Your computer’s frames-per-second (FPS) rate can make or break your gaming experience. FPS measures the frequency at which consecutive images are displayed on your monitor. So the higher your FPS is, the smoother your gameplay will be.. Let’s take a look at 16 tips for optimizing your gaming PC, improving its performance, and increasing its FPS for better gaming.
1 – Enable Game Mode in Windows
If you’re wondering how to increase FPS on a PC, you can start by enabling Game Mode on Windows 10. This setting boosts FPS to improve gaming performance. Here’s how to turn it on:
- Open up Settings in the Start Menu by clicking the cog icon above the Power icon.
- Select Gaming in the Windows Settings category.
- Select Game Mode, located in the left menu.
Check if the Game Mode Switch is on. If it is not, then click it to toggle Game Mode on. Your gaming PC will now automatically run in Game Mode.
2 – Adjust to a Lower Resolution
If you are not using a high-end gaming PC, you might need to lower the in-game resolution to achieve higher FPS. When game resolution increases, the number of pixels increases as well, and your GPU works harder to maintain the resolution in your monitor. Lowering the resolution will lessen the strain on your GPU, thus improving FPS and performance of your gaming PC. Although the graphics won’t be as clear as you’d like them to be, the game will run more smoothly.
To adjust the game’s resolution, find the resolution setting within the options menu. Tweak the settings until you find the right balance that allows you to enjoy the game’s graphics without sacrificing your FPS.
3 – Update the Graphics Card Drive
Upgrading your graphics card driver will help optimize and boost the overall performance of your graphics card. If you don’t upgrade your graphics driver regularly, you’re missing out on possible performance improvements and smoother gameplay.
Here’s a short guide to help you upgrade your graphics card drivers:
- For AMD Radeon – Go to AMD Drivers and Support. Select your graphics card from the list, then click submit. You can also download Radeon Software Adrenalin, which will auto-detect and install updates for your Radeon graphics card.
- For Intel ARC Graphics Cards – To upgrade your Intel ARC Graphics card, go to this link.
- For NVIDIA GeForce – Go to the GeForce driver website via this link. Select your graphics card model and Windows version in the list, then click the Search button. You should install the NVIDIA App, which you can use to keep your drivers up to date and optimize your games and applications with a unified GPU control center.
4 – Clean up Your Hard Disk
Another way to speed up your PC and boost your FPS is to free up space on your hard disk. Delete unnecessary files and programs that you are no longer using. To start with, check the current disk space. After doing so, you can use Windows Cleanup to automatically remove unused files. You can also manually uninstall programs that you aren’t using.
5 -Upgrade Your Graphics Card
Upgrading your graphics card can significantly improve your gaming experience, as newer graphics cards are designed with high-end gaming in mind. The two most popular graphics cards on the market are NVIDIA and AMD. Both have control apps that allow users to adjust visual settings and boost performance. Before buying a new graphics card, check to ensure it’s compatible with your gaming PC. While there are plenty of graphics cards on the market, not all options work with all PC models. Check out our guide to help you upgrade your graphics card.
6 – Upgrade to an SSD
Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are faster than mechanical disk drives. Using an SSD will improve your gaming PC’s processing and loading times, which can help it maintain a higher frame rate.
When buying an SSD, you’ll need at least 250 GB storage capacity for basic performance functions. However, we recommend buying at least 1 TB of storage, as modern games can take up 50GB of space or more. However, more storage will come at a higher price point.
7 – Upgrade Your RAM
Aside from your SSD, you can also upgrade your CPU’s RAM. This is your computer’s resource pool for all the programs currently running. The more RAM your gaming PC has, the more programs it can handle without a drop in performance. Upgrading your RAM will increase your system resources and improve FPS when playing your games. Upgrading your RAM will also prevent your PC from lagging or freezing. This is very helpful when using photo-editing and video-editing programs. For more ways to upgrade your PC, check our in-depth guide.
8 – Optimize In-Game Settings
Many modern game developers understand that low FPS can impede performance, and will include in-game options to help it run more smoothly. In addition to adjusting the resolution, you can make other changes in the game’s graphics menu to boost the frame rate.
Consider adjusting the settings for resource-intensive effects like shadows and reflections. Other high-impact settings include anti-aliasing, particle quality, or motion blur. Spend time exploring your game’s graphics settings to find the right balance for performance.
