How to boost your FPS and your PC for gaming? The ultimate guide

You’re in the middle of a game, ready to win… but then your screen freezes, your game slows down and your FPS crashes at the worst possible moment. It’s impossible to play properly without experiencing these unbearable jerks! Why does my PC freeze? How can I increase my FPS without changing my hardware? The good news is that there are simple, effective solutions for optimizing your computer and boosting gaming performance. In this article, we give you the best tips for boosting your FPS, whether using automatic optimization software or making a few essential adjustments.

All you need to know about FPS (Frames per Second) and their impact on games

FPS (Frames Per Second) refers to the number of frames your screen displays each second when a game is running. The higher the number, the more responsive the animation. Conversely, a low FPS rate causes jerking and makes the gaming experience unpleasant, even unplayable in some cases. Fast-paced games such as FPS (First-Person Shooters
) or Battle Royale require a high frame rate to enable precise, responsive actions.

The impact of in-game FPS directly influences player performance. A stable, high frame rate reduces motion blur and improves the perception of detail in competitive games where every millisecond counts. When the FPS rate is synchronized with the screen refresh rate (such as 144 Hz for 144 FPS), the experience becomes even smoother and reduces unwanted effects.

Razer Cortex: the best optimization software for boosting your FPS

Razer Cortex is free software designed to optimize PC gaming performance by freeing up system resources. It works by automatically closing unnecessary background processes, allocating more CPU and RAM power to games and optimizing resource management. This optimization can result in increased FPS and improved fluidity, particularly on modest configurations. In addition to its Game Booster functions, Razer Cortex offers a system optimization mode, game defragmentation and a search for the best deals on PC games.

Although Razer Cortex is effective at freeing up resources, its impact depends on the configuration of each PC. On high-end machines, where resources are abundant, performance gains may be limited. On the other hand, for gamers with older PCs or limited RAM, the software can offer a real boost by reducing loading times. It’s simple and intuitive to use, making it an accessible solution for those who want to optimize their PC without having to make complex manual adjustments.

Your equipment has limits that you can’t exceed!

Many gamers hope for a miracle when they buy software to boost their PC’s performance. The promise is tantalizing: more FPS, perfect fluidity, a faster PC… But the reality is quite different. Software can’t create power where none exists. If your processor or graphics card is outdated, no program can turn it into a high-end component.

Even software that pushes the limits, such as that for CPU and GPU overclocking, is completely free. MSI Afterburner, AMD Adrenalin or Intel XTU already offer all the necessary optimizations. Rather than spending your money on miracle optimizers, learn how to get the most out of your hardware by tuning your Windows, optimizing your games and updating your drivers. And if that’s not enough, the only real solution is simple: change your hardware.

Overclocking: The only real solution for overcoming limits

When a PC reaches its limits and FPS stagnates, there’s only one real solution to go beyond the hardware’s original capabilities: overclocking. Unlike miracle programs that promise performance gains with no real effectiveness, overclocking directly increases the frequency of the processor (CPU) and graphics card (GPU). This can provide a real FPS boost and push back the limits of your components, especially if your hardware is limited by overly conservative default settings.

But this solution is not without danger. Forcing a component to operate beyond its specifications increases power consumption, heat generation and the risk of instability. Without adequate cooling and rigorous voltage management, the system can become unstable, suffer repeated crashes and even irreparably damage the hardware. Overclocking is therefore a double-edged sword: it’s the only real way to overcome your PC’s physical limitations, but it requires technical mastery and great caution to avoid paying the price.

Discover the best CPU and GPU overclocking software.

Manual settings for more FPS in game

While Razer Cortex remains the ultimate software for automatically optimizing in-game performance, it’s possible to go even further with manual adjustments. These adjustments allow you to optimize Windows, hardware and game graphics settings to maximize FPS without having to invest in new hardware.

1. Activate game mode on Windows

It may sound trivial, but enabling Windows Game Mode is an essential yet often overlooked optimization. This feature, integrated directly into Windows 10 and 11, optimizes the use of system resources when you launch a game. It prioritizes CPU and RAM allocation to the game process, reduces the impact of background tasks and temporarily disables certain greedy features such as automatic Windows updates or pop-up notifications.

Although this adjustment doesn’t radically transform performance, it does ensure greater FPS stability and avoids slowdowns caused by parasitic processes. To activate it, simply go to Settings > Games > Game Mode and make sure the option is enabled.

As a complement to software such as Razer Cortex, which goes even further in optimizing resources, Windows Game Mode is a simple, free and risk-free setting, to be systematically activated to get the most out of your configuration.

2. Increase the amount of virtual memory

If your PC is short of RAM and your games tend to slow down or close abruptly, increasing virtual memory can be an effective solution to improve fluidity. Virtual memory is an extension of RAM using space on the storage disk to compensate for a lack of physical memory. Although it is slower than real RAM, it can prevent crashes and reduce certain slowdowns when your system reaches its limits.

If you own an NVMe M.2 SSD, you have a considerable advantage: these drives offer much higher speeds than a conventional HDD or SATA SSD, and make much more efficient use of virtual memory. To optimize your PC, you can manually increase the size of the swap file ( pagefile.sys). It’s advisable to set a value corresponding to 1.5 to 3 times the size of your RAM for a good balance between performance and stability. This adjustment can improve the gaming experience, especially on PCs with limited RAM.

