There's nothing more exciting than booting up your new gaming PC for the first time. I remember my first build like it was yesterday: the frustration and choice of words when connecting the power cables, and the eventual but incredibly satisfying triumph of pressing the power button and watching it come to life.
If you've just booted up your new computer for the first time, there are a few key things you should check to make sure everything is running smoothly.
1. Check the resolution and refresh rate of your monitor.
If your new installation includes a high refresh rate gaming monitorMake sure you have the correct settings enabled in Windows.
Otherwise, you'll likely be capped at 60Hz by default, and you won't want to leave performance hanging (literally).
Here's how to find these settings and change them in Windows 11.
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- On an NVIDIA based system (if you have nvidia video card), right-click on the desktop. Click “Show advanced options.” Then select NVIDIA Control Panel.
- From the left navigation menu, select “Change Resolution” under Display category.
- Make sure you select the correct monitor if you have more than one. You can now check your screen resolution and click the Refresh Rate drop-down menu to set it to the maximum value.
If you don't have NVIDIA graphics card, here's how to change screen resolution and refresh rate directly in Windows.
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- Open the search menu on the taskbar, located at the bottom of the screen.
- Type “display” and click “Display Settings.”
- Make sure you select the correct monitor if you have more than one. You can click Define to see which one is set as your primary display.
- Scroll down to the Screen Resolution drop-down menu and make sure it is set to the maximum value.
- Scroll further to “Advanced Display”. The drop-down menu next to Select Refresh Rate will allow you to change your monitor's refresh rate in Windows 11.
High update rate is key to gaining a competitive advantage in first-person shooters and eSports games where every frame counts (e.g. Counter-Strike 2, Rocket LeagueAnd Marvel Rivals).
Make sure you get the results you paid for!
2. Get rid of malware
The Windows 11 that you probably had installed on your computer is reliable operating system general. But it's not without its drawbacks.
One of the biggest pain points in MicrosoftThe latest OS is bloatware.
Bloatware is any application you didn't choose to install that negatively impacts your computer's performance and memory capacity.
I've written an easy to follow tutorial on how to find and remove malware in Windows 11so be sure to check it to free up gigabytes of memory and eliminate programs that may be slowing down your performance.
3. Install and update drivers.
Drivers are important to ensure that everything in your installation works as intended. The main drivers you should check are your graphics card and peripherals (accessories).
To access your graphics card, open your graphics software. If you are using an Nvidia GPU, you will need the Nvidia app. It may come pre-installed on your system; otherwise it's a fast boot with nvidia website.
When you open the app for the first time, you may be asked to choose between installing the “Game Ready Driver” or the “NVIDIA Studio Driver”. As you probably guessed, use Game Ready drivers if you primarily use your computer for gaming.
I'd recommend you uncheck “Optimize games and creative apps” if prompted – while it's not the worst thing to leave, it can sometimes mess up in-game settings in ways you don't want – you can always manually tweak the settings in specific games yourself, or enable Nvidia optimization later.
Go to Drivers section in the left navigation menu and download the latest driver. During installation, the screen may go dark for a moment – this is completely normal.
After installing the new drivers, restart your computer to make sure everything works smoothly.
For AMD Radeon-based GPUsgo to AMD's Drivers and support for processors and graphics page. Download and run the Windows Driver Installer. It will automatically detect your graphics card and prompt you to download and install the latest driver.
Drivers for peripheral devices such as mouse, keyboard and headphones are located in the proprietary setup application. For example, if you have a Corsair mouse, download Corsair iCUE to install the latest drivers and firmware.
4. Check out the task manager.
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Windows Task Manager isn't just for shutting down stubborn apps—it's also a quick and easy way to check a number of important processes.
Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. The first page that appears is Processeswill give you an overview of what is currently running and how many resources the application is using.
Tip: Click the three vertical lines at the top of the navigation bar to see the titles of the Task Manager pages.
Then on the left navigation bar, select the second option in the list, which looks like a heart rate monitor, to go to Performance chapter.
On this page you can:
- Check CPU usage in idle mode and during use
- See how much total RAM you are using in the partition Memory
- Determine which drives belong to which root directory (C:, D:, etc.).
- Make sure you are using a graphics card (not integrated graphics) and check its temperature.
You can also use the task manager to take care of my next suggestion, which is…
5. Check the applications that Windows runs.
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Launcher apps, as the name suggests, are apps that launch immediately after you log in.
While this can be useful for apps you want to use almost every day, like Steam or Battle.net, it can also be incredibly annoying when apps you Not want to use a popup window (looking at you, co-pilot).
So, to edit startup apps in Windows 11, you have two options:
- Edit them directly from Launching applications the task manager page discussed in the previous section. Simply right-click on the app you want to edit and select Enable or Disable.
- Change startup applications in Windows settings. Open the search menu on the taskbar and type “startup,” then click “Launch apps.” On this page, turn applications on or off.
If there are a few apps that you don't want enabled at startup, disabling them can significantly reduce the time it takes for your computer to respond after booting.
6. Set your default audio devices.
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The default audio device settings are something Windows has almost always been unhappy with.
You'll use the same headphones for a few months and then Windows decides to change your default audio device to the VR headset your friend brought in one day and you wonder why your headphones are on but not playing sound.
You'll just have to get used to it, so it's good to learn about it from the beginning.
In the search menu on the taskbar, type “output control” and select “Manage audio output devices.” Here you can see all the audio devices that your computer recognizes. Select the audio device you will use most often, e.g. gaming headsetand make sure it says “Default Device”.
If not, click the arrow next to his name. Here, next to “Set as default sound device,” select “Set as default sound.”
Then return to Sound page from the options at the top of the window. If you have a separate microphone or a microphone connected to your headset, make sure it is your default audio input device using the same method.
If one day your audio stops working seemingly randomly, there's a good chance it's because Windows switches between your active devices.
7. Run some tests
Once everything else is set up and ready, the last thing you should do with your new Windows gaming PC is run some benchmarks.
This will give you an idea of how your system performs in resource-intensive programs, as well as a basis for adjusting the game's graphics settings.
Check out Matt Hanson's guide to how to test your video card in-game indicators and our review best reference software for general purpose tests, CPU tests and more.
Finally, check the settings menu of any games you download in the future. Some will have specific benchmarking options that you can run.
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