Introduction

Gamers are always looking for the extra edge, those additional few frames per second, the best graphics and performance possible. Those extras give them the needed edge against the competition. When they hit a hardware bottleneck, gamers turn their attention to software and game settings, trying to tweak their way to the next few performance gains. It's similar to car enthusiasts tuning their cars, but rather in this case, computers are being tuned.

But exactly how does one go about tweaking their system for a particular game? There is always the guess and check method, usually my preferable method for anything and everything. However, that isn't always the best choice. Many checkout and follow guides which are becoming more readily available on the internet, but not all of these are thorough or even accurate for that matter. That is where my interview subject Koroush Ghazi, comes in.

Koroush Ghazi created TweakGuides.com in April 2004. It's become a central point for finding comprehensive tweak guides for various games, applications and overall computer systems.

Time for Some Q& A

GameApex: What was your initial motivation for starting TweakGuides?

Koroush: I started off doing tweak guides on Tweaktown.com back in 2002 and after a couple of years, I got tired of working for someone else. So I bit the bullet and basically decided to start up my own site just for guides.

GameApex: Extremely understandable. It's probably much more enjoyable working for yourself.

Koroush: Sure, and it was a hobby in any case, so I figured why not do it on my own site. It wasn't really about income or anything like that at the time, so I could take that risk

GameApex: Has TweakGuides become your primary focus as of late with how active has it become?

Koroush: Yes, once it hit around the top 20,000 sites on Alexa, and given how much I hated my regular day job. I figured instead of working 16 hours a day between both, I'd just commit to the site.

GameApex: Why do you think people tweak, even when it at times it can net only minimal gains?

Koroush: I figure it's human nature for a lot of people to get into the works of something and pull it apart, try to make it as efficient as possible even if it's a 2% gain, it feels rewarding.

GameApex: Would you compare tweaking to the overclocking scene?

Koroush: In some ways yes, in some ways no. It's similar in that both try to get more performance for minimal cost. But overclocking tends to cause more problems than it solves, while tweaking is about increasing both stability and performance. At least to me it is.

GameApex: How do you see the "tweaking scene" evolving in the future?

Koroush: I've already seen it move away from finding secret hidden settings. They're just not as common anymore in games, those secret undocumented tweaks. So in future I figure the main aim of tweaking - again to me anyway - is to figure out how everything works and set it up right. It doesn't have to be a hidden registry tweak or a magic "triple your performance" type tweak. Just getting Oblivion to run without stuttering for example is something I'm quite proud of on my own machine.

GameApex: TweakGuides doesn't have much advertising, nor does it do affiliate linking. I personally ran across TweakGuides when I was searching Google for BattleField 2 tweaks. Is this your main source of traffic?

Koroush: Yeah it ranks highly on Google, as do most of my guides, which is why I can get such traffic even without a lot of direct support. Though a lack of advertising and sponsorship does make it harder for me to maintain the site, so I'm looking for a good sponsor to help me keep the site going in its current form.

GameApex: Where do you see gaming heading in the future?

Koroush: Tricky one that. I guess the key word for me is "immersion". Games will become ever more realistic and impressive, like Crysis, but the downside of this of course is that they'll need some real grunt, and already a lot of PC users are balking at having to upgrade their machines every 6 months.

GameApex: TweakGuides has developed a very active forum. How community driven is TweakGuides?

Koroush: Actually it's not very community driven in the traditional sense. I've opted out of things which are popular due to Web2.0, like Wikis, and the forums are very strict compared to other forums. I really believe in quality over quantity, and I like the fact that when people come to TweakGuides, the information is accurate. Too much community involvement can sometimes reduce quality. Sounds like I hate people. :) It's not really that, we have a fantastic community, but it's focused on quality, maturity and appropriate contribution.

GameApex: Consoles vs PC gaming, your thoughts?

Koroush: Classic battle. Basically I'm glad consoles are becoming more advanced. It gives the people who don't want to frig around with PC tweaking and hardware upgrades a genuine alternative, but PCs are where the real game is at to my mind.

GameApex: Well, I'm going to make it tougher here. AMD vs Intel, your thoughts?

Koroush: This one is easy - I don't pick favorites on brand alone :) It will depend on individual chips and prices ...I really dislike fanboyism in all its forms. :)

GameApex: So nVidia vs ATI, same feelings?

Koroush: Yep. Sorry I can't be more specific, but at the moment to be honest both these classic hardware battles are fairly even on certain fronts.

GameApex: What games do you currently play?

Koroush: America's Army and Oblivion are the two which take up my spare time now.

GameApex: What are the specs for your current system?

Koroush: Built in July 2005, it's an X2 4400+, DFI NF4 SLI-DR, 256MB 7800GTX, 2GB RAM, 2xRaptors in RAID0, Audigy 2ZS. Still doing the job without any problems. :)

GameApex: What do you think of GameApex? :D

Koroush: It's a fantastic site and every gamer should go there at least once a day. :)

That's a Wrap!

Koroush Ghazi has a made a lasting impression on the tweaking scene. His dedicated and solid integrity have made TweakGuides.com the most trusted source on the internet for accurate tweaking information. That is why the users come back strictly for the content.

Koroush is thoroughly dedicated to his craft, and that is easily discernable from reading any of his numerous in-depth tweak guides. With games becoming more and more taxing on computers, people will continue to turn to tweaking to make things run smoother and to gain hidden performance. TweakGuides will continue to serve people as it has been since 2004.

On behalf of GameApex I would like to thank Koroush Ghazi for taking time out of his busy day to answer my questions. Be sure to go by and check out Koroush's gaming and other TweakGuides.