Tech, ExplainedGaming, streaming and media
Product

Game booster software

More frames per second, smoother play.

BEFORE ITAFTER ITGame booster softwareHoneCOVERSFrame rateBackground cleanupPower settingsNetwork tuningruns atmore framesConsole and PC gamesleaves powerfor streamingGame streaming platform↗ VIDEO STREAMINGA player installs the tooland lets it measure the PCbefore a game.BEFORE ITAFTER ITGame booster softwareHoneCOVERSFrame rateBackgroundcleanupPower settingsNetwork tuningruns atmore framesConsole andPC gamesleaves powerfor streamingGame streamingplatform↗ VIDEO STREAMINGA playerinstalls thetool and letsit measurethe PC beforea game.BEFORE ITA player installs the tool and lets itmeasure the PC before a game.↓Game booster softwareHoneFrame rateBackground cleanupPower settingsNetwork tuningAFTER IT↓ runs at more framesConsole and PC games↓ leaves power for streamingGame streaming platform↗ VIDEO STREAMING
A player runs the game booster before a match; it tunes the PC so that the PC game shows more frames and leaves power free for streaming.
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Game booster software is a PC tool that tunes a computer so that a game shows more frames per second and runs more smoothly. A frame is one picture on the screen. A game shows many frames each second. More frames make movement look smoother, and let the player react sooner. Boosters are used mostly by players of competitive games, such as the shooting games played in esports tournaments, where a fraction of a second matters.

Why does a PC need tuning? A Windows PC runs many programs at once: updaters, chat apps, browser tabs and background services. Each one uses a share of the processor and the memory. Windows is also set by default to save power. The graphics card, the part that draws the pictures, is set for picture quality as well as speed. For everyday work, these settings are fine. In a fast game, they can cause dropped frames and small stutters.

Say a player in Indore plays a competitive shooting game on a laptop with a 144 Hz screen. A 144 Hz screen can show 144 frames each second. His game runs at an average of 90 frames per second, but it drops to 50 in busy fights, just when it matters most. He installs a booster. The software first measures his PC. Then it suggests changes, and he approves them one by one. It closes background programs while the game runs. It switches Windows to its high-performance power setting. It updates the graphics driver, the software that controls the graphics card. It also changes some of the game's own settings, for example lowering the quality of shadows, which players rarely notice. After the changes, his game averages 130 frames per second, and its lowest rate is 95.

Some boosters also tune the network connection, to reduce the delay between the player's PC and the game's server. This delay is explained in bandwidth and latency.

Boosters have limits. They cannot turn a weak graphics card into a strong one. The processor and the graphics card decide how many frames a PC can draw at most, as explained in CPU, GPU, SoC and FPGA. A booster only removes what wastes their power. Some changes can also make a PC unstable. So a good booster saves the old settings, and can restore them. Most boosters are sold as a monthly subscription.

Boosters are mostly used for PC games. Players who stream their games on a game streaming platform use them too, because streaming takes computing power away from the game. Players who compete in esports care about frame rates most of all. A company in Delhi sells one such tool.

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