Gaming GameBooster, anyone use it?

[Aijelsop]

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

I looked into this because my computer isn't the best for gaming.

Does anyone use this? Is it really safe? I've read reviews on how awesome it is, and some how bad it is...

What exactly does it do? Close processes not necessary? How safe is closing all these processes?

 

[celcodioc]

I've used it once, and if I recall correcly it didn't do anything besides closing processes and stopping services. I didn't notice any performance boost. Apparently the pro version "tweaks and optimizes your system" but I doubt it does something that's worth the money. If you're using Windows 7 I suggest looking into this maintenance guide and this tweak guide (General Windows 7 Performance Tweaks section only unless it is installed on a SSD).

EDIT: Fixed maintenance guide link

 

[Skyline969]

As far as I'm concerned on a higher-end machine Game Booster will barely make a difference, maybe 1~2 FPS difference. But yeah, all it really does is stop non-essential Windows services and close some background applications.

As for celcodioc's tweak guide he posted, do not listen to the SSD optimization part. Disabling the page file is a very bad idea (the best place for a page file is a SSD, since it's so fast). That, and the majority of those things mentioned are already done when Windows is installed onto a SSD, such as disabling disk defragmenter, disabling Superfetch, etc.

If you really want to get more out of your system, the best thing to do is either downgrade to Windows XP on a lower-end system, or shell out the cash for more RAM (no more than 8GB, because then it's a waste unless you're virtualizing operating systems) and upgrade your video card.

 

[Rydian]

These softwares are generally snake oil, charging you to do what you can do yourself in 5 minutes.

With most machines the issue is a shitty/integrated GPU. Software can't fix that.

However if your specs are fine and it is a software issue, check this out.
http://gbatemp.net/topic/272667-general-windows-maintenance-guide/

 

[I am r4ymond]

I use it everyday, but I don't really notice a huge boost in performance whenever I play games. Rydian is pretty much right. I used GameBooster on my completely crappy desktop, and it helps it just a bit. But when I use GameBooster on my mid-ranged gaming laptop, it hardly makes a difference. The only process I think that my crappy desktop's GPU can't handle while playing games is Desktop Windows Manager. I've played games with DWM on my laptop....same performance.

 

[Aijelsop]

My computer has 3GB ram, but the max it can have is 4GB. I'm fine with 3GB.
It's my video card that's slow. It's decent, but I do need an upgrade. How would I find out what video card I can use?
Are there any services like Crucial's system scanner to show which video cards would be good for me?

 

[FIX94]

LOL gamebooster, I used it YEARS ago! In my opinion it's useless, never helped me. It may gives you 1fps more with luck but that's it.

 

[Porobu]

I use it in my netbook, i get 10 or more FPS on Pj64, but doesnt work for gpu intensive games

 

[Valwin]

it screw my game never use it again

 

[Rydian]

My computer has 3GB ram, but the max it can have is 4GB. I'm fine with 3GB.
It's my video card that's slow. It's decent, but I do need an upgrade. How would I find out what video card I can use?
Are there any services like Crucial's system scanner to show which video cards would be good for me?

The issue with video cards is that there's also the size of your case and your PSU's power to take into account, and those can't be detected via software.

As for the motherboard requirements, run this program and take a screenshot.
http://www.filehippo.com/download_speccy

 

[coolness]

i use this when playing my games
but still my laptop is as fast as a walking sandwich

 

[Hatchetball]

Used it awhile back, still have a RAR of it. It didn't do much. Like others said it closes a few processes... it doesn't really do anything.
Not even the Pro version of it does anything benifitial for 99% of games.

 

[1NOOB]

what about winmate? http://www.t55.net/ my friend s computer was old , tried this and seem faster (but finally i just removed vista and put win7 on it rofl)

 

[JiN1337]

This doesn't work at all. All it does is just do things like disable Windows Aero theme, and Indexing Service. And if you're going to pay for it, big mistake. I'm not saying pirate it, but I'm basically saying don't even get it at all. The best way to get games to work better and your computer to work faster, is simply to upgrade the hardware, there's no way around it.

 

[SolidMario7]

I've used it once, and if I recall correcly it didn't do anything besides closing processes and stopping services. I didn't notice any performance boost. Apparently the pro version "tweaks and optimizes your system" but I doubt it does something that's worth the money. If you're using Windows 7 I suggest looking into this maintenance guide and this tweak guide (General Windows 7 Performance Tweaks section only unless it is installed on a SSD).

EDIT: Fixed maintenance guide link

Game booster pro has been canned for quite awhile. Latest version is 3.1 and is 100% free. Anyways...it only makes a big difference if you got a lot of non-windows processes and services running. As said before you can fix that your self. But if you want those running when you not playing games, game booster would be a quick way to turn those off then on when you done. The tweaks help a bit too. All other things it does only make a small difference. Best thing to do is give your PC full maintenance as said in quote.

 

[Bently]

Gamebooster has helped me a little bit but hardly makes any difference. there's another software called gboost which is essentially the same thing but I see a 10fps increase when playing Starcraft 2 on my low-end laptop.

 

[Fluto]

It made he diference on a crap laptop by 20fps, but on my pc it was 2fps in minecraft

 

[Schlupi]

I used to use it to make Minecraft run faster on lower end, ancient laptops for my friends. It was able to make a huge difference in FPS for those (from 2-10 to 20-25) but that was it. On my PC it does near nothing noticeable.

 

[Aijelsop]

Graphics card suggestions?

 

[Originality]

We can suggest graphics cards, but what's your budget? Somehow I don't see you buying a GTX 590 any time soon.