But did you know that you don’t always have to rely on expensive hardware to maximize your computer’s performance? There are several ways to optimize your computer for gaming, without spending even a dollar. 

If you’re using a Windows 10 computer, this operating platform provides a great opportunity for gamers to enjoy their favorite video games. You can adjust some of the settings to enjoy the best gaming experience this operating system has to offer. 

Let’s look at some of these tweaks one by one.

1. Use Gaming Mode. 

If you want to squeeze the best gaming performance out of your computer, the best way to do so is by turning Game Mode on. The latest versions of Windows 10 include a Game Mode feature with built-in optimization options for PC gamers. 

To access this feature, follow the steps below: 

• Press Windows + I keys together, then type game modein the search box. 
• Click Game Mode Settingsfrom the search results. 
• On the Gaming panel, click Game Modefrom the options on the left. 
• Switch Game Mode to On to take advantage of the tweaks designed to give you the best possible gaming experience. 

What does Game Mode do? When this feature is enabled, your operating system prioritizes processor, graphics card, and other computer resources to your game. Game Mode also prevents background processes from running, such as Windows Update installing driver updates and displaying notifications during gameplay. This ensures that you have the best gaming experience. 

2. Schedule Automatic Update and Restart.

Windows regularly releases updates for its operating system and Windows 10 keeps itself updated by turning on the Automatic Update and Restart option. This automatically installs all updates to your apps and OS, then schedule a restart without your permission. This feature doesn’t activate often, but it can be annoying when your system suddenly decides to update when you’re in the middle of a game. 

This feature not only restarts your computer without warning, downloading the updates in the background will also affect your network connectivity.

Unfortunately, Automatic Update and Restart cannot be disabled. What you can do is just to delay it so that it does not affect your game.

To schedule your automatic updates and restart, do the following:

• Press Windows key + I to access the Settings app. 
• Go to Update and security > Windows Update.
• Click Advanced options > Update Options.
• Make sure Automatically download updates, even over metered data connections (charges may apply) is turned off. This reduces the chance of Windows Update downloads interrupting your games.
• Turn on Show a notification when your PC requires a restart to finish updating. This would alert you when the system is going to restart after an update.
• Go back to the main Windows Update screen, and edit the Change active hours feature.
• Specify the hours when you’ll be using the computer so that Windows Update won’t download and install updates during those active hours.

3. Stop Steam From Auto-Updating Games.

Steam is one of the most popular game vendors for PC, PlayStation, and other gaming platforms. If you’re using Windows to play video games, then you’ve probably bought or installed a few games via Steam.

Steam is great, but its update feature can be frustrating. You won’t be able to prevent automatic updates across all your games, which can eat up computer resources or limit your network connectivity with background updates.

To prevent Steam from running updates in the background, follow the steps below. 

• Open your Steam client and go to Steam > Settings > Downloads to access your update options.
• Uncheck Allow downloads during gameplay to stop Steam from updating games while you’re playing.

• If you want to prevent Steam from updating games you don’t always play, right-click on the game installed in your Library, then click Properties. 
• Look for Automatic Updates, then tick off Only update this game when I launch it.

Adjusting these settings would give you more control over which Steam updates you want to run and when to install them.

4. Turn Off Nagle’s Algorithm.

Nagle’s algorithm was designed to make TCP/IP networks by limiting the transmission of small data packets and controlling the size of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) sending window. This leads to a smoother internet connection. 

However, if you have Nagle’s algorithm enabled on your computer while playing, this may contribute to latency issues when you’re playing games online. 

You can improve latency and gaming performance on Windows 10 by disabling Nagle’s algorithm through the Windows Registry.

To do this, you’re going to need your IP address. If you don’t know your IP address, go to Windows key + X > Windows PowerShell and type in ipconfig. Look for the value next to IPv4 address to identify your IP address. 

Once you have your IP address, follow the steps below:

• Go to Start, then type regedit in the search box. Press Enter to open the Windows Registry. 
• Copy and paste this path in the address bar:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces.

• In the left-hand pane, find the folder that matches your IP address.
• Right-click on that folder and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Create two DWORD Values: TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay. 
• Once you’ve created these values, double-click on each one of them and set their parameters to 1.

Close the Registry editor, then restart your computer. This should activate the two parameters and disable Nagle’s Algorithm. If you encounter any problems, just set the parameter value of TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay to 0 to disable them.

Close the Registry editor, then restart your computer. This should activate the two parameters and disable Nagle’s Algorithm. If you encounter any problems, just set the parameter value of TcpAckFrequency and TCPNoDelay to 0 to disable them.

5. Edit Windows 10 Visual Effects. 

By default, Windows 10 appearance settings are designed to impress. But these impressive graphical user interfaces (GUI) can greatly hinder your processing power. For example, games running in the foreground may not run well with your custom GUI running in the background. 

To optimize Windows 10 for gaming performance, you can adjust your GUI settings so they don’t conflict with your games. To do this:

• PressWindows key + I to open the Settings app. 
• Type performance in the search box, then choose Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.
• Click Adjust for best performance > Apply > OK.
• Click on the Advanced tab and set Adjust the best performance of Programs.

6. Maximize Your Power Plan.

Some gamers believe that the computer’s power options have negligible effect on the gaming performance. On the other hand, some gamers believe that adjusting for higher performance works. 

The only way to know if it works for you is to test it out on your computer. To edit your power settings, follow the instructions below: 

• Open the Settings menu by pressing the Windows key + I.
• Type in power in the search box and click Power and sleep settings.
• Click Additional power settings.

Try out the different power plans to see which one boosts your game performance. You can also create your own power plan to make your PC perform better during games. 

7. Update Your Drivers. 

Your Graphics Processing Unit or GPU is critical to your PC gaming experience. It requires the latest Windows driver to make it work faster and smoother. 

