// PLAIN-ENGLISH DIAGNOSIS
Gaming PC suddenly slow, or won’t load games? Check these, in order
It ran everything when it was new. Now it takes an age to start, games stutter or crash on the loading screen, and the one it was bought for will not open at all. Usually it is one of seven things, and they are worth checking in this order — most take five minutes and none needs a wipe.
Rated 4.9 on GoogleFamily-run since 1995 · no fix, no fee// 1 AND 2
A full drive, and a graphics driver that is out of date or broken
1. The drive is nearly full. Press the Windows key and type storage, then open Storage settings. If the main drive shows less than 10–15% free, that alone explains a great deal: games cannot unpack updates, Windows cannot make room to work, and everything queues. The quick wins are in the same screen — Temporary files, and the list of installed apps sorted by size, where three abandoned games can free 200 GB.
2. The graphics driver. New games need new drivers, and an update can also go wrong and leave a half-working one behind. Open the NVIDIA App (or GeForce Experience on older set-ups) or AMD Software: Adrenalin and check for a driver update. If games crash on launch or show a black screen right after an update, the fix is usually a clean reinstall of the driver, which the maker’s app offers as an option. Ten minutes, no wipe.
// NEED THIS FIXED RIGHT NOW?
Skip the DIY — call 01202 775566 and we can be looking at your screen within minutes. You watch everything we do, and most problems on this page are fixed in one short remote session. (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm.)
// 3 AND 4
Too much starting with Windows, and software from “free” downloads
3. The start-up crowd. Press Ctrl, Shift and Escape together to open Task Manager, then click Startup apps. Everything marked Enabled starts before the game does: Steam, Epic, Discord, the Xbox app, RGB lighting tools, three “updaters”. Disable what does not need to be there at boot — disabling never uninstalls anything. Then look at the Processes tab while a game is running: anything using a large share of the processor or memory that is not the game is a suspect.
4. Adware, miners and worse. This is the one parents rarely guess. Cracked games, mods from the wrong website, and “free V-Bucks / Robux / skins” tools are designed to carry software that runs in the background — sometimes mining cryptocurrency on the graphics card, which is why the games crawl. Run a full scan with Windows Security, then a second opinion with Malwarebytes (the free scan is enough). If either finds anything, the cleanup needs to be thorough, and it is worth changing the passwords used on that machine afterwards.
// 5 AND 6
Heat, and a Windows that never finished updating
5. Heat. The tell is a machine that is fine for a few minutes and then stutters, with fans roaring. A free tool such as HWiNFO or HWMonitor shows the processor and graphics card temperatures; sustained readings in the 90s (Celsius) mean the parts are slowing themselves down to survive. Heat only shows while a game is running, so check during play — the Gaming check in our free app, further down, can watch for you. The cause is nearly always dust in the fans and heatsinks, or a tower pushed into a cupboard with no airflow. Compressed air, done outside with the machine off, is the fix — and if it is a laptop, a cooling pad genuinely helps. More: laptop overheating and how hot a graphics card should get.
6. Windows half-updated. Open Settings, then Windows Update. A machine that has been switched off at the wall mid-update, or has had “remind me later” pressed for a year, can sit with updates pending that hold everything back — and games’ anti-cheat drivers often refuse to run until Windows is current. Let it finish and restart properly (Restart, not Shut down).
// 7, AND THE ONE THAT IS NOT A FAULT
A drive or card on its way out — and simply not enough machine
7. A failing part. A drive that is dying makes everything slow before it fails outright; the drive’s own health readings (Windows shows them, and tools like CrystalDiskInfo read them: how to check a drive’s health) will say so. A graphics card that crashes under load in every game, at normal temperatures, may be the card. Both are worth knowing before spending a weekend on software.
And then there is the one that is not a fault at all. A gaming PC bought two years ago with 8 GB of memory and a modest graphics card was fine for the games of two years ago. If the problem is only with one brand-new release, check its published minimum requirements against the machine; our free PC speed test and graphics card benchmark put a number on where it stands. The honest fix there is a memory upgrade, a card, or lower settings — not a clean-up.
