10 Life Hacks Every Laptop Gamer Should Know
A good gaming laptop can be worth its weight in gold for gamers who are constantly on the go. However, unlike traditional consoles or portable devices, maximizing the performance of such a laptop can require considerable time and effort. If you haven’t yet mastered all the intricacies of your gaming laptop’s settings and features, I’ve compiled a few of my favorite life hacks and tips for boosting its performance.
For best results, always use the included charger.
If you’re used to using your laptop primarily for work, you probably haven’t given much thought to the power supply’s specifications. However, for a gaming laptop, this can be crucial. Running resource-intensive, graphics-intensive games requires a lot of power, and most laptops try to limit power consumption when not connected to a power source.
While most gaming laptops can charge their batteries with a standard USB-C charger, if your laptop comes with a proprietary charger, use it. These chargers are typically designed to handle the load required to run the graphics card at full power. Relying on a weak USB-C charger can cause the battery to continue to drain even when plugged in.
To ensure proper air circulation, use a clean and stable surface.
Gaming laptops generate a lot of heat , higher than regular laptops, meaning ventilation is much more important. Most gaming laptops have multiple fans and vents on the bottom and sides, and it’s important to keep them clean, especially during intense gaming. Don’t forget to periodically blow out dust to ensure air circulation.
It’s also important to use your gaming laptop on a flat, hard surface. If you place your laptop on a pillow, bed, or blanket, the soft surface can block the vents, trapping heat and impairing system performance. A good laptop table or laptop stand will help keep the device stable while ensuring adequate airflow underneath and around it for cooling.
Use SSD for everything you can.
It’s likely that your gaming laptop already has an SSD installed, or at least has the option to install one (more on that below). However, if it’s not already installed by default, you can significantly improve performance by installing games, or even the entire operating system, on the SSD. SSDs offer much faster loading times than traditional hard drives, meaning you’ll spend less time stuck in loading screens in games.
If your gaming laptop doesn’t have an SSD—or you simply need extra space—you can use an external hard drive to install games. Just make sure the external drive uses a fast connection, such as Thunderbolt 4 (or 5 on newer devices), to avoid unnecessary bottlenecks.
Limit your display refresh rate to extend battery life.
Battery life is paramount for gaming laptops, so it’s important to optimize power-saving settings . You can use built-in Windows settings to limit the screen refresh rate or turn off the screen earlier when running on battery than when connected to a charger.
Many companies, such as Razer, MSI, and Asus, also have their own software that allows you to further customize power consumption settings. These settings vary by manufacturer, so check the software that came with your gaming laptop to see what options are available. In most cases, you’ll find tools for balancing performance and battery life, so if you prefer to game longer—albeit with reduced performance—you’ll find the right features.
Reduce frame rate in games to extend battery life.
One of the reasons for the high power consumption of gaming laptops is the intensive graphics processing required for modern games. However, this also means you can save energy by adjusting the graphics settings in games and disabling some of the most resource-intensive features.
One of the biggest energy drains is a frame rate that’s too high. For most single-player games, 60 fps is probably sufficient, so if you’re running games at 120 fps or higher, consider setting a limit when running on battery power. Ray tracing features can also be a significant power drain, so if you don’t need very high-detail graphics, you might want to try disabling them. Available options will vary by game, so check each game’s settings to see what options are available.
Use the docking station for a complete PC experience.
A powerful gaming laptop can be a great alternative to a full-size desktop, but with a docking station, you can get the best of both worlds. A good docking station allows you to connect a gaming monitor , keyboard , and full-fledged mouse using just one cable to the laptop.
Some higher-end docking stations can also provide sufficient power to your gaming laptop, keeping it charged even while gaming. However, before installing the docking station, it’s recommended to check its power consumption and connectivity options. If all else fails, simply connect the proprietary charger that came with your laptop in addition to the cable that comes with the docking station.
Remove unnecessary programs and terminate background processes.
Manufacturers love to install software on their devices that you don’t really need. In most cases, this doesn’t significantly impact performance, but it’s worth taking the time to remove or disable any unnecessary software running in the background on your computer.
Most unnecessary Windows files can be removed with a simple command . If you need a more precise command, you can press Ctrl-Shift-Esc in Windows to open the Task Manager and see what processes are running. From here, you can also go to the Startup tab to see what applications are running when you turn on your computer. While you shouldn’t immediately delete everything you don’t recognize, this can be a good way to identify applications that are consuming resources you don’t actually need.
Upgrade your new laptop using components from your old device.
Most laptops are not upgradeable, but some gaming laptops offer the option to add RAM or even expand the internal storage. Depending on the model, it’s worth checking whether any physical components are available to upgrade your device.
Of course, at the time of writing, RAM prices are incredibly high , and SSDs aren’t doing so well either . You can save a bit by buying used components or even replacing parts from older devices. If you recently upgraded your laptop with removable RAM, be sure to swap the old components into the new one. Even if you’re adding slower RAM to a faster machine, a larger total RAM capacity can improve gaming performance.
Use Game Mode to block updates and notifications.
Windows now features a dedicated gaming mode that prioritizes the game you’re playing. In this mode, Windows blocks notifications about driver updates and reboots that could interrupt your gameplay.
To enable this feature, open the Start menu , go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode , and toggle it on. In most cases, this will improve your gaming experience slightly, but be aware of potential conflicts with other games. If enabling this feature causes crashes in your games, return here to disable it.
Customize your RGB lighting to make it useful in your game.
The chances are slim that your gaming laptop isn’t adorned with more RGB lighting than your average Christmas display. But you can make it a little more useful than your average Rainbow Road party.
Software for RGB controllers, such as those from Razer, often includes profiles that allow you to change the keyboard’s color layout to highlight important keys in specific games or even react to in-game events. It’s a small change, and it probably won’t magically make you a better gamer , but it’s a cool way to personalize your device and make it unique.