Have you just bought yourself a new gaming PC, or did you build it yourself? Of course, many gamers know the necessary programs - at least Steam - but there are a number of other interesting applications that you will probably want to install.
This collection includes programs that will help you not only with games but also with optimizing the performance of your PC. These are the best free apps that will be useful for any gamer. But we are no less interested in your favorite programs - share them in the comments!
GAME STORE CUSTOMERS
Let's start with the places where we buy games. You no doubt know about Steam - it's a great online store with a huge number of games and a proven track record over the years. Until recently, it had practically no competitors, but in recent years the situation has changed, so for more complete coverage of the gaming market, it is worth installing the applications of several game stores, each of which has its own advantages.
For example, every month the Epic Games Store distributes not the newest, but very worthy games for free, and many titles are sold exclusively for at least a limited time after the release. GOG is famous for being DRM-free, with a rich selection of classic games and direct developer support, and the GOG Galaxy Launcher brings games from all platforms into a single library.
And these are only official stores - in addition to them, there are many services with a proven reputation where you can buy games at a discount. In the end, everything is determined by personal preferences and financial capabilities.
OPERA GX
Opera GX is not a simple browser, but a game one: it is optimized in such a way that it does not consume PC resources and network traffic beyond what is necessary, and it is also integrated with Discord and Twitch, which can be accessed directly from the sidebar. You can follow your favorite streamers and get notifications from your friends without having to navigate tabs.
By limiting the consumption of processor power and RAM, Opera GX can be kept open even if you have a demanding online game running - it will not “eat off” resources from it, as some other browsers like to do. You can share files between the mobile and desktop versions of the platform, and the built-in ad blocker will save you from annoying spam.
Finally, Opera GX has many themes with which you can personalize your browser, a separate service with a calendar of upcoming releases, information about discounts on games and free updates, current news from the gaming world, a built-in messenger, and a music player into which you can integrate popular Services. And even a free VPN.
IOBIT UNINSTALLER
Unlike consoles, uninstalling programs on a PC may not be as easy. After deleting some of them, content files still remain forgotten on your PC. But instead of manually searching your disks for everything related to the remote program, you can use the IObit uninstaller.
This one-click application can get rid of any unnecessary program and remove everything associated with it. A very simple but incredibly useful program. Especially if you have been playing on your PC for more than a year.
MALWAREBYTES
On a gaming PC, it is worth starting a number of security programs. If you accidentally downloaded an application from some website, it's a good idea to check your PC for viruses. There are a lot of antiviruses, and you probably know them - everything here is determined by personal preferences. But for our selection, we chose only free applications, so we recommend trying the free version of Malwarebytes.
It can scan your PC for viruses, malware, suspicious applications, and any other dangerous objects that infect your PC and prevent you from reaching your full potential.
LAUNCHBOX
Emulators and ROMs are a delicate subject. Collectors often prefer to play original releases of video games on physical media, and of course, we should not forget about the legal side of the issue. However, if you love games for old classic consoles, you probably had to download several emulators and ROMs - often there are simply no other options. Unfortunately, managing such a collection in order to play without difficulty can be quite difficult.
But instead of constantly scrolling through a long list of video games on your hard drive, we suggest using LaunchBox. This program conveniently organizes your ROMs and emulators, allowing gamers to easily search for games right from their controller.
Games can be divided into several categories - so it will be even easier to choose the right one. The program is free, although if you're willing to give up some money, we highly recommend purchasing the paid version - it has more features and tools that you should definitely get yourself.
F.LUX
Speaking of displays, players often prefer bright panels with plenty of options, from vibrant colors to a level of brightness that won't let you miss out on anything important in dark dungeon raids. But if you start playing in the late afternoon, the beautiful and bright display turns into a pain in the eyes.
Staring at a bright display late at night can be a little hard. When you turn on your computer in the dark, it's easy to forget that your monitor's brightness is set to daylight and expose your eyes to too much light. Pleasant little, but, fortunately, there is a program that can help you.
It is called F.lux and allows you to change the display settings depending on the time of day. If you turn on your computer in the early morning when the room is filled with bright natural light, the monitor will also be brighter according to the set schedule. With this program, your display will look great whether it's day or night - you no longer have to go into settings to manually change the brightness.
GAME SAVE MANAGER
It's not uncommon for computer users to add additional drives to back up their operating system, pictures, videos, and any other files they want to keep. This is no less important for gamers - few people are happy with a damaged file or hard drive.
If you're playing a long RPG or just want to keep your saves in a safe place, then we recommend downloading GameSave Manager. This program provides easy navigation through all the game saves on your computer so you can back them up somewhere else.
If you get unlucky with a hard drive crash or save corruption, you won't lose all your progress. The app also allows you to restore your save files, so don't worry, they're in good hands. You can play without fear of losing all your achievements and even take your saves with you in case you get a chance to play your favorite game away from home.
