Intel Backs Hypertune Auto-Overclocking Tool With Up To 60% FPS Gains
So what is Hypertune? Well, it's kind of like HP's Omen Gaming Hub, which the company includes with its Omen gaming PCs. Only, where the Omen Gaming Hub is this massive, unwieldy tool that includes a game store, forums, and a wallpaper shop, Hypertune is obviously more focused on the performance tuning aspect. The creator, a Miami-based tech firm called Compready, lists "memory optimization, network optimization, "selective features", "optimize your hardware", and "debloat your whole system," alongside the obvious CPU and GPU overclocking, as the app's full suite of capabilities.
The company claims that Hypertune can "boost FPS in all games," and that it "safely optimizes your PC on hardware level [sic], without triggering any anti-cheat." (At least we know the page wasn't AI-generated.) The firm gives arbitrary FPS numbers, like "30-200" for Counter-Strike 2, without any information about what that means or what hardware is being tested. It also claims that nothing is permanent, and that you can roll back any of the changes "in one click."
To be clear, we haven't tried Hypertune, but the website really doesn't put the app's best foot forward. It opens with a frankly ridiculous comparison that depicts 130 FPS in Valorant as an unplayably laggy experience, and claims that it can take "your PC" to 210 FPS because you're leaving performance on the table. Sometimes, that's true, like with the HP Omen Max 45L desktop we reviewed that came with quite fancy RAM running at JEDEC speeds. Fixing issues like that can absolutely give a marked performance uplift.
The question is, do you need a $10/month subscription for this service? Nothing Hypertune is doing is anything you can't do yourself with a little know-how and an afternoon spent tweaking. There's something to be said for convenience, for sure, and while the "one-click" claim is as dubious as it ever is, it's true that tuning apps like this can make the process considerably smoother than it might otherwise be. It's also true that the "60%" claim, which originates from data given to GamesBeat by Hypertune, relies on changing the game settings like GeForce Experience.
It's not as if Hypertune came out of nowhere, either; while Compready was only founded in 2022, co-founder Austin "Apex" Copeland (a former eSports competitor and coach for TSM) says that the app is built on "three decades of experience in manually tuning systems." More encouraging is the participation of Pieter Plaisier, better known as Skatterbencher, whose absurd achievements in system tuning we've reported on in the past.
Intel's Involvement In Hypertune Runs Deep
Further boosting the company's credibility is that the app was developed in cooperation with Intel. It's actually based directly on Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility SDK, allowing it to talk directly to the hardware for performance adjustments on the fly. According to Copeland, "it took a lot of convincing" to get Intel on board with the project, but the chipmaker has apparently "stepped up tremendously" for Hypertune.
Still, it's difficult to get past the fact that the service is presented as a subscription. What happens when you stop paying? Does the app un-do its tweaks? What's stopping you from simply re-applying the same settings manually? Hypertune says it is a subscription service "because PC optimization isn't a 'set it and forget it' task." I personally beg to differ, but the firm says that its team "works around the clock to update [its] logic so your PC stays optimized for the latest software." Software and game updates don't typically change overclocking settings, but I've only been doing this since the Am386, so maybe Hypertune knows something I don't.
If you're keen to try out the service, Hypertune does offer a 7-day trial period during which you can get a full refund if you don't notice a difference. If you want the personalized touch, Hypertune also separately offers individualized system optimization by "expert engineers," apparently performed over Discord and potentially involving a system reformat; no word on how much that service costs.
