A Software Suit that Will Squeeze a bit More Juice from your Aging Rig

Razer Cortex is a free game performance booster that offers a simple interface and a decent set of options that should help your aged machine get a few more frames in games, by optimizing PC performance and stopping unnecessary background processes. This is a software tool that helps PCs with a limited amount of RAM use their resources to the max, without compromising system stability. However, it isn’t made for everyone and is mostly designed for a budget to mid-range computers that keep lacking capacity due to their hardware limitations.

Razer Cortex is very successful at optimizing your disk cache, disabling unnecessary Windows services, as well as changing network settings. Also, it offers file defragmentation and boosts your PC performance, especially during games, which is its main goal, after all.

Keep in mind that this software package brings an opportunity for better game performance; however, it doesn’t bring miracles.

Therefore, don’t expect your ten-year-old machine to suddenly become a gaming monster. Something like that simply won’t happen, because of the limitations of the optimizing software in general, as well as the Razer Cortex’ design that mainly targets decent PCs, yet with the limited amount of RAM, or slower CPU speeds.

Features

When talking about its main features, it should be stated that the Razer Cortex brings an easy-to-use interface, with plenty of customization options, and that it comes without annoying ads and pop-ups, so common for free software.

Also, this software comes with an excellent game aggregation and includes more than 15 game storefronts, allowing for simple price comparisons and ease finding of best prices, giveaways, etc. What is even better is that this storefront includes Steam, Humble Store, Epic, and GOG.com.

However, there is one serious limitation to this, and that is that this feature only works in a limited number of countries that include the USA, UK, China, France, Brazil, Germany, and Canada. Therefore, if you are among the unlucky ones that live outside of these countries, you will have to forget about this option.

Have in mind that Razer Cortex works with Windows 7, 8, and 10. Therefore, the majority of our readers won’t have any problems using it. Also, each of its features is free to use and there are no paid premium options, which will certainly save you some money.

Usage

Where the Razer Cortex shows its best sides is its usage. Most importantly, this software is easy to use and can even be handled by youngsters.

On the other hand, what isn’t that great is its support. Yes, you have the FAQ section about it on the Razer site, as well as a forum dedicated to it. There is also the Master Guide that gives you instructions on how to use it; however, that guide is from more than half a decade ago (2014), which is outdated, to say the least.

In other words, everything you need is there, yet it requires a bit of refurbishment.

Using Razer Cortex also comes with advantages of its own – the ability to collect the Razer Silver that allows you to exchange them for Razer hardware and games. Nonetheless, have in mind that you have to be a pretty dedicated player to get enough silver to buy anything. For instance, you will need 10 minutes of play for like three years to collect enough silver, to buy the cheapest Razer mouse available, which is a lot.

Speaking in numbers, except that the Razer Cortex can save you up to 2GB of RAM by disabling Windows services, which will certainly give a few frames on high memory consumption games on limited RAM configurations.

Also, have in mind that System Clean does a great job in cleaning temporary files; however, it isn’t as great at deleting your old files, and some other system utilities will do a much better job.

Interface

Another positive side of the Razer Cortex is its interface that comes with the bright Razer neon green theme and is separated into four segments: Game Booster, System Booster, Deals, and Rewards.

The interface itself is attractive-looking and intuitive to use and involves plenty of options that should help with your optimization and provide a better gaming experience.

Good

Razer Cortex is generally a very good software tool that brings free PC gaming optimization, allowing for a smart use of your computer’s limited resources, letting you get the most for your money. It is easy to use and it comes with a ton of customization options.

In addition, there are no paid ads, or annoying pop-ups, while every feature is available to everyone. On top of that, it is compatible with the past three iterations of Windows (7, 8, and 10), which means it can be used by a large base of users and it does offer an improvement in performance, which makes it a pretty good deal.

Bad

Its bad sides are luckily only small things, such as its narrow target market, which involves only the mid-range and budget-friendly configurations, while the office and workstation optimization is more of a side duty for it.

Also, although the Razer Cortex does help in gaming, there is the question of what processes and services it stops in Game Boosting mode. In other words, a bit more transparency in that department wouldn’t harm anyone.

On top of that, its system cleaning may be insufficient for some. Yes, its performance is great in cleaning temporary files; however, cleaning old files would require an upgrade, to keep the Razer Cortex head to head with the best game boosting software out there.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Razer Cortex is not the almighty software that will make all of your PC weaknesses go away; however, it will bring more than enough to improve your rig’s performance, and it is free of charge.

Yes, there are probably better optimizing software solutions, such as IObit Advanced SystemCare that has better security, registry tools, and better file management; nonetheless, it is not optimized for gaming, and its main market is office and workstation machines.

Also, there is the AVG TuneUp that is modern, and on a par with Razer Cortex, with the important difference that it brings an explanation to each task, giving you the feeling of security and confidence. However, it does a similar job as the Razer Cortex, not giving you any real advantage.

In other words, if you want the most from the optimizing software, Razer Cortex is certainly one of the better free solutions out there that will save one or two gigabytes of RAM that can be crucial for a more than visible gaming performance improvement. Therefore, if that is something you are looking for, you may be sure that the Razer Cortex is the thing for you.