Prospira Tweaks
Each check says where to look and what to change if it is wrong. Do them in order: the first ones matter most for games.
- Memory speedXMP or EXPO on in the BIOS
- Memory channelsTwo sticks in the right slots
- Refresh rateThe highest rate the monitor offers
- The monitor cableIn the graphics card, not the motherboard
- Graphics driverThe newest one from the maker
- The right graphics chip (laptops)The game set to High performance
- Windows updatesAll of them before the first game
- Temperatures under loadLevel after ten minutes of play
- What starts with WindowsOnly what you use
- A restore pointMade before anything else
Why these ten
They are what we find most on new PCs that stutter, and no reinstall or cleaner fixes any of them.
A new PC is set up to boot safely, not to play fast: the memory runs at its default speed, the monitor at the refresh rate it starts with, and the maker's own tools start with Windows. Each of those takes minutes to put right and costs frames until someone does.
The list goes from the fixes that matter most for games to the ones that keep the PC easy to look after.
1. Memory speed
Until XMP or EXPO is on, the memory runs at its safe default, slower than the box promises.
Check: Task Manager, Performance, Memory: the Speed line. A lower number than the box promises, often 4800 MT/s on DDR5 or 2133 on DDR4, means the memory runs at its safe default.
Fix: Turn on XMP (Intel) or EXPO (AMD) in the BIOS. It is usually one switch on the first BIOS page.
2. Memory channels
Two sticks in the right slots give the processor twice the memory bandwidth of one.
Check: Same place: Slots used. One stick runs on a single channel, and two sticks in the wrong slots do too.
Fix: With two sticks, use the slots the motherboard manual names, on most boards the second and fourth from the processor (A2 and B2). With one stick, add a matching second one.
3. Refresh rate
A 144 Hz monitor left at 60 Hz shows fewer than half the frames it can.
Check: Settings, System, Display, Advanced display: Choose a refresh rate. A 144 Hz monitor often starts at 60 Hz, and 60 Hz feels like stutter. Our test shows what it really runs at.
Fix: Pick the highest number the list offers.
4. The monitor cable
The right port is on the graphics card, not on the motherboard.
Check: On a desktop with a graphics card, look at the back of the PC: the cable belongs in the ports on the card, low on the case, not in the ones next to the USB ports.
Fix: Move it to the graphics card. Plugged into the motherboard, games run on the processor's graphics.
5. Graphics driver
The newest driver from the maker, not the one Windows Update picked.
Check: The driver Windows Update installs is often older than the one the maker publishes.
Fix: Install the newest driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel, then restart.
6. The right graphics chip (laptops)
Most gaming laptops have two graphics chips, and Windows does not always give a game the fast one.
Check: Settings, System, Display, Graphics: is your game set to the graphics card or left to Windows?
Fix: Add the game and choose High performance. A laptop that runs a game on its built-in graphics loses most of its frames.
7. Windows updates
Get them all in before the first game, not during it.
Check: Settings, Windows Update: check for updates until nothing is left.
Fix: Do it before the first game, so an update does not install in the middle of one.
8. Temperatures under load
Under load they should level off. A chip that sits at its limit slows itself down.
Check: Play for ten minutes and watch the processor and graphics temperatures. They should level off, not climb until the game slows down.
Fix: A processor that sits at its limit, 95 to 100 °C on many current chips, while the game stutters is slowing itself down: check the cooler and the case fans.
9. What starts with Windows
Keep the drivers, switch off the maker's extras you do not use.
Check: Task Manager, Startup apps: new PCs come with the maker's tools for lights, updates and trial antivirus.
Fix: Switch off the ones you do not use. Keep the audio and touchpad drivers.
10. A restore point
Make one before you change anything else, so there is a way back.
Check: Search for Create a restore point: is System Protection on for drive C?
Fix: Turn it on and make one before you change anything else, so you can go back.
Prospira makes a restore point on its first start and shows live processor and graphics temperatures, so 8 and 10 take a minute in the app.
If it still stutters
Find the likely cause in two minutes, or have a specialist look at it with you.
The stutter quiz asks nine questions and points at the most likely cause. If you would rather not guess, a Check is 30 minutes over a remote connection: a specialist measures your PC under load, changes nothing, and tells you what is holding it back. If it is the hardware, you hear that instead of an invoice.