Like most of the programs on this list, GameSave Manager is completely free to download. But if you like it and want to support the developers, you can send them a donation via PayPal.
WINDIRSTAT
WinDirStat is another program for working with the drive. However, unlike the GameSave Manager discussed in the previous section, it helps you figure out what you can get rid of on your computer. Video games are constantly evolving, and when a new title comes out, you may need to make some space for it.
Games are growing in size all the time, so if you don't want to buy a new drive, or you just can't afford it, then the only thing left to do is decide what can be erased. WinDirStat is a great way to see what's on your discs. This application not only displays the usual layout of space distribution but also shows in a much more attractive way how much space a particular program takes up.
When you open an additional panel, the program will show several rectangles of different colors and sizes. The larger the size, the more space the file takes up on your disk. This is very handy if you need to see how much space a program or file is taking up, and it helps a lot when clearing space for installing a new game.
MSI AFTERBURNER
PC gaming is famous for the fact that if someone has taken the time to build a PC himself, he often does not stop there and likes to dig into it a little more. As new games come out, there is a desire to see if you can squeeze some more frames per second out of your system by tweaking the settings.
But in addition to in-game settings, you have a huge number of other features and tools at your disposal. One of the most popular and recognized is MSI Afterburner. This is a program for working with various video cards. The video card is one of the key elements of a gaming PC, which is why attempts to improve frame rates and stability often begin with it.
MSI Afterburner allows gamers to take control of their graphics card. You can overclock it for maximum performance, set an fps limit, and use a detailed monitoring system to assess how much you can load the video card without compromising security. You can even launch a monitoring app on your smartphone and change settings without having to leave the game. So if you want to get a little more out of your gaming PC, this program is definitely worth considering.
SUPERF4
Everyone has faced this problem in life. The program on the PC suddenly freezes and you can't even exit it. Moreover, some programs don't support the standard Alt+F4 combination at all.
That's why we recommend installing SuperF4. With this app, gamers can close any active program with Ctrl+Alt+F4. It is quite small, but very useful, especially if you have programs that often refuse to close.
KEYTWEAK
Most often, the developers are quite generous to the players and give them the opportunity to change the controls. However, in some games, the authors for some reason decided that the player is obliged to adhere exclusively to the control scheme that they came up with. If you've ever encountered games where you can't remap keys, KeyTweak can solve this problem.
Its functionality exactly matches the name. Gamers will be able to customize the keys and create a control scheme that best suits them. The app is pretty easy to get to grips with - it displays the entire keyboard and lets you remap keys to make it work in-game.
This is much easier than digging through the registry or additional files. The best thing is that after the game is over, the program can return the key layout to its original state with a single click of a button. Of course, there are some limitations here - for example, you cannot bind an entire combination to one key or use Fn on most laptops. But in any case, you will be pleasantly surprised at how useful this program can be, even if you only need a slight tweak to the control scheme.
BORDERLESS GAMING
Whether it's a story-driven adventure or a simple game to kill time, you're probably playing in full-screen mode. And for the few games that don't, we suggest using a program called Borderless Gaming.
This is another simple and small but very useful program. It allows the player to run any game in frameless full-screen mode. In addition, it saves you from many other inconveniences. For example, there are games that do not support the Alt+Tab key combination for switching to another program or viewing the manual.
Borderless Gaming will allow you to minimize the game and set up a playlist, read the guide, and even open another application without fear that the game will crash. In addition, the application is open-source, which means that anyone can contribute.
SHAREX
There are many ways to immortalize beautiful views or funny moments from games, but we recommend Sharex. This program not only allows you to easily take screenshots but also has rich functionality.
For example, Sharex can automatically watermark your pictures. It is also possible to automatically upload images to hostings.
If you delve a little deeper into the settings, you can see that the program not only allows you to easily take screenshots but can also improve their quality, as well as form the necessary names. Forget about the times when you had to use the ancient PrintScreen key and process screenshots in an image editor to bring all the little details to mind before posting a picture on the web. Believe me, this application will save you a lot of time.
OBS STUDIO
If you like to record your gameplay on video and share it online or use streaming services like Twitch, you probably know a lot of programs for this purpose. One of the best we can recommend is OBS Studio.
It not only records video but also has convenient streaming functionality. The source code is open, allowing any user with sufficient knowledge to help update the application. Among the features of the program are a sound mixer with many filters, several scenes for recording various screens or cameras, as well as a convenient interface layout system. As already mentioned, the program allows you to stream and is supported on Twitch and YouTube.
NEXUS MOD MANAGER
Nexus Mod Manager is a program worth downloading if you like to play with mods. It's basically a mod manager that makes installing mods for some video games incredibly easy, although the list of supported mods and games is worth checking out because certain projects don't support this program. It is also worth recalling that the use of modifications can affect your account - therefore, we once again recommend that you carefully look at games and mods before proceeding with their installation.
