Optimizing your new PC can be challenging, but with the right apps, you can streamline the process and get your system running smoothly from day one. Here are the Windows apps you can use to optimize new PCs.
1. TCP Optimizer
Price: Free
For many years, TCP optimizer has optimized my PCs for optimal network performance for both gaming and optimal download speeds. You just need to select its optimal settings, and it will do the rest.
Open the app and select your network adaptor and internet speed. Afterward, select Optimal at the bottom and click on Apply Changes.
Now go to Advanced Settings, select Optimal, and click on Apply changes. You’ll have to restart the PC for some of the changes to work.
Although you can manually adjust the provided network settings using the Custom option, I personally never had any problem using the recommended ones.
In my experience, it usually decreases ping by 5-15ms even on an optimized system, and stabilizes the connection. If I ever have to deal with a PC with low download speeds or high/unstable ping, my first step is to apply TCP Optimizer configurations.
2. Smart Game Booster
Price: Free with Premium plan
No, you don’t have to be a gamer to use the Smart Game Booster. I actually use it for its System Tweak feature that automatically optimizes many Windows settings to boost performance permanently.
In the app, move to the Performance tab, uncheck all checkboxes other than System Tweak, and start the scan.
After the scan, it will tell you all the tweaks that can be made to your PC to improve overall performance. I’ll recommend reviewing the list of fixes before applying them as it may apply fixes you may not want. For example, for me, it enables fast startup that I like keeping disabled to avoid startup problems.
On a new PC, you should see 60-70 tweak recommendations that will boost performance and minimize latency. If you notice any problems after applying the tweaks, click on the Restore button next to System Tweak to undo the changes.
Of course, the tool has many other optimization features like disk cleaner, driver updater, temperature monitor, etc. but I don’t find them as complete compared to other dedicated offerings available. However, the game booster is quite powerful; a bit too aggressive for my liking, but very good if you have limited resources.
3. ThrottleStop
Price: Free
Although mainly used for disabling throttling and undervolting CPU, ThrottleStop also works great for automatically applying different power control features. I mainly use it as a more powerful power options manager to automatically optimize the PC as per my power needs.
You can configure four separate profiles in it for different power needs. In each profile, you can select a Windows power plan and apply further tweaks to enhance it, like disabling c-states and throttling or adjusting the CPU multiplier. You can check the developer-recommended ThrottleStop guide to better understand what each feature does.
Below I am listing the configuration I use for the best performance:
- Power Plan: High Performance
- Clock Mod: Enabled and 100%
- Set Multiplier: Maximum available
- Speed Shift – EPP > 0
- SpeedStep: Disabled
- C1E: Disabled
- BD PROCHOT: Disabled
You can create multiple profiles like this for different power needs and they will optimize the PC power as soon as you choose one.
4. Snappy Driver Installer Origin
Price: Free
Drivers are important to ensure a smooth experience, but Windows updates don’t always install the best drivers. I have tried many driver updater tools before, and I found Snappy Driver Installer Origin to be the most reliable free app for updating drivers.
It’s an open-source portable driver updater that can automatically scan and download the latest drivers in bulk. There are no limitations or restrictions, unlike most other driver updater tools.
When you first launch the tool, it will ask you whether you want to download all driver packs (for offline use) or only the indexes. You should choose the Download Indexes Only option here so you can download only the required drivers.
Afterward, it will list all drivers that have outdated drivers or better drivers available. Yes, it will not only find the latest drivers but also recommend better drivers according to its own algorithm even if they are not the latest. Best of all, it shows all available drivers for a component, so you aren’t bound to a single best driver.
To install the drivers, just select them from the list and click on Install in the left panel. The tool will both download and install all the drivers automatically.
Tip: you can hold the Ctrl key while viewing a driver to access more details like date, signature status, provider, etc., and compare it with the installed driver.
5. Glary Utilities
Price: Free with Premium Plan
Although Glary Utilities has many optimization tools, I use it for its junk cleaning and software updater functions. Junk data can take dozens of GBs of data and even slow down the PC, Glary Utilities can analyze all possible junk/temporary data in Windows and let you delete them in one go.
Using the junk cleaner is easy, just go to the Clean Up & Repair section and click on Disk Cleanup. It will scan and show all the junk data to clean. Make sure nothing important is selected and click on Start Cleaning to clean junk data.
To update software, go to Optimize & Improve and click on Software update.
It will scan and show all outdated software on your PC. You can click on the update availability link to view and download the new updates in the browser.
After I have optimized my new PC with the above tools, I only keep ThrottleStop and Glary Utilities and uninstall the rest. If you are optimizing a laptop, you might be interested in these Windows apps for laptops.
Image credit: Vecteezy. All screenshots by Karrar Haider.