To check your GPU, right-click anywhere on the Desktop and

click Display settings > Advanced display settings > Display adapter properties.But  in some cases, the GPU is already accessible in the right-click menu. 

To update your graphics card driver, just click Properties > Driver > Update Driver from the Display adapter properties window above. 

If this doesn’t work, you can check your GPU manufacturer’s website to make sure that you have the latest driver installed. 

Aside from the GPU, you also need to update the chipset and LAN drivers for your motherboard. Check your chipset drivers by typing the following command in Command Prompt:

wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber

This command should give you your motherboard’s manufacturer and product name. You can search online for the latest drivers based on this information. 

8. Install DirectX 12. 

DirectX 12 is the latest version of Microsoft’s popular API tool, which is a key element of Windows 10 gaming. It provides support for multiple GPU and CPU cores, improves frame-rates, lowers power consumption, and enhances graphical effects.

Most Windows 10 computers are installed with DirectX 12, but you can check if you have the latest version installed by using the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Press Windows key + R, then type dxdiag in the dialog box. Hit OK to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.

If you don’t have DirectX 12 installed, you can fix this by running Windows Update. Press Windows key + I, then go to Update and security > Windows Update > Check for updates. Once all the updates have been installed, check your DirectX version again.

9. Clean Up Your Computer. 

Unused applications, download files, and other junk files can eat up your computer resources without you even knowing it. Aside from cleaning up your Recycle Bin, you also need to delete those apps that you don’t need and clear your junk files using a PC cleaning tool. Once your system has been cleaned up, you will notice the improvement in game performance. 

Summary

You don’t always need to spend hundreds of dollars by upgrading your hardware just to get the best gaming experience on Windows 10. Sometimes, tweaking some of your settings can make a huge difference in your game performance. So, before you shop for new hardware, try the steps above first to optimize your Windows 10 for gaming.

Author Bio

As a Journalist by profession, April Reyes has extensive experience in writing about various topics under the sun, including technology, gadgets, travel, social media, and digital marketing. If she’s not writing articles for Software Tested and Outbyte, she’s either watching her favorite TV series or playing video games.

The post How to Optimize Your Computer for Gaming Without Spending a Dollar appeared first on BadFive.

Felix Kjellberg ( a.k.a PewDiePie) has the most subscribed channel on YouTube with more than 56 million subscribers. He recently made a video explaining how to get started on YouTube, which a lot of people appreciated. Since his previous video was met with a lot of love from smaller YouTubers, he decided to make another one where he elaborates some points on how to grow your YouTube channel.

Just like we did with his first one, we analyzed his video and kept the main points.

What we learned:

Don’t Imitate Current Felix

“Don’t look at anything that I’m doing right now.. ” ~Felix

Felix makes it clear right from the beginning that you shouldn’t try to imitate what he is doing with his channel right now. According to him, he stopped trying to grow his channel because he’s happy with the audience he has.

Having said that he continues by saying that he understands the struggle of making content that no one is watching.

I’m making good content, Why is noone watching it?

The answer is quite simple. If you want more people to watch your content you have to grow your audience. To do so, follow Felix’s advice on the subject:

Mention People to Subscribe

Obvious as it may seem, simply telling people to subscribe at the end of each video helps bring a lot more subscribers to the channel. Reminding people to subscribe will most certainly help grow your audience, but you shouldn’t overdo it. For example, telling everyone to subscribe to your channel both at the beginning and the end of your videos might get you more subscribers, but people won’t like you in the long term.

Don’t copy the style of big YouTubers

It’s important to understand that people are already subscribed to the big guys. Following the exact same style of other big YouTubers won’t get you far.You need to find your own style. If you choose to do the same thing everyone else is doing, you’re not filling any need in the community.You’re not offering a new “product” to the market. If you really care about acquiring your own audience you must eventually carve up your own style.

Be Unique

Following the previous point, you need to answer a set of very important questions when you’re making the content of your channel. What makes you different? What makes you unique? Finding the answer to those questions can prove extremely hard. Although it is difficult to create unique content, you must try and do things differently from the rest of the YouTube community. If you really want to grow your channel you need something to set you apart.

Having Content is not enough

Your content alone is not enough to grow your audience. After you create a video you must spend quite some time trying to get it out there. If your content isn’t easily consumable, maybe it is a good idea to create small compilations of your work. Using compilation videos for promotional purposes can help bring new sets of eyes to your channel. When creating this compilations it is important to leave the viewers wanting more by the end of the video. This will make a lot people curious and will most probably lead some of them to subscribe to your channel.

Thumbnails and Design

Most new YouTubers make the huge mistake of neglecting the thumbnails of their videos. It’s important to put time on creating beautiful and descriptive thumbnails since they can have a huge impact on your video. Using tools like photoshop might help with the process.

“It’s like entering a store. You feel a lot better entering a store with a nice front and nice interior design. Doesn’t necessarily have to do with the product they sell, but as a consumer you feel better entering there”. ~Felix

This goes for YouTube as well. You need to take care of how your channel looks and feels.It is important to put the effort in making it look better. Designing your YouTube channel to look appealing and presentable will get you a lot more new subscribers. Beautifully designed content is going to make people want to click on your videos and channel.

Proper Naming

Giving a proper name to your videos is important. Your titles need to be clear and descriptive but at the same time make people ask a question. The title must not expose the answer. People are going to want to watch the video just to get their answer.

Change constantly

Don’t be afraid to switch up. Test out different things and see the response from the people. If the audience likes it then go with the flow. Make more of that type of content. Make little changes overtime to keep improving your videos. Unfortunately, every YouTuber has a lifetime. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, your audience will eventually lose interest in your content.

Original Video:

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