When it comes to upgrading a laptop for gaming, the possibilities are limited. Since Laptops are, in general hard to upgrade, unlike desktop computers. So the question is how to upgrade a laptop for gaming?
As you already know, gaming laptops require performing faster, offering a better refresh rate, and providing you with a smooth gaming experience.
But if a laptop is not really designed to deliver high performance, then gaming on it would be an awful experience.
However, you can make a few tweaks or changes on your laptop to enjoy a better gaming performance. In this article, I will talk about those tweaks only.
So here we go:
How To Upgrade A Laptop For Gaming?
1. Clean Your Laptop Regularly
If your laptop is quite old, then at first I would suggest you clean your laptop. Why? Because over time, dust and debris are filled in the air vents of your laptop, which can limit down the airflow.
As a result, your laptop will start to overheat when you start playing games or work any heavy software leading you to experience a laggy laptop.
So the first thing that you should do is clean your laptop properly, make sure your laptop is enjoying proper airflow. Also, even after cleaning your laptop, if your laptop still heats up, consider buying a laptop fan.
2. Upgrade To SSD
If your laptop is using an HDD or hard disk drive, you better upgrade to SSD. By doing so, you would enjoy faster loading times, and you will spend less time waiting for your games to load. And overall, you would experience a smooth gameplay experience.
3. Defrag Hard Drive
If you don’t wish to switch to an SSD or even if you have switched to an SSD, I would recommend you enabling defragment of hard drive.
By defragmenting your storage drive, you are simply making your laptop consolidate the information in one area of the drive. As a result, the drive will find information faster and open portions to write new information faster.
4. Update DirectX
To enjoy faster gaming performance, make sure you have the latest version of DirectX or dxdiag installed on your computer. So I would recommend you to download the latest version of it and install it on your laptop.
5. Overclock Your GPU
If your laptop has an inbuilt GPU, then obviously, there is no scope of upgrading it. Instead, you can overclock it.
By overclocking, you will be able to increase your clock frequency and GPU voltage. Also, it will increase your GPU’s power.
But overclocking has a few side effects too. For instance, it can overheat your laptop leading it to random shutdowns while you are playing game. Also, it might void your laptop’s warranty.
So if you are planning to overclock your GPU, make sure you understand the risk and making the right changes.
6. Update Laptop Drivers
Drivers are an essential part of computers. Without the proper drivers, your laptop wont is able to function properly. Also, it will lead to different issues like a laggy laptop, internet disconnecting issues, and more.
These issues can surely impact your gaming experience. Hence, it is recommended that you keep your laptop’s drivers up to date.
7. Activate Game Mode on Windows
Windows comes with a game mode that allows your laptop to run at an optimal gaming level. And by activating this feature, you would surely be able to enjoy smooth gameplay.
To enable it, go to Settings > Select Gaming from the right sidebar > Enable game mode.
8. Don’t Allow Automatic Updates For Games and Operating System
You should not set update settings to automatic. Often newer update brings a lot of new changes. Also, it somehow affects the overall performance of your laptop. Instead, you can choose to install updates manually, so you will know what you are installing.
9. Optimize Power Settings
Lastly, you should consider optimizing power settings. As this would help you to optimize your gaming experience even more.
For this, you have to go to Settings > Click System > Power > Sleep. Over here, you need to select the high performance option.
Final Words:
So that was a quick answer to your how to upgrade a laptop for gaming question. Overall, there are not too many things that you can do to turn a laptop into a gaming laptop. But a few changes can definitely help you to enjoy a better gaming experience.