If you love online gaming, then you know the frustration of poor device performance. You could be on a hot kill streak on Call of Duty only to experience a lag spike that sees you lose a one-on-one fight. Or maybe you are trying to play an MMORPG but find the different map regions take too long to load, or that the battle cutscenes are choppy and look terrible.
We’ve all experienced issues like this and oftentimes the problems can be fixed by device optimization. This is the process of improving various functions and settings on your gaming device (whether it’s a PC or smartphone) so your online games can run smoothly.
In the guide below, we outline five simple tips you can utilize to optimize your device and enjoy an improved gaming experience. After implementing these tips, there will be no more lag spikes, janky loading times or strange graphical glitches! Everything will look fantastic and perform well, and you can once again become an online gaming pro.
1. Increasing Your Screen/Monitor Refresh Rate
Digital displays such as PC monitors and smartphone screens have a refresh rate. This is the rate at which the device can display a new image, and it’s measured in Hertz (Hz). It’s the simple premise of how displays work – the screen is continually refreshed with each frame showing new images, thus showing the progression of things like games and TV shows.
Slower refresh rates will lead to a poor visual gaming experience. For example, if your device is set to a 40Hz refresh rate, the action of a first-person shooter may seem jumpy or it may appear that combat isn’t progressing smoothly. In contrast, if you change your screen refresh rate to 60Hz or 120Hz, the gameplay will appear much smoother.
By default, some smartphones may be set to a slower refresh rate as they generally aren’t optimized for gaming. Desktop PC monitors, however, typically use the fastest refresh rate by default. Either way, always use the highest possible refresh rate.
2. Use the Fastest Possible Internet Connection
Internet connectivity is one of THE most important factors for online gaming quality. Simply put, if you have a slow internet connection, you may find online gaming on your desktop PC or smartphone difficult.
With a PC or laptop, it’s often much easier because you can connect directly to your internet router using an ethernet cable and benefit from maximum connection speeds.
However, with a smartphone, you have a range of options. By default, your device probably uses a 4G internet connection.
This is OK for some gaming, but it may not be suitable for live casino games or fast-paced FPS games. For example, if you try and play a live roulette game with a 4G connection, you may experience lag spikes and even miss some of the roulette spins from the dealer.
For live dealer games where you are using a live streaming feed to connect to the casino dealer, or for high-definition FPS games, you ideally need a 5G connection.
Alternatively, where possible, always connect to your Wi-Fi network instead of using your smartphone’s native 4G – 99% of the time your Wi-Fi gives far superior performance.
3. Close All Other Programs/Apps
You know how when you close YouTube or your banking app that sometimes the apps may still be running in the background and haven’t fully closed? This is a common error we see people making and it can really hamper your device’s gaming performance.
On a PC, go to your task manager and check what programs are running – if any of them don’t need to be open, close them. Similarly, on your smartphone, find the action that allows you to see which apps are still open.
For example, on a Samsung Galaxy Android phone, press the symbol that looks like three vertical lines at the bottom left of your screen – this should show which apps are open and you can simply swipe up on them to close them fully. Any app that is still open could be using system resources and thus reduce your online gaming performance.
4. Stop Background Processes Running
Closing apps and tech software is one thing, but PCs and smartphones often have background processes running too. These can just be simple checks and procedures that run in the background, using system resources, but you won’t be aware that they are active.
For PCs, it’s a case of opening your task manager and checking the “processes” tab. Here you can see the list of active processes and how much CPU, memory and disk space they are using. If you see any that are consuming a heap of system resources, consider closing them. Just be careful, though, as they may be important for the security of your PC.
For smartphones, there is usually a setting that allows you to limit background processes. For Android devices this is found in the developer settings section. On iPhones, you can go to the general settings section, select the “Background App Refresh” setting, and change it to Off – this stops apps from automatically updating while you are gaming.
5. Use a Gaming Controller
The use of a gaming controller depends on your personal preference and the type of game you are playing. However, for smartphones, a controller can greatly improve your gaming abilities.
This is because touchscreen controls for FPS games are often clunky, and your fingers can end up obscuring much of the screen. By connecting a wireless controller, you can enjoy greater control over your game and see more of the action.
Companies such as Razer have some amazing mobile controllers that fit around the outside of your smartphone and allow you to use it more like a Nintendo Switch. Just remember that a controller may not be the best option for some games – for example, RTS games on a PC or a smartphone are usually better with a mouse and keyboard or using the touchscreen controls.
Take Your Online Gaming to the Next Level with These Handy Optimization Tips
The technology behind the gaming industry evolves quickly, it can be hard not to be left behind on aging hardware. But, whether you’re gaming on a PC or your smartphone, these five tips will help improve your device’s performance and give you an incredible gaming experience.
Improving the screen refresh rate will give a better visual experience while switching to a Wi-Fi or 5G internet connection will prevent lag and disconnects.
Closing other apps and limiting background processes will ensure your device uses all its available power and resources for your games, and a connected gaming controller can take away the difficulty of using a smaller smartphone screen and clunky touchscreen controls.