There are few things more exciting than booting up your brand new gaming PC for the first time. I remember my first build like it was yesterday – the frustration and choice words when hooking up power cables, and the eventual but incredibly sweet triumph of pressing the power button and watching it whirr to life.
If you just booted up your new PC for the first time, there are a few key things you should check to ensure everything runs smoothly.
1. Check your monitor's resolution and refresh rate
If your new setup includes a high-refresh-rate gaming monitor, be sure to verify that the correct settings are enabled in Windows.
Otherwise, it'll probably be limited to 60Hz by default, and you don't want to be leaving performance on the table (literally).
Here's how to locate these settings and change them in Windows 11.
- In an Nvidia-powered system (if you have an Nvidia graphics card), right-click your desktop. Click "Show more options." Then select "NVIDIA Control Panel."
- On the left-side nav menu, choose "Change resolution" under the Display category.
- Make sure the correct monitor is selected if you have multiple. Now you can check the display resolution, and click the "Refresh rate" drop-down menu to bump it to the highest setting.
If you don't have an NVIDIA graphics card, here's how to change display resolution and refresh rate directly in Windows.
- Located at the bottom of the screen, open your taskbar's search menu.
- Type "display" and click "Display settings."
- Make sure the correct monitor is selected if you have multiple. You can click "Identify" to see which one is set as the primary display.
- Scroll down to the "Display resolution" drop-down menu and make sure it's on the highest setting.
- Scroll further to "Advanced display." The drop-down menu next to "Choose a refresh rate" will let you change your monitor's refresh rate in Windows 11.
A high refresh rate is key to gaining a competitive edge in FPS and esports titles, where every frame counts (such as Counter-Strike 2, Rocket League, and Marvel Rivals).
Make sure you're getting the performance you paid for!
2. Get rid of bloatware
Windows 11, which likely came installed on your PC, is a solid operating system overall. But it's not without its faults.
One of the biggest pain points in Microsoft's latest OS is bloatware.
Bloatware is any application you did not choose to install that negatively impacts your computer's performance and storage space.
I wrote an easy-to-follow tutorial on how to find and remove bloatware from Windows 11, so be sure to check it out to free up gigabytes of storage and cut out programs that may bog down performance.
3. Install and update your drivers
Drivers are important for ensuring everything in your setup runs as it's meant to. The key drivers to check are graphics card and peripherals (accessories).
To access your graphics card, open your graphics software. If you're using an Nvidia GPU, you'll need the Nvidia app. It may come pre-installed on your system; otherwise, it's a quick download from the Nvidia website.
When you open the app for the first time, it may prompt you to choose between a "Game Ready Driver" and an "NVIDIA Studio Driver" installation. As you can probably guess, go with Game Ready drivers if you're mainly using your PC for gaming.
I would recommend you untick "Optimize games and creative applications" if prompted – while it's not the worst thing to leave on, it can mess with in-game settings in ways you don't want at times – you can always manually tweak options in specific games yourself, or enable Nvidia's optimization later.
Head to the Drivers section on the left-side nav menu and download the latest driver version. Your screen may go dark for a moment while it installs - this is completely normal.
Once the new drivers are set up, restart your PC to ensure everything runs smoothly.
For AMD Radeon-based GPUs, go to AMD's Drivers and Support for Processors and Graphics page. Download and run the Windows Drivers installer. It'll auto-detect your graphics card and present the latest driver version for you to download and install.
For peripherals such as your mouse, keyboard, and headphones, the drivers are located in the brand's customization app. For instance, if you have a Corsair mouse, download Corsair iCUE to install the latest drivers and firmware.
4. Familiarize yourself with Task Manager
Windows Task Manager isn't just for terminating stubborn apps - it's also a quick and easy way to check a number of important processes.
Right-click your taskbar, then click "Task Manager." The first page that shows up, Processes, will give you an overview of what's currently running and how many resources the app is using.
Tip: Click the three vertical lines at the top of the nav bar to see Task Manager page names.
Then, on the left-side nav bar, select the second option in the list that looks like a heartbeat monitor to get to the Performance section.
From this page, you can:
- Check your CPU utilization at idle and during use
- See how much total RAM you're using under Memory
- Identify which drives relate to which root directory (C:, D:, etc.)
- Make sure you're using your graphics card (instead of integrated graphics) and check its temperature
You can also use Task Manager to take care of my next suggestion, which is...
5. Check Windows startup apps
Startup apps, as the name suggests, are applications that run immediately upon logging into your PC.
While this can be helpful for apps you want to use just about every day, like Steam or Battle.net, it can also be incredibly annoying when apps that you don't want to use pop up (looking at you, Copilot).
So, to edit your startup apps in Windows 11, you have two options:
- Edit them directly from the Startup apps page of the Task Manager, which is discussed in the previous section. Simply right-click the app you want to edit and choose Enable or Disable.
- Change startup apps from Windows settings. Open your taskbar's search menu and type "startup," then click "Startup Apps." From this page, toggle the apps on or off.
If there are a bunch of apps you don't need enabled on startup, disabling them can drastically reduce the time it takes for your PC to become responsive after booting up.
6. Set your default audio devices
Default audio device settings is something Windows has pretty much always been funky about.
You'll be using the same headphones for months, then Windows will decide to change your default audio device to the VR headset your friend brought over one time, leaving you wondering why your headphones are on but playing no sound.
You're just going to have to get used to it, so it's a good idea to learn about it right from the beginning.
In your taskbar's search menu, type "manage output" and select "Manage output sound devices." Here you can see all of the audio devices your PC recognizes. Choose the audio device you'll be using most often, like your gaming headset, and make sure it says "Default device."
If it doesn't, click on the arrow next to it's name. Here, next to "set as default sound device," select "Use as default for audio."
Next, head back to the Sound page from the options at the top of the window. If you have a standalone microphone, or a mic attached to your headset, make sure it's the default audio input device using the same method.
If your sound stops working seemingly at random one day, there's a good chance Windows switching around your active devices is the reason why.
7. Run some benchmarks
With everything else set up and out of the way, 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-heavy programs, and a baseline for how to tweak your in-game graphics settings.
Check out Matt Hanson's tutorial on how to benchmark your graphics card for in-game metrics, and our roundup of the best benchmark software for all-in-one benchmarks, CPU-specific tests, and more.
Lastly, check the settings menus for any games you download in the future. Some will have dedicated benchmarking options for you to run.
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