This article is sponsored by Aussie Broadband.
I don’t know about you, but my TikTok has been flooded with amateur tech tips giving me vague information on improving my computer’s performance. Some tips are gold.. and others not so much (which is why it’s important to fact-check before trying out something you’ve seen while scrolling).
These videos are filmed in a stylistic glossy and quick way, demonstrating how to fix slow internet or improve frames-per-second in Fortnite. But they do little to explain what is actually happening to your computer when you implement these tips. These videos are inherently technically dense, but present the information in an easy-to-understand format. However, when you get into the weeds and consider what you’re disabling and why, it opens up a huge can of worms.
I wanted to fact-check these settings to see if they work, or if I’m accidentally breaking my computer for good.
Warning: These tips are technically dense, and explaining them will feel like homework. If you’ve considered using any of these tips, but want to make sure your computer will be safe, and you won’t be cranking up your energy bill to an unaffordable amount, you’ll want to know what exactly is going on.
Transmit Power to Wi-Fi
Do you ever feel like your computer isn’t prioritising your Wi-Fi? Well, this hack suggests that your computer isn’t transmitting enough power to your Wi-Fi card, and you need to fix that.
For this hack, you’ll have to go into your device manager, find network devices, select your Wi-Fi device, go into properties, in your advanced options tab you’ll find something called “transmit power”, and set it to the highest value. The idea here is that your CPU will prioritise your Wi-fi connection.
I’m sorry to say it, but this is a dud. This has been busted in the past when a rumour would float around that reducing your transmission power could reduce your overall Wi-Fi coverage. It was found that reducing the power of an access point (AP) can actually increase strength in areas that are close by and reduce interference with neighbouring APs. When an AP operates on a higher power level, it’ll reach further, but the signal will be lower in strength than it would if the AP was operating on a lower power level.
This is to say that for this tip, if you were to set it to its highest value, you’d end up reducing coverage in areas close by due to propagation loss. Depending on the distance you are to your AP, you may end up shooting yourself in the foot.
If you want to improve your internet, the best advice here would be to find a longer Ethernet cable to connect to the internet with, rather than using Wi-Fi, to improve the speeds. If you’re finding that your internet is underperforming, and after a speed test nothing significant has changed, it might be worth upgrading your internet plan.
Before you do any of this, you should speak to an expert that might help you diagnose any issues you may be having. If you get your internet from Aussie Broadband, the provider has a team of Australian-based experts that can help you diagnose any problems with your service, and suggest solutions to help you out.
Adjusting Performance & Energy Settings For Best Performance
Gamers have been looking to optimise their frames-per-second in a game since the dawn of time. In this video by @teds_tech, he mentions cranking your computer up to a high-performance mode.
To do this, you’ll go into your Power & Sleep settings and find a slider under Performance & Energy. Here you can choose your desired power mode – one that conserves more energy, leading to less expensive energy bills and energy pollution, or the Best Performance mode if you want your computer running at its peak.
But how necessary is this setting? Again, it’s subjective. If you use your computer for work, you probably won’t need to run your computer at its best performance. If you’re looking to run games at max frames-per-second, or to render games as fast as your setup can handle, this is where some say Best Performance Mode can help.
In short, Best Performance Mode forces your CPU to run at maximum P-state (execution power saving) and C-states (idle power saving) at all times. This mode is usually used for workstations and servers meant to be running a specific task consistently and forever. It’s not usually a setting built for gaming computers, and some say this only wastes energy and heats up your computer without a good reason.
Balanced mode is the set standard for PCs for this reason. It lets your CPU downclock when no intense demands are being made, and it generates less heat overall.
An argument for running Best Performance mode is that a CPU takes microseconds to ramp up, and in these microseconds, it might create a micro-stutter that could drop FPS. If you’re playing a game like Valorant or Counter-Strike, where your frames per second could lead to winning a round or losing, some players will take this seriously.
However, as a representative of AMD pointed out, this isn’t the case at all. If you are losing frames-per-second because of these micro-second drops, there are a variety of different reasons that could be the culprit. You might have hardware issues, the game could be unoptimised for your device, your firewall could be interrupting, you might have intrusive programs, your drivers might be out of date, and the list goes on.
Running a computer at Best Performance Mode is like Homer Simpson slapping tape over a check engine alert. You’re not really fixing the issue at hand, and you’re putting strain on your machine unnecessarily.
Accelerated GPU
This is one of the rare TikTok hacks that is actually good, but let’s dive into why. In the video above, this tip promises to help your computer perform five times faster than it did before. Is this true? And if so, how?
Well, what’s going on here is you’re enabling your graphics card to control some of your computer’s memory, offloading some of the strain on your CPU, and putting it towards your GPU. This can help your games render a bit faster.
Hardware acceleration is the process of transferring some of the app processing work from the software that runs on the central processing unit (CPU), to an idle hardware resource, and in this case, it’s to your GPU. This will improve your computer’s memory performance for the entire motherboard, and not just a singular app.
While some apps might exclusively have hardware acceleration as an option, ticking it in your settings means that your GPU will lighten the load for your CPU across everything.
Does this mean you’re getting five times better performance? Probably not. But it will make a decent difference.
Unchecking apps
It’s at this stage of the article that I’ve unlocked my mind’s eye and now understand everything there is to know about hyper niche and incredibly banal computer tips. Sit down and allow me to share generations of knowledge.
This tip suggests that a great way to boost performance during games is to disable background apps that are running in the background. This is a good tip! Do this!
However, something to keep in mind is that you can’t disable every background app running in the background as shown in the video. Some essential apps are needed for certain games to run. For example, anti-cheating software (If you play League of Legends or Valorant) are necessary to run while you play, and disabling them will also prevent you from doing so. Some game stores are also necessary to run in the background while you play and RGB lighting apps are another one to keep in mind.
If you have a gaming laptop or bought a pre-built desktop, your computer is bound to have a bunch of bloatware on it that slows down the performance of your computer and sometimes gets in the way of your experience playing games. These apps are fine to disable, but as always, check to make sure you’re disabling something that you don’t need to run your game (or your PC).
Conclusion
Troubleshooting your PC is hard, no one can argue against that. When brushing up against issues that leave you banging your head against a wall, it’s good to remember to stay calm, think about what the issue is, and then find a good expert opinion to help you out. When attempting to fix any issue with your computer, take it one thing at a time.
If you’re unsure, or you feel nervous about getting started with troubleshooting, it’s important to ask an expert. If your Wi-Fi is stuttering, chat to a professional at Aussie Broadband who can provide expert advice, and help you out. If it ends up that your internet connection isn’t up to par, they can help you get sorted with an NBN plan that won’t leave you waiting with an existential crisis while a video buffers.
Image credit: iStock / georgeclerk & GluckKMB