This manager allows you to download custom mods available online as well as organize the mods you use. Currently, the most popular mods for games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and XCOM. Of course, it doesn't work with all games, but it does support the most popular open-world games. In the future, we will certainly see the list of supported games expand - so bookmark the application page to be aware of what new games will be included there.
GEFORCE EXPERIENCE
If you have an Nvidia graphics card, then you should definitely install GeForce Experience. This is a useful program with rich functionality. In particular, it helps to ensure that you always have the latest graphics card drivers.
In addition to providing timely updates, the application allows gamers to record and publish videos from their games using a special recording system that supports streaming. Another interesting feature of the program is the optimization of the game settings in accordance with the configuration of your PC.
As mentioned above, this program only supports Nvidia graphics cards, but for AMD users, there is an AMD Radeon application with similar functionality.
SPECCY
If you don't remember the components of your PC or didn't build it yourself at all, a utility called Speccy can help. There are many programs with similar functionality (for example, CPU-Z or AIDA64), but here the interface and navigation are especially convenient. The application allows gamers to see all their hardware, including the processor, memory, and video card. In addition, there is a nice summary of useful information about each of them, such as temperature, frequency, and various model numbers.
Keeping an eye on the temperature of your components is always a good idea. Overheating can cause stability issues and potentially shorten life. This program will give you an idea of whether you should change the cooler and whether your case has enough air circulation.
PC DECRAPIFIER
Often after buying a computer, it is clogged with useless programs that run when you boot up your PC and can clutter up and slow down your computer. Manufacturers often install applications that may seem useful at first glance, but in fact, turn out to be garbage.
This is where PC Decrapifier will help you. This is a great program to free your new computer from all unnecessary applications. But it can be no less useful for those who have been using a computer for a long time. If you notice that your PC has become slower over time, this may be due to the fact that it has accumulated a lot of useless programs that waste valuable resources. In this case, just insert the flash drive with the program and let it do all the dirty work.
As with buying a new PC, PC Decrapifier will detect any programs that are hardly used or considered garbage and recommend you remove them. After that, your computer will probably run faster again.
ULTRAMON
Ultramon is another simple yet useful tool for gamers. If you have multiple monitors, you may run into some issues. Not the fact that they will arise, but in order to avoid inconvenience or difficulties in the future, it is better to download UltraMon.
This application allows users to set up several different monitor configurations. It supports wallpapers, screensavers and helps you to be more productive. Even if you have already configured everything to your taste, this program will allow you to achieve even greater possibilities and stability.
PRIME95
If you like to dig into your gaming PC, then you have probably tried to overclock it. This is a good way to increase its speed and improve performance in the latest games, which can potentially be heavy on your hardware.
But when assembling and overclocking, you should be careful and do not forget about the stability of your system. The Prime95 app will help with this. It allows the user to monitor the stability of the processor and memory. With its tests, you can find out how successful the overclocking was and whether there are any hidden problems that should be fixed before starting the game.
DISCORD
Chatting with friends online is very easy, and there are a wide variety of programs for this. But the most popular of them among the bulk of gamers is Discord. This is a VoIP application that allows you to communicate with friends via text or voice chat.
Discord is used by almost all gamers, and it's incredibly easy to set up a private channel in which your team or group of friends can chat while playing. In addition, in this application for gamers, you can chat with many popular media people on the network and in various thematic channels.
Thanks to the simplicity and popularity of Discord, you can ditch Skype altogether and keep Discord as your primary online communication app. What's more, if you don't want to install the program on your own computer or you're playing on someone else's, you can still chat with your friends online using the web client.
JOYTOKEY
The JoyToKey app is similar in many ways to Keytweak, which we reviewed above. However, unlike Keytweak, it allows you to remap not keyboard keys, but gamepad buttons. As you know, many controllers don't work very well in certain video games.
And while most games work seamlessly with Microsoft Xbox controllers, you can still run into problems if the game doesn't support anything other than a keyboard and mouse, or is simply too old to support a gamepad. This application will allow you to bypass such restrictions.
FLAWLESS WIDESCREEN
If you've succumbed to the ultra-wide monitor frenzy, you've probably experienced image issues in games a couple of times. Some games still don't support ultra-wide monitors, so they have to be played with black borders around the edges. And it’s not worth talking about old games - they always have this problem.
If you need a simple solution, we recommend Flawless Widescreen. It helps to adjust the field of view to fit some games on a widescreen. Unfortunately, not all games are supported, but there is a list of them on the application page. Most popular AAA games are included.
Hopefully, over time, developers will take into account that some gamers like an ultra-wide display more than a traditional gaming monitor. In the meantime, you can use Flawless Widescreen.
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