If you tend to swap between speakers and headphones, for example, you can make a shortcut for that, instead of having to open the Windows sound settings. I also love that it lets you set a pop-up to show which device you've switched to—so if you can't hear anything, you can easily tell which device your PC is trying to output sound to.
It's a small utility and a cinch to install. I wrote more about it in a full article here. Whatever gaming mouse you use, it's got software to go with it that will let you bind your keys, adjust the DPI, and more. Download it to configure your mouse to your liking. Our favorite gifmaking tool. Gifcam is a free, very small program that lets you record an area of your screen, edit the gif frame-by-frame, add effects, and export at a nice compressed size.
Or you can go high framerate and upload to a site like Gfycat for a nice smooth webm. Interested in doing any streaming, or just recording your desktop or games on occasion? OBS is the free, open source software of choice. You can choose how it encodes video and at what quality level and framerate, so you won't overtax your PC while gaming. OBS is as simple or powerful as you want it to be.
You can set up loads of different "scenes" to swap between what you're capturing, but you can also just set it to capture your desktop and click a button if that's all you need.
If you bought one of the best gaming laptops , or prebuilt desktop, it probably already came with all the basic drivers you need for it to work--network adapter, sound, etc. But your motherboard probably has some utilities you could download that come in handy.
And upgrading your BIOS will ensure that your system is running in tip-top shape. Whether you do that upgrade from Windows or the UEFI, having these tools at the ready will make your new system just a bit nicer and easier to use. Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.
When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory it's really becoming a problem , he's probably playing a year-old RPG or some opaque ASCII roguelike.
With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. Looking for more help with that new rig? We've got you covered. Wes Fenlon. See comments. TeamSpeak — voice-over-Internet Protocol application. MSI Afterburner is one of the most popular utilities for overclocking graphics cards. It gives its users a detailed overview of their hardware together with features like benchmarking, video recording, and fan profile customization completely free of charge!
CCleaner is an advanced system cleaner and optimizer. With over 2. You can use it to manage your applications, fix registry issues, automate backups and other PC maintenance tasks. A good alternative for Linux users is Stacer. Check it out here. UltraMon is a free utility for Microsoft Windows designed to increase productivity and boost the performance of multi-monitor systems. Its features include a smart taskbar for managing multiple apps, mirroring content across monitors, shortcuts, and multi-monitor support for wallpapers and screensavers.
All these apps contribute to making you enjoy the perfect gaming experience on your PC. Are there any mentions that I skipped? Drop your suggestions in the comments section below. Divine Okoi is a cybersecurity postgrad with a passion for the open-source community. Written by Divine Okoi. Discord Discord is a modern free, proprietary, multi-platform VoIP application aimed at gamers. You can also navigate from one Discord to another seamlessly using the sidebar on mobile and desktop apps.
Investing in a super high-end keyboard isn't really necessary these days. However, many players are also switching to non-traditional keyboards out of necessity or desire. This requires a program like KeyTweak that allows people to remap their keyboard layouts. The less than kb program doesn't currently have dev support , but it is compatible with Windows 10 PCs. Some alternatives include programs like Autohotkey or Sharpkeys for people who want a supported program.
While advanced Windows users can manually configure many of the options found in SSD Fresh, there's no denying how easy the program makes the entire process.
Chances are, they'll be in the red-line when you first start the program up. A series of personal optimization choices will cause the needle to inch closer to the green, which indicates that your SSD is running at peak efficiency.
It allows you to turn off Windows features such as Hibernate, Indexing and kernel swapping in order to free up resources and keep your drive running like a Ferrari. At first glance, this little program doesn't look like much, but it's actually one of the most robust audio equalizers available.
It can act as a full-on replacement for a sound card's undoubtedly limited audio options. Equalizer APO features a list of items that can be stacked vertically to customize the perfect sound environment.
In addition to a band, band, and variable EQ, users can also stack a preamp, low and high pass filters, loudness correction, and VST plugins.
Once configured, it will run silently in the background, eliminating the need to fuss with secondary audio apps. Keeping any computer clean regarding files is almost as challenging as keeping Henry Cavill clean during The Witcher. It's intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to understand. With a few clicks, you can clean out the build-up of garbage files that accumulate in a system, set Autorun programs, and shred files, and Recycle bin items so they can't be recovered.
The only tricky thing is the Registry cleaner as this feature carries many inherent risks in today's technological ecosystem. Itching to play Android-based games and apps on a PC?
Then an emulator is the way to go and Bluestacks seems to be the platinum standard. You'll need to enable virtualization on their motherboard in order to fully take advantage of virtual machines like Bluestacks.
This can vary depending on specific hardware in any given PC. Most will have it disabled by default. This free app from Paddy Xu can be found in the Microsoft Store. It's one of those "never knew I needed it" kinds of programs that can make Windows navigation so much better. Essentially, Quick Look emulates the Mac OS-inspired Preview function triggered when someone highlights a folder or file and taps the space bar.
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