Must have software?

[TechRookie16]

I've been looking on the internet and I couldn't really find a list (other then really outdated lists) so here it goes, what software is a must have for your PC gaming system?

1) FRAPS
2) Precision X


Two I had never heard of until I was searching around just now:
1) CCleaner
2) Daemon tool

 

[Karstein]

There are a lot of good candidates on: http://ninite.com/. Really useful when setting up a new PC.

 

[Zeze]

Keep your system clean & run these regularly. It's key to getting the most performance out of your games:

1. CCleaner
2. Avast AV
3. Malwarebytes (this is more important than virus. I haven't detected a virus in ages, but few malwares here and there).

Get your favorite GPU OC'ing software. Trixx is good for Radeon cards. AMD Overdrive too. You get easily get 12-17% performance boost from stock cooling. I mean, that's free 12-17% or free upgrade!

 

[TechRookie16]

Ninite, very very cool- thank you

 

[moonbogg]

cpu-z
coretemp
fraps
prime 95
microsoft security essentials (or other protection program)
precision x (mostly for GPU usage, temps and clock speed info)
team speak
BF3
datacolor spyder4 (monitor calibration)
sisoft sandra
cinebench 11.5

 

[Munky]

I don't have most of those things on my gaming/workhorse system, and don't care. Why is it "must have?"

 

[Zorander]

That's a lot of software to install just to game. And one wonders why so many would rather game on consoles.

For me, the bare minimum to getting good gaming experience is to ensure my drivers (particularly for GPU) and Windows (Service Packs & DirectX) are up-to-date. Some games seem to demand that PhysX is installed so I have that installed as well.

Daemon Tool is useful if you game from ISO files, rather than optical discs, but otherwise not necessary. AV programs are crucial for system security but otherwise does not directly improve gaming performance. A lot of the others mentioned are monitoring tools, but if you don't care about that, not having them installed won't kill your gaming experience either. I will mention Speedfan as I use it to manually fine-tune my case fan speed (high speed during gaming & really low speed otherwise). Again, not necessary if you don't care about controlling your fan speeds and monitoring temperature.

 

[ImpulsE69]

None of that is really needed -- except maybe the malware stuff. I'd always advise that, but most of that is fine when you are setting stuff up, but you never need it again after that.

Only things you need -- The games, and decent drivers for your hardware. I run a very minimal system and have never had issues.

 

[Skott]

They are must haves if you need something that does what each program offers. You'll find pc enthusiasts that build their own, overclock and constantly tweak, and do serious gaming will use most, if not all, those in moonbogg's list. Does the average gamer need all those? No, just use what you need as suggested.

 

[gorcorps]

windows
chrome
flash

with those I can entertain myself for DAYS :awe:

 

[DominionSeraph]

DirectX

 

[Borealis7]

have the least amount of software running while you're gaming. i don't want bloatware to hog all my Megahurtz.
FRAPS is for 13 year-olds who like to show off their uber-skillz or e-peen FPS, useless for anything else on a gaming machine.

 

[Soccerman06]

cpu-z Helps with voltage and actual system info
coretemp What cpu usage is, helps with temps and stress testing
fraps Record anything whenever
prime 95 Stress testing
microsoft security essentials (or other protection program) Antivirus
precision x (mostly for GPU usage, temps and clock speed info) Gpu overclock
team speak And/or other communication programs like mumble or ventrillo
BF3 um?
datacolor spyder4 Monitor calibration
sisoft sandra Ram stress test
cinebench 11.5 Benchmark

stuff

 

[greenhawk]

must have as in I carry it around on a thumb drive?

adaware
spybot
ccleaner
media player classic
cccp codec pack

anything after that is "to taste"

 

[Rifter]

have the least amount of software running while you're gaming. i don't want bloatware to hog all my Megahurtz.
FRAPS is for 13 year-olds who like to show off their uber-skillz or e-peen FPS, useless for anything else on a gaming machine.

Yeah i mean why would you want to take screenshots or video record your gaming.

Fraps is probably my most used gaming software after the games themselves, and is far from useless.

 

[Borealis7]

Fraps is probably my most used gaming software after the games themselves, and is far from useless.

i couldn't care less how other people play their games (i'm an "old-spirited" 29-year-old ) and i'm sure no one else wants to see how i play. plus, i dont bench my rig so...pretty useless.

 

[Rifter]

i couldn't care less how other people play their games (i'm an "old-spirited" 29-year-old ) and i'm sure no one else wants to see how i play. plus, i dont bench my rig so...pretty useless.

If nothing else screenshots are worth their weight in gold when submitting bug reports to devs, this is mostly what i use them for, that and sharing gaming pics online with freinds.

 

[Tweak155]

Yeah I was about to ask... why is FRAPS must have?

Me:

Drivers (obvs)
Adobe Acrobat Reader
DirectX (usually auto installed by a game anyway)
Flash
Chrome / Safari

 

[EDUSAN]

latest graphic card drivers...

thats it

 

[Puppies04]

I wouldn't use CCleaner if you paid me and I do hope all you people advocating it make regular backups because you are one click away from an unbootable system every time you run it.

 

[gitano]

http://www.gamesave-manager.com/

for backup and restore Game saves

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I wouldn't use CCleaner if you paid me and I do hope all you people advocating it make regular backups because you are one click away from an unbootable system every time you run it.

How did it screw up your system? I've been using it for quite a while now, and have had zero issues.