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Game better with Game Booster 2 beta

IObit releases the second revision in beta of its popular Game Booster tool that helps optimize PCs for gaming purposes.

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews
CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
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Dong Ngo
2 min read

Game Boosters 2 offers much more than the previous version of the software.
Game Boosters 2 offers significant more than the previous version of the software. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET

It's always nice to squeeze just a few more frames per second for your games without having to invest in better hardware, and the Game Booster software that iObit released more than a year ago does a decent job in this regard.

Now the company plans to release a revision of the same software called Game Booster 2, currently in beta.

Similar to the original release, Game Booster 2 temporarily and quickly optimizes the system settings by turning off all services and background software that are not necessary to the gameplay. When the gaming is done, you can turn off the Game Mode to reverse all the system changes.

Game Booster 2 offers the following improvements over the previous version:

  • Hardware driver installation: The software detects the drivers of gaming-related hardware components--namely the graphics, sound, and network components--and checks to see if there are updated versions that can be downloaded. If there are, it will launch the browser direct to the download page.

  • Gaming tools update: Similar to the hardware's driver, Game Booster 2 helps download and update necessary game tools, including DirectX, Steam, Team Speak, and others.

  • Game files defragmentation: Game Booster 2 can quickly detect the installed games and the folders in which their data is stored. If files in these folders are fragmented, the software will quickly defragment them to help games load faster.

  • PC Tune Up: Apart from turning off settings for the Game Mode, Game Booster 2 can also further optimize the general speed of the computer by changing its UI and system settings. Unlike the Game Mode, this might require you to restart the computer before the changes apply.

Game Booster 2 beta will be available September 15, and it will be free. I have had the privilege of trying it out for about a week now and have been impressed with it.

The tool took just a few seconds to install. After that, you can zone in and out of the Game Mode via a convenient slide. Though I didn't see any significant boost in frame rates in my desktop (possibly because my gear is just so souped-up that there's no room for improvement), I did notice that the time required to switch between the game and the computer's desktop via Alt-Tabbing was close to instant, instead of the few seconds when Game Mode was turned off. The software also helped me discover that my drivers weren't updated and that I also needed to upgrade DirectX.

On my laptop, which is a MacBook Pro running Windows 7 via Boot Camp, the experience was actually much better in Game Mode. The machine even seemed to run cooler, as well. Overall, Game Booster 2 beta seemed to really work the way iObit claims.

According to iObit, the original version of Game Booster (version 1.0) has been downloaded more than 10 millions times. If you are one of the people who enjoys the first version, you should definitely check out the second version of this free tool.