subject: Helpful Tips To Maximize Your Laptop [print this page] Whenever a new gaming season rolls around, more often than not huge graphical jumps are to be expected. For desktop users, this doesn"t prove to be much of a hindrance for their computers which all too often become mid-end in a pinch. A quick GPU change here, an additional RAM stick there, all for relatively cheap, and their desktops are ready to take on the latest games once more.
For laptop gamers, though, upgrading is a different matter entirely. Laptop replacement parts are quite hard to come by; and when you do finally get your hands on one, you"ll find that prices range from "high" to "exorbitant." This is because computer manufacturers purposefully design laptop parts in very specific dimensions to force consumers to go to the manufacturers and only the manufacturers to acquire their required laptop spare parts.
All isn"t as bleak as it might seem, though. There are ways to expand your laptop"s graphical capabilities and therefore extend its shelf life, all without having to spend one penny.
Download GPU Driver Updates
When it comes to video games, the power of graphics processing units (GPUs) is put at a premium, as these are the computer components which largely dictate how the graphics will look and move. Video games being the big business draws that they are now, GPU manufacturing giants NVIDIA and ATI have taken the competition well beyond the physical releases of their products. Both companies are now also offering constant driver updates to already existing products to keep these GPUs as much up to date with current game requirements as possible.
Of course, these GPUs will eventually reach a point where even the latest update will not remedy their outdated status. Still, there"s something to be said for GPUs increasing in performance by as much as 20% all on account of a few tune-ups.
Overclock Your System Settings
Overclocking isn"t exactly new to desktop users, as they have been doing this for quite a while now. However, laptops being relegated to "replacement must" status (whether or not intentionally done by computer manufacturers), overclocking for laptop users hasn"t quite caught on yet. There are a select few laptop central processing units (CPUs) that allow overclocking and a few more GPUs that also do so. If your laptop parts allow for such manipulations, you might as well make use of them.
For GPU overclocking, users only need to take note of two settings: The core clock and the memory clock. The core clock refers to the speed of a GPU"s core processor, while the memory clock refers to that of its memory buffer.
Deft adjustments of these two are required to achieve maximum performance while still retaining system stability. A good rule of thumb is to never make adjustments by large margins. 5% gradual increments should be a good number.
Adjust In-Game Graphical Settings
Of course, you could always just go to a game"s graphical adjustments menu and fine-tune the settings from there. This is largely based on preference, though, and results may vary. In my case, while I prefer my games to be displayed with the best textures and particle effects possible, I do lower the resolution, since (to me, at least) the decrease in pixel count isn"t as discernible on my laptop"s smaller screen.
Maximizing Is Key
While mileage may vary, it is still possible to increase your laptop"s video performance even if it gets to be three, even five years old. As long as you have the know-how, you can do away with having to buy laptop replacement parts altogether.
