimize your in-game settings
For most games, changing settings will have the most impact on GPU performance. Unfortunately, games usually use your CPU to the same degree regardless of graphical settings. If there is a difference, it’s usually very minor.
In certain games, you will have settings for “render distance” and “crowd density” or similar. Lowering these does help lower your CPU utilization, allowing you to trade off visual quality for higher framerates.
Lower your processor’s temperatures
This will only help performance if your CPU overheats to the point where it begins to thermally throttle. This is a more common occurrence in laptops than in desktops due to the weaker cooling solution in the former.
Here’s our in-depth guide on lowering CPU temperatures.
Overclock your CPU
The most effective way to increase the performance offered to you by your processor is to overclock it. Admittedly, there are risks associated with overclocking. But if your power supply and CPU cooler are strong enough to keep up, there’s very little danger of causing your processor any harm.
If you’re interested, check out our guide on overclocking CPUs. When you’re CPU-bound, overclocking yields remarkable benefits because game engines are able to fully utilize the increased clock speed and single-thread performance.
Final word
We hope you found these tips helpful. Remember that there’s only so much you can do to improve the performance of a struggling processor. If your CPU is old and you’re interested in modern-day triple-A gaming, you may want to consider upgrading your hardware.
