8 ways to optimize a Windows PC for better gaming performance

teen playing desktop computer games — There are several ways you can tweak your PC to enhance your gaming experience.
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You can optimize your Windows PC for gaming by making a few simple changes to your computer.
Options like hardwiring an Ethernet connection are also well worth the effort for an optimized gaming experience.
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If you use a Windows computer for gaming, you don’t necessarily need to upgrade to an expensive gaming computer to enhance your gaming experience.

Any Windows user out there can readily optimize their current PC for gaming by applying just a few tips and tricks.

How to optimize a Windows PC for gaming

Whether it involves accessories, like hooking up an Ethernet cable, or making your play experience more minimalistic by muting, disabling, and closing superfluous programs, there’s almost always an easy and accessible way to make gaming on Windows better.

Make sure your device has a good CPU and graphics card

The CPU, your computer’s central processing unit, is essentially the brain of your Windows PC. There are two major types of CPUs: Intel processors and AMD.

There’s an ongoing debate about which processor is superior, although the general consensus lately has favored AMD in the price and power department.

You also want to ensure your device has a good GPU (graphics processing unit) so that your PC has no problem handling a high frame rate for smooth video with gaming. A good baseline is 8 GB.

For your graphics card, which contains the GPU, AMD and Nvidia are the two major manufacturers. Just like with CPU, there's a back and forth as to which brand makes the better graphics card.

If you're a desktop Windows gamer and have the luxury of mixing and matching an AMD CPU with a Nvidia graphics card, you should go that route for the most power for the price.

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