Squeeze Every Frame from Your Gaming PC

Before you upgrade hardware, make sure your current setup is running optimally. These free tweaks can significantly improve gaming performance.

Windows Optimization

#### Enable Game Mode
1. Go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode
2. Toggle Game Mode to On

This tells Windows to prioritize gaming when you're playing.

#### Disable Hardware Acceleration in Background Apps
Apps like Discord and browsers use GPU resources:
- Discord: Settings > Advanced > Hardware Acceleration (Off)
- Chrome: Settings > System > Hardware Acceleration (Off while gaming)

#### Power Settings
1. Control Panel > Power Options
2. Select High Performance or Ultimate Performance
3. For laptops: use this while plugged in

Graphics Driver Optimization

NVIDIA Users:
1. Open NVIDIA Control Panel
2. Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings
3. Add your game
4. Set:
- Power management: Prefer maximum performance
- Texture filtering: High performance
- Vertical sync: Off (use in-game)

AMD Users:
1. Open AMD Software
2. Gaming tab > select your game
3. Radeon Anti-Lag: On
4. Radeon Chill: Configure for your preference

In-Game Settings That Matter

Big FPS Gains:
- Resolution - Drop to 1080p if needed
- Ray Tracing - Beautiful but expensive; try without
- Shadows - Medium often looks like High
- Anti-Aliasing - Try DLSS/FSR instead of TAA

Smaller Impact:
- Texture quality (if you have VRAM)
- Draw distance
- Ambient occlusion

Background Process Cleanup

Close unnecessary programs:
1. Ctrl + Shift + Esc for Task Manager
2. End tasks using high CPU/Memory
3. Disable unnecessary startup items

Storage Optimization

- Keep 15-20% of your SSD free
- Move games to faster drives
- Defragment HDDs (SSDs do this automatically)

Regular Maintenance

Monthly tasks:
1. Update Windows
2. Update GPU drivers
3. Check for game updates
4. Clean temporary files
5. Monitor temperatures

Still Not Enough?

If you've optimized everything and still want more performance, it might be upgrade time. Visit Computer Store KS for:

- Hardware diagnostics
- Upgrade recommendations
- Professional installation
- Used components at great prices

May your framerates be high and temperatures low!