3. Update your graphics card drivers (and all other drivers)

Updating your graphics card drivers is one of the simplest and most effective ways of improving gaming performance. Manufacturers like Nvidia, AMD and Intel regularly release optimized updates for the latest games, bringing FPS gains, improved stability and bug fixes. Some updates even incorporate new technologies such as DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) from Nvidia or FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) from AMD, which boost performance without sacrificing graphics quality.

⚠️ The graphics card is not the only element to consider.

All other PC drivers (chipset, audio, network, storage) also play an important role. An up-to-date chipset driver ensures better communication between processor and motherboard. An optimized network driver reduces latency and improves online stability. Even a recent storage driver can speed up loading times in games.

To maximize your performance, we recommend using NVIDIA App ( formerly GeForce Experience), AMD Adrenalin or Intel Arc Control to update your GPU, and a tool like Driver Booster to check and update all other system drivers. An up-to-date configuration, combined with optimizations like Razer Cortex, allows you to get the most out of your hardware and achieve higher, more stable FPS.

In addition to providing the latest drivers, GeForce Experience (Nvidia) automatically adjusts graphics settings according to the power of your PC and game. This allows you to achieve the optimum balance between quality and performance without having to manually adjust each option.

4. Check the temperature of your CPU, GPU to avoid overheating

A PC that heats up too much is a PC that slows down. When your CPU (processor) or GPU (graphics card) exceeds a certain temperature, it automatically activates a protection mechanism called thermal throttling. This reduces the frequency of the component to avoid damaging the hardware, resulting in lower performance and FPS in games. Simply put, the more your PC heats up, the more power it loses, and this can cause jerks, freezes and slowdowns in your games.

To avoid this problem, it’s essential to monitor the temperature of your CPU and GPU in real time, using free software to control these temperatures during your gaming sessions. In general, a CPU should not exceed 85°C and a GPU should remain below 90°C to guarantee optimum performance. If your components reach excessive temperatures, there are several solutions available to you:

1. Replace thermal paste: Worn-out or poor-quality thermal paste can lead to poor heat dissipation. Using a high-end thermal paste (such as liquid metal paste or paste with high thermal conductivity) is a priority for gaming configurations.

2. Improve ventilation: Add extra fans to your case, optimize air flow (fresh air intake at the front, extraction at the rear) or even switch to a liquid cooling system if necessary.
3. Clean your PC regularly: Dust clogs fans and heat sinks, reducing cooling efficiency. Regular cleaning extends the life of your equipment and keeps temperatures down.

💡 Did you know? An open computer tower accumulates more dust than a closed one! Better to keep your case closed and well ventilated for a clean, high-performance PC!

5. Parking Core: Activate high-performance mode to unlock CPU power

By default, Windows limits the use of your processor cores by activating Core Parking, a mechanism designed to save energy by deactivating certain cores when they are not required. While this feature is useful for laptops to extend battery life, it can hamper in-game performance by slowing CPU responsiveness when power is suddenly required.

By activating High Performance Mode in Windows, you automatically deactivate Core Parking, allowing all cores and threads to run at full capacity at all times. This reduces processor latency, avoids micro-skips and improves FPS stability, especially in CPU-intensive games.

To take things a step further, you can use ParkControl, a software program that allows you to manually deactivate Core Parking while retaining precise control over power management. With this setting, your processor is freed from all restrictions.

6. Enable optimizations for windowed games

Playing in windowed or windowed full-screen mode can sometimes result in higher latency and a loss of FPS compared with exclusive full-screen mode. This is because Windows handles window display differently, by integrating game rendering into the desktop composer (DWM). To avoid these slowdowns, Windows 11 offers an optimization option dedicated to windowed mode games, which reduces latency and improves graphics performance.

By activating this option in Settings > System > Display > Graphics, you benefit from improved fluidity and faster response times for compatible games. In particular, this feature uses a new rendering model (Flip Model) that improves GPU resource management and reduces display latency problems. It’s particularly useful for gamers who like to multitask (streaming, Discord discussions, parallel browsing, etc.) while maintaining a fluid in-game experience.

Upgrade your PC’s components if optimization is no longer enough

If, after all these optimizations, your PC still struggles, it has reached its limits. You can tinker with every possible setting, activate high-performance mode, disable Core Parking, boost virtual memory… but at some point, the hardware just won’t keep up. No amount of software magic is going to turn an old GPU into a powerhouse, or run a demanding game on an outdated processor.

• Graphics card (GPU): This is the heart of the visual experience. If your games display jerky graphics, or if you notice significant FPS drops during intense scenes, your graphics card is probably out of date.
• Processor (CPU): The CPU handles your gaming logic and all non-graphical calculations. If you find that your Gaming CPU often reaches 100% utilization, it may be limiting overall performance, even if the GPU is performing well.
• Random Access Memory (RAM): RAM is important for multitasking and for loading game data quickly. If you only have 8 GB of RAM, you may experience slowdowns with modern, memory-intensive games. Upgrade to 16 GB or even 32 GB (if you’re streaming or multitasking intensively).

• Storage (NVMe SSD): A traditional hard disk drive (HDD) can slow down level loading and access to game data. An SSD, and especially an NVMe M.2 SSD, offers much faster read and write speeds.

If all these software optimizations are no longer enough to deliver the gaming experience you want, it’s time to look into upgrading your computer. Each of these components is an essential link in your PC’s performance chain. By adapting them to your needs and the demands of modern gaming, you’ll finally be able to enjoy uncompromising gameplay.

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