// THE QUICK WAY
Let our free app check the graphics side
FREE · WINDOWS 10 & 11 · NO SIGN-UP
Gaming check: what’s really costing you frames
It reads each graphics card and how old its driver is. On NVIDIA cards it also shows the temperature, the point where the card slows itself down, the fan, and whether it’s running at the full speed its slot allows. Watch while I play keeps an eye on things for up to an hour while you game, then tells you how hot the card got and whether it slowed itself down (on cards that don’t report their temperature, it watches the processor instead). It checks Game Mode, the power mode, a screen running below its refresh rate, a laptop with two graphics chips, and the memory. Nothing changes unless you click a button.
In the app: My PC, then Gaming check.
Download 365 PC Manager free ↓What else it checks
Made by us, a family IT firm in Bournemouth since 1995, and digitally signed by 365 Techies Ltd.
// WHEN TO GET HELP
If you would rather someone else did the checking
All seven checks are safe for a parent or a teenager to do, and most of the time they find it. When they do not — or when the malware scan lit up, or the machine has the family’s business accounts on it and nobody wants to risk a wrong click — that is what our remote gaming PC tune-up is: we connect while you watch, go through everything above and the things behind it, repair the games that will not launch, and leave the machine fast, with nothing wiped and the price — from £65 — confirmed before we start.
If it turns out to be dust or a part, we say so straight, and the physical work is done by us, collected and returned free across Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset. Either way, you find out what it actually is before you spend anything.
FAMILY-RUN SINCE 1995 · ★ 4.9 ON GOOGLE · 200+ COMPUTERS UNDER OUR CARE · NO FIX, NO FEE · SAME-DAY REMOTE SUPPORT
// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Why are my games running slow all of a sudden?
When it is sudden — fine last week, slow today — something changed: usually a graphics driver or Windows update, the drive filling up, something new starting with Windows, or the PC switched to a power-saving mode. Heat creeps up more gradually, as dust builds. Work down the seven checks above, in order; most take five minutes.
Do I need to reinstall Windows to fix a slow gaming PC?
Almost never. A full drive, an old graphics driver, too much starting at boot, adware from a “free” download, dust, or a half-finished update explain nearly all of them, and every one is fixed without a wipe. A fresh installation is the last resort after serious malware, not the first step.
Why do games crash on the loading screen?
The usual suspects, in order: a graphics driver that needs a clean reinstall, a drive too full for the game to unpack what it needs, an anti-cheat driver waiting on a Windows update, and corrupted game files — which Steam and Epic can repair with their “verify game files” option. Overheating causes crashes a few minutes in rather than on loading.
My child downloaded a “free” game or a mod and it has been slow ever since. Is that the cause?
Very likely. Cracked games, mods from the wrong site and “free currency” tools are the commonest way a young person’s PC picks up adware or a hidden cryptocurrency miner, which uses the graphics card in the background. A full scan with Windows Security and Malwarebytes will usually show it; a thorough cleanup fixes it. No blame — these things are built to fool people.
Is a two-year-old gaming PC already too old?
No. Two or three years is young for a gaming PC; what changes is the clutter it accumulates and, sometimes, a new game asking for more memory or graphics power than it was bought with. A tune-up handles the first; a memory upgrade or lower settings handle the second. Replacing the whole machine is rarely the answer.
Can this be done remotely, or does the tower have to come to you?
Everything in the software list is done remotely while you watch, anywhere in the UK. Only dust, parts and memory upgrades need the machine physically — and for those we collect free across Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and Dorset.
// Still stuck?
Rather someone did the checking?
We tune up gaming PCs remotely while you watch — drive, drivers, start-up, malware, heat — with nothing wiped, from £65, confirmed before we start. Call 01202 775566 or text 07520 615332.
We’ll fix it with you
- Checking the problem is free
- Fixes from £20, agreed before we start
- We phone first, and you watch every step
Stop it happening again
- A full service every six weeks, written up
- Every program kept up to date
- Unlimited remote help when you need it
Plans from £18.25 a month per computer · cancel any time
Mon–Fri 9–5 · family-run since 1995 · rated 4.9 on GoogleRemote gaming PC tune-up →