Gaming on a low-end PC doesn’t have to be a sour experience. If you struggle with low framerates, an FPS booster can help, as it typically frees up system resources and squeezes more performance out of your PC. Here are the best apps for this purpose.
1 Razer Cortex
Razer Cortex is a PC tuning tool that includes a Game Booster feature. It force closes unused apps, processes, and services. It also turns off automatic updates, clears up RAM, and turns off CPU sleep mode so your PC can use all its resources.
Booster Prime optimizes individual games installed on your PC. However, it only works on select titles and doesn’t always improve your FPS.
Cortex has one of the best in-game FPS monitors, which lets you track your FPS and see how it improves with each tweak. Once you’re done gaming, click the Restore Now button to restore every PC setting to its original state.
Download:Razer Cortex (Free)
2 Advanced System Optimizer
Like Razer Cortex, Advanced System Optimizer bundles several PC and game optimization tools into one package. But I’ll only focus on the game optimization features here.
Firstly, Advanced System Optimizer creates a virtual desktop where you can add and run games. This also kills unnecessary services that eat up system memory. You can also use the key remap feature built into the app, but that won’t boost game performance.
Its UI hasn’t changed much compared to the previous versions and looks dated compared to Razer Cortex. The app offers a limited, 24-hour free trial, after which you must upgrade to the premium version to use it.
Download: Advanced System Optimizer (Free trial, $50)
3 MSI Afterburner
MSI Afterburner is primarily an overclocking tool that monitors hardware and gives real-time feedback on your PC’s performance. It’s compatible with any video card and can help you extract more performance from your GPU with overclocking.
You can control your GPU’s clock frequency, voltage, and fan speed to balance temperature and performance.
Afterburner’s One-Click Scanner scans your PC and finds the highest overclocking settings while keeping your GPU stable. To avoid additional bloatware, ensure you deselect Norton utilities when installing MSI Afterburner.
If you’re interested in the overclocking side of PC optimization, check out the best GPU overclocking tools to squeeze out every drop of performance.
Download:MSI Afterburner (Free)
4 Wise Game Booster
Wise Game Booster terminates unnecessary apps and services. As a result, your PC allocates more system resources to the game you’re playing. I like that it’s free and doesn’t annoy you with frequent ads. It is one of the few game booster apps that does not include bloatware, such as a registry cleaner or system file cleaner.
You can add games and related apps to the My Games list to manage their optimization settings and check other information. Wise Game Booster suggests which processes to end to reduce the risk of inadvertently turning off a critical system service. You can roll back all the optimizations with a one-click restore button.
Download:Wise Game Booster (Free)
5 NVIDIA GeForce Experience
Nvidia GeForce Experience is the primary software to interact with NVIDIA GPUs. Apart from updating drivers, displaying FPS on screen, and capturing gameplay, it can aid you in optimizing game settings for smoother FPS.
To boost a game’s FPS, simply add it to GeForce Experience (see how to add a game to GeForce Experience for more information). Then, open its Details and click Optimize.
However, if you’re more experienced, you can manually tweak game settings in GeForce Experience to get the perfect balance between performance and graphics.
Download: GeForce Experience (Free)
FPS-boosting software won’t magically increase your PC’s gaming prowess. Still, it can make minor tweaks to remove the CPU sleep lock and free up memory consumed by both Windows and unnecessary third-party services.
Stay away from booster apps that haven’t been maintained or updated for a very long time—or those that claim to boost your PC’s performance by 200% and bundle nonsense features like antivirus and deep cleaner, which Windows 11 already has. Otherwise, you’ll end up with bloatware or, in worse cases, malware.
