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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe best way to increase FPS is not to set every option to Low. Measure a repeatable scene, identify whether the limit is the GPU, CPU, VRAM, temperature, or synchronization, then lower the settings that address that limit. Keep high-impact visual features that cost little on your hardware—especially textures when VRAM is available—and verify frame-time consistency after every change.
What “high FPS” should mean
Average FPS is useful for comparing broad changes, but it can hide stutter. Also watch percentile performance such as 1% lows, frame time, input latency, and frame pacing. Evenly spaced frames usually feel smoother than irregular frames with the same average.
| Target | Approximate frame time |
|---|---|
| 60 FPS | 16.7 ms |
| 75 FPS | 13.3 ms |
| 90 FPS | 11.1 ms |
| 120 FPS | 8.3 ms |
| 144 FPS | 6.9 ms |
| 165 FPS | 6.1 ms |
| 240 FPS | 4.2 ms |
Choose a sustainable target that matches your monitor, game, hardware, and latency tolerance. Displayed FPS can exceed rendered FPS when frame generation inserts generated frames, so a large counter number does not automatically mean equally responsive input.
Measure a baseline before changing settings
- Restart after a major game or driver update, then close unnecessary overlays, browsers, recorders, and background tasks.
- Use a built-in benchmark or repeat the same save, route, combat sequence, weather, crowd level, and camera movement.
- Record resolution, preset, individual settings, upscaler mode, frame-generation state, average FPS, 1% lows or percentile FPS, GPU and per-core CPU utilization, VRAM and RAM use, temperatures, and clock behavior.
- Change one meaningful setting at a time and retest the identical scene.
NVIDIA FrameView can report average and percentile FPS plus supported latency measurements on NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel GPU systems, although available metrics vary by game and configuration.
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Find the bottleneck first
GPU-bound performance
GPU utilization stays near full load, power and temperature are high, and lowering resolution or selecting a more aggressive upscaler produces a clear FPS increase. Lower upscaling or render scale, ray tracing, shadows, volumetrics, reflections, ambient occlusion, and effects first.
CPU-bound performance
One or more CPU cores may be saturated while total CPU usage looks moderate; GPU utilization remains below maximum and lowering resolution changes little. Reduce crowd density, view distance, object detail, simulation, physics, foliage, and background activity. Check for CPU power or thermal throttling.
VRAM-limited performance
Traversal or asset streaming stutters, VRAM approaches capacity, and reducing textures helps more than reducing shadows. Lower texture quality, the texture-streaming budget, or high-resolution texture packs one step. High VRAM allocation alone is not proof of a problem because engines may fill available memory opportunistically.
Thermal or power limits
If FPS falls after several minutes and clocks drop near the device’s thermal limit, improve airflow, clean vents, use the manufacturer’s performance profile, raise a laptop’s rear edge, or use a cooling stand. Test on AC power and confirm the game uses the discrete GPU. A frame cap can reduce heat and noise when peak FPS is not useful.
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Names and costs differ by engine and scene, so treat this as a starting order rather than a universal ranking.
Rank #2
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Upscaling and render scale
Use the game’s Quality upscaling mode before lowering output resolution. Move to Balanced or Performance only when necessary. Super-resolution renders internally below the display resolution and reconstructs the image; at 1080p, aggressive modes can become soft or unstable sooner than at 1440p or 4K. A resolution scale below 100% and a different monitor output resolution both reduce internal work, but they are not identical controls.
Ray tracing and path tracing
Ray-traced lighting, reflections, and shadows are often among the largest GPU costs; path tracing or “Overdrive” modes can be substantially heavier. Disable ray tracing for maximum FPS, or lower reflections, lighting, and shadows individually. Upscaling can make ray tracing more practical but does not remove its rendering or latency cost.
Shadows
Dropping Ultra to High or High to Medium often gives useful performance with a modest visual change. Contact shadows, shadow resolution, cascade distance, and ray-traced shadows may be separate controls. Shadows can consume both GPU time and VRAM.
