While changing old hardware such as your processor or graphics cards might seem to be a viable solution if your computer seems sluggish when playing the latest video games, there are other alternatives as well.

 

So, here are 3 ways to speed up the latest video games without buying new hardware for your PC:

 

#1: Graphics Driver updates

 

Most gamers commonly use graphics cards such as AMD Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce and it’s in their best interests to keep their graphics card drivers updated. And no, you can’t depend on the disk that you initially installed the drivers from or even Windows Updates to get the latest updates. Just to make sure, it’s a good idea to go the NVIDIA or the AMD site instead.

 

#2: Free up CPU/Memory Resources

 

Another way by which you can get your games to run faster is by freeing up CPU or memory resources, and the most common way of doing this is by disabling startup programs that you would not use. In Windows 8, you can do this through ‘Task Manager’ while in Windows 7, you can use MSCONFIG. However, CCleaner is probably the easiest way to go about freeing up system resources to have your game run faster.

 

#3: Adjust in-game settings

 

Probably the most effective way to increase game performance is to adjust in-game settings which will result in a drop in image quality but still ensures that your game will run faster. Usually, options such as reducing antialiasing, texture and resolution will ensure that you game runs smoother without affecting the image quality too much.