Minecraft is one of the simplest and yet most acclaimed games in the last years, a title that has became very popular among gamers from all around the world. As simple as it may be, Minecraft is however quite demanding in computer resources. Based on the Java platform, its memory usage patterns grows slowly as the user plays, up to the limit when the computer stops responding or runs slower than usual.
Minecraft update with Optifine
While the issues that may arise depend mainly on the hardware configuration and all the other applications that run in background, the user is now able to reconfigure the game according to his or her needs.
All he or she has to perform a Minecraft update with the latest Optifine version and configure the game according to the hardware specifications of the computer. Basically, Optifine lets the user free memory and adjust the game visual settings in order to boost his experience while playing. A Minecraft update with Optifine doubles the FPS and makes it easy for the user to adjust rendering, weather, fog and other options that may render the computer unresponsive during play.
Understanding the performances and the need for Optifine
Minecraft performances are usually measured in Frames per Second (FPS) as opposed to the Lag or Latency which usually makes the game unplayable. A Minecraft update with the latest Optifine mod doubles the average frame rate of the game. But why are the FPS too little and the game slow? Well, there are many hardware and software factors that contribute to the “not-so-good” performances of the game.
1. GPU – The graphical processing unit is one of the most important hardware components for a gamer. Bigger rendered distances mean that the user will need a more capable GPU unit. Moreover, Minecraft uses only the traditional GPU features such as OpenGL 1.1 and OpenGL 1.2 released in 1998. The optional advanced OpenGL available through the Minecraft update uses the occlusion query extension released more recently, in 2003.
2. CPU – The Central Processing Unit or the processor affects the game play in several ways such as the way the world updates, the objects are rendered, the loading of the world and the way Minecraft operates while other applications are running in the background.
3. Memory – As we have said before, Minecraft is a simple game not very hungry for resources. However, there is one peace of resource that may become insufficient while running the game: Memory. By default, Minecraft is happy to have a minimum of 1GB RAM memory. The Java Virtual Machine however, allocate at least 50% more memory for itself.