5 Ways to Maximize the Performance of Laptops

Laptops are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting laptop replacement parts. Unlike desktop components, laptop parts are harder to come by, not to mention more expensive. This is because computer manufacturers intentionally make laptop spare parts in very specific dimensions, so that consumers will be forced to go to them and only them when in need of replacements.

As such, they can jack up the prices of these laptop parts at just barely reasonable price points. Thankfully, for those gamers looking to increase the graphical capabilities of their portable computers, here are five ways they can do so without having to spend a single penny.

5 Ways to Maximize the Performance of Laptops

1. Always Update Your Drivers

2. Overclock the Settings of Your GPU

3. Optimize Your Laptop’s Power Settings

4. Adjust Your Games’ In-Game Settings

5. Turn Off Needless Background Programs

While replacing video cards in laptops is virtually unheard of outside of the very high-end ones, updating drivers isn’t. NVIDIA and ATI, the two major graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturers, are constantly trying to outdo each other in the hopes of garnering the biggest market share. Their vying for dominance has extended beyond factory production lines by constantly providing updated drivers to their already existing products.

1.       Always Update Your Drivers

Updating drivers can increase your GPU’s power by as much as 20%, and doing so is as simple a matter as going to the companies’ websites, downloading the appropriate drivers, and installing them.

Overclocking in laptops isn’t as common as in desktops, largely because very few laptop CPUs allow such manipulations. There are, however, some laptop GPUs – the more recent ones, most prominently – whose settings can be adjusted. If your GPU allows such handling, it would do you well to make full use of this.

2.       Overclock the Settings of Your GPU

You only have to take note of two GPU settings. The first, the core clock, refers to the GPU processor’s speed. The second, the memory clock, refers to the speed allocated by memory buffers. Adjust these two accordingly, and experiment to see which levels yield the most performance while maintaining stability. Also, make sure to use very small increments; 5% increases is a good figure to go with.

Because laptops are portable by definition, their power settings can suddenly fluctuate, especially if they are almost out of electricity. If, however, you happen to have your laptop battery’s charger handy, and you’re near a power socket, you might as well make use of the situation.

3.       Optimize Your Laptop’s Power Settings

Alternatively, most new laptops have switchable graphics settings; that is, the allocated power increases and decreases depending on which programs are used. For gamers, you may want to maximize settings while playing games, and use the bare minimum when doing other laptop activities.

This option is largely arbitrary, depending on how much a gamer is willing to do away with. Decreasing the resolution of games is the most common adjustment, since the reduction in pixels won’t be as discernible in the relatively smaller laptop screens.

4.       Adjust Your Games’ In-Game Settings

5.       Turn Off Needless Background ProgramsThis is pretty self-explanatory. A good example is if you prefer playing games offline, you may want to turn off programs like torrents (unused) and antivirus scanners (unnecessary).

There you go: Five ways to maximize the performance of laptops without having to purchase laptop replacement parts. Remember, it’s ultimately the budget-savvy consumer that comes out on top.

Original Post:

http://laptopaid.webs.com/laptopaid.htm