9 – Adjust Your Monitor’s Refresh Rate
Your monitor’s refresh rate is the number of times the screen updates the image per second. A higher refresh rate can improve image quality and game performance, but only if your rig can keep up.
You can change your monitor’s refresh rate in the advanced display settings. Here’s how to do this on a Windows computer:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select System > Display > Advanced Display.
- Next to Choose a refresh rate, select the highest option available for your device.
You may have to test multiple refresh rates to maximize visual quality without overloading your system.
10 – Use an In Game FPS Counter
An FPS counter is a digital tool displaying a game’s FPS as you play. Using an FPS counter will help you pinpoint exactly when performance issues start so you can troubleshoot or adjust the game’s settings as needed.
Many gaming platforms, such as Steam and Ubisoft, come with a built-in FPS counter that you can turn on in the app’s settings. Some games also include them as an optional feature. Finally, you can download many third-party FPS counters for your device.
11 – Overclock Your GPU
Overclocking your GPU is the process of increasing its clock speed (the rate at which it reads and executes data) beyond the manufacturer’s settings. This allows your GPU to perform more tasks simultaneously and render graphics faster. In many cases, overclocking your GPU will increase your FPS for a better gaming experience.
Overclocking your GPU requires some technical knowledge. To boost and test performance, you’ll need to download overclocking software and a benchmarking tool.
12 – Defrag your Drive (HDDs Only)
Defragging is the process of reorganizing data on your computer’s hard drive so it runs more efficiently. If you’re wondering how to increase FPS on a laptop, this is an especially easy change you can make in your device’s settings to help your games run more smoothly. While defragging doesn’t directly improve FPS rates, it reduces lag throughout your system, which indirectly helps your games run more smoothly and increases frame rates.
Defragging should only be done on standard hard drives, not SSDs. Defragging an SSD can damage your system.
Here’s how to defrag a Windows hard drive:
- Search for “defrag” in the Start menu to bring up the Defragment and Optimize Drives page in Settings.
- Choose the hard drive you want to defragment. In most cases, this will be the C: hard drive, but this might look different if you’ve installed a new hard drive on your device recently.
- Select Optimize to automatically defrag the hard drive. This will reorganize your files for more efficient system performance.
You can adjust the settings to automatically optimize your hard drive more often. Go to Scheduled optimization > Change settings. You can set your hard drive to optimize daily, weekly, or monthly.
13 – Optimize Your GPU
Your GPU is responsible for rendering a game’s visuals. Making changes to your GPU settings will help maximize performance and potentially increase your FPS.
Start by making sure your graphics drivers are updated regularly. Then, go to the GPU settings and look for opportunities to optimize performance. For example, some GPUs have GSync or FreeSync options, which sync the GPU’s FPS with the monitor’s refresh rate for smoother performance. You can also adjust the GPU’s power management settings to reflect your performance preferences.
Finally, keep your GPU in good condition. Remove dust from your computer’s components regularly to prevent buildup that could cause frustrating performance issues.
14 – Use Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling is a feature that shifts certain graphics-intensive tasks from your CPU to the GPU. This can help both components run more efficiently, resulting in a better frame rate.
On a Windows device, turn on hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling in the graphics settings. This feature switches off by default, so you’ll need to toggle it on.
15 – Optimize Power Settings
Many computers have optional settings designed to reduce total power usage. While this benefits the environment and your energy bill, it can sometimes negatively affect your graphics during high-performance gaming sessions.
Changing your power settings is a simple trick that can have a major impact on FPS. In Windows settings, search for Power Options, select Choose or customize a power plan, and then select High Performance. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, you can also adjust the power settings on the graphics card itself to maximize performance. If you still want to keep your power usage down, you can switch back to a balanced power plan when you’re done gaming.
16 – Turn Off Background Apps
The more apps your computer is running, the more resources it has to use. When your computer has to spend significant energy to keep background apps running, it can inadvertently slow down your frame rate, making for a less-than-ideal gaming experience.
To free up extra resources, try turning off background apps. This prevents apps from continuing to run when the window isn’t open. To do this on Windows, select Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Then, choose the app you’d like to turn off, then select More options > Advanced options. You will need to manually adjust the settings for each app individually, but this can significantly improve your graphics quality, especially if you tend to run a large number of apps at once.