How to Speed Up Computer Games

By Ryan Maxwell

With the wide variety of computer games available, the requirements can vary widely from game to game. Each computer game also has a wide range of settings available from within the game that can affect the performance. Poor performance can be caused by several issues. If your computer is not set correctly, games will run slow. Several solutions are available to improve gaming performance.

Adjust the in-game settings. Settings such as anti-aliasing and higher screen resolution settings can cause a computer game to run slow. Adjusting these settings down can improve gaming performance. The adjustable settings in a game vary widely from game to game and the settings you would have to adjust depend on the age and specifications of your computer. Experiment with it and see if you can find the settings that best fit.

Close other programs while playing the game. If you have other programs running in the background, this can use up memory and processor resources that may make your game run slow.

Upgrade your RAM. Insufficient RAM can cause drastic slowdowns in a computer game. RAM is probably the most inexpensive way to improve the speed of not only your computer games, but your other computer operations as well. To play most hardware-intensive computer games, it is recommended that you have at least 1 to 2 GB of RAM.

Update your graphics card. New graphics cards can greatly improve game performance. Graphics cards contain their own memory as well as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). Be sure to check which ports are available on your motherboard so you don't get a graphics card that doesn't fit in any of your ports.

Upgrade your processor. A faster processor makes a faster computer. Upgrading to a current processor may require you to purchase a new motherboard. Older motherboards may not be able to accept any of the newest processors.

×