Close Background Apps That Kill FPS
Understand How Background Apps Affect
When I firstly started gaming on my PC, I usually listened to the music at the background and played the game while turned on the screen recorder and record that screen and I always did gaming like this. But later on, I realized that this is not the proper way to run the games on a computer.
So, after experience of 6 to 12 months, I realized that background apps drain very much energy. That’s why the apps which we use at the background quietly use CPU, GPU, RAM, processor resources which lowers the FPS. And the game itself does not run smoothly, gives lag, and will do not give a good gaming experience.
Because of the background draining apps our system lags. So, in this blog, I will tell you how you can get rid of this it is not just that having a powerful setup and you can run all the things at a time. This is not practically possible. You should go for the 1 or 2 at a time. So, for this reason you should use the power booster tools which helps a lot and all other tips and tricks are shared in the blog.
Identify Hidden Resource-Hunters
Sometimes we don’t know the apps which are draining our energy. These apps doesn’t kill FPS only but also have many bad effects on our system too. I have found that different apps which are not typically seen as a power draining drain most of the energy.
For example, cloud signing tools or softwares like OneDrive, Dropbox, chat software like Discord, and other overlay apps such as Steam, NVIDIA, GeForce Experience, these all silently drain most of our energy. This is not only a bad sign but also it destroys our computer’s performance and it has very bad impact on our processor too.
Because these are silently draining energy and are considered to be always running apps which cannot be stopped by themselves. And if we go to stop these apps, the system gives the notification that these are in default, built-in apps that couldn’t be stopped otherwise your system will stop running. And due to this notification they are always running and drain a lot of energy that’s why they are called hidden source hungry apps.
Use Task Manager to Monitor
In this heading, I am going to share a very good advice from an expert international gamer. He said that before I go and play a game, I always open task manager. The shortcut for opening task manager is CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. After opening the task manager, I see what is running in the background on the main screen and everywhere in my system.
It gives me a clear breakdown of how much memory and CPU, GPU, RAM, processor, and other resources are used and which one is consuming more. I have made this as a habit and always I shut down the non-essential tasks, browsers, apps or softwares. By keeping this window open on a second monitor and running the game on the another monitor helps me to quickly identify the spikes during gameplay.So, I usually avoid those things and this gives me a smoother gameplay.
| App Type | Example Programs | Impact on FPS | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Sync | OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive | High (disk & network load) | Pause sync before gaming |
| Chat & Overlay | Discord, Steam Overlay, Xbox Game Bar | Medium (GPU/CPU usage) | Disable overlays, close when not needed |
| Browsers | Chrome, Edge, Firefox | High (RAM & CPU usage) | Close all tabs and windows |
| Media & Music | Spotify, VLC, YouTube | Medium (CPU usage) | Close or switch to lightweight player |
| Updaters & Services | Adobe Updater, Windows Update | High (background CPU & disk) | Pause updates temporarily |
| Screen Capture Tools | OBS, ShadowPlay | Medium (GPU usage) | Turn off background recording |
Disable Auto-Start Programs
And after realizing these things which give a sudden spike in the graph, I disabled these programs according to the requirements. I have disabled some programs permanently until I enable them. I have disabled some programs while playing games and so on. I was literally shocked when I noticed that Spotify, Discord, Adobe services these secretly and quietly launch in the background.
When I go in the task manager, I see what the apps are currently running which are basically the main cause of lower FPS, system lagging, and delay. So these 3 were the main reasons if you are using any of these three programs, disable them as soon as possible. This not only speed up your system but will also increase your system’s FPS which will give you a smoother gameplay.
Turn Off Background Apps and Software
This heading is specifically for the content makers which actually make videos related to the gaming. Recording features are approximately given in all the operating systems. It can be Windows, it can be on Xbox, Gamebar, Nvidia, Shadowplay, Discord, and any other. These are very good for the content makers. They can make their content through this option.
But a few things must be noticed if you are facing delayed response, input lag, and lower FPS which ultimately not gives a smoother gameplay and also reduces your system’s performance. The things to be noticed are that when you are recording your screen, you should know which apps are running on the front end as well as in the background.
Immediately stop background apps. You can do this by going to the task manager and switching all the unnecessary apps off. Overlays are also used by the GPU power so you can turn it off if it is interrupting in your game. By doing these implementations, you will notice a very good gameplay. And do read all other sections too to enhance your system physically as well as digitally.
Lastly
Usually most of the people which are new in this field test their system’s FPS and then the apps that are killing the system’s FPS, lagging the system close them immediately and move on they doesn’t check the FPS again and again after closing those apps.
Using built-in FPS counters or softwares like MSI Afterburner I measure how much performance I gained by closing those apps it is satisfying that I see 10-15% spike but the most important thing is that do check your FPS on external sources.
You can use our tools page which is added in the header section you can simply click on the word tool, a tool page will open and you can test your FPS this will give a honest result and you will be clear that your system’s FPS checker and our website FPS checker are both giving the honest results or is there any other consideration too.