Volumetrics, clouds, fog, and global illumination
Volumetric fog, cloud quality, light shafts, and screen-space or ray-traced global illumination are frequent outdoor-scene bottlenecks. Lower these before textures when VRAM is not constrained.
Reflections
Reduce screen-space or ray-traced reflections when wet roads, water, interiors, or reflective surfaces cause large drops. Screen-space reflections are cheaper but can disappear outside the visible screen; their cost varies greatly by scene.
Rank #3
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- OC mode: 2632 MHz (OC mode)/ 2602 MHz (Default mode)
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
- Axial-tech fan design features a smaller fan hub that facilitates longer blades and a barrier ring that increases downward air pressure
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View distance, foliage, and crowds
Object draw distance, terrain detail, foliage density, NPC and vehicle counts, animation quality, and geometry detail are especially important in CPU-limited games. Lower them when GPU usage is low and simulation or world streaming is responsible for the slowdown.
Textures and anisotropic filtering
Keep textures High when VRAM is sufficient: they often deliver a large detail improvement for a relatively small shader cost. Lower them when streaming stutters, blurry assets, or VRAM exhaustion is the issue. Anisotropic filtering usually offers strong image quality for modest cost and should not be disabled automatically.
Anti-aliasing and post-processing
TAA, MSAA, and some effects can be expensive or subjective. Motion blur, film grain, chromatic aberration, depth of field, lens flare, and sharpening may provide little FPS, but disabling unwanted effects can improve clarity and perceived responsiveness. Compare moving foliage, wires, and thin geometry for shimmer, ghosting, and disocclusion artifacts.
DLSS, FSR, XeSS, and frame generation
Super-resolution choices
- NVIDIA DLSS: intended primarily for supported GeForce RTX hardware and games.
- AMD FSR: designed for broad hardware compatibility, with image quality dependent on the game’s integration and version.
- Intel XeSS: supports Intel hardware and can also run on other GPUs when the required acceleration path is available.
- Windows Automatic Super Resolution: limited to compatible Copilot+ PCs and the ROG Xbox Ally X, with per-game management through Windows graphics settings and the Game Bar Display widget.
Do not enable two spatial or temporal upscalers at once. DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are not interchangeable in quality: motion vectors, anti-aliasing, sharpening, input resolution, implementation, and version all matter. Check a moving scene rather than a still screenshot. See the vendor documentation for NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, Intel XeSS-SR, and Microsoft Automatic Super Resolution.
Frame generation
Native frame generation uses game motion data and is different from a driver override. It can increase displayed FPS, but the underlying rendered frames still determine much of the input response. Added latency, artifacts, pacing issues, and refresh-rate limits remain possible. Use it when base FPS is already stable—usually for demanding single-player games—not as a cure for a low or erratic base rate in a competitive shooter. NVIDIA documents DLSS Frame Generation, Smooth Motion, and Reflex in its gaming guide; current availability depends on GPU, driver, application, and game support. Intel’s XeSS-FG guide likewise recommends a sufficiently high underlying frame rate.
Rank #4
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4. System Requirements: Minimum 850W PSU with 16-pin 12V-2x6 (12VHPWR) connector required. Verify before purchasing.
- Military-grade components deliver rock-solid power and longer lifespan for ultimate durability. Compatibility: 348mm (13.7") length, 3.6 slots, 4.3 lbs. Confirm case clearance and slot spacing. GPU bracket included.
- Protective PCB coating helps protect against short circuits caused by moisture, dust, or debris
- 3.6-slot design with massive fin array optimized for airflow from three Axial-tech fans
- Phase-change GPU thermal pad helps ensure optimal thermal performance and longevity, outlasting traditional thermal paste for graphics cards under heavy loads
Presets by gaming goal
Competitive games
- Use native resolution or the highest-quality upscaler that keeps enemy silhouettes clear.
- Disable ray tracing; use Low or Medium shadows, foliage, volumetrics, and unnecessary effects.
- Keep textures high if VRAM permits.
- Disable frame generation while testing latency and enable the game’s supported low-latency feature, such as NVIDIA Reflex.
- Use a stable cap when it improves frame pacing; consistent 1% lows matter more than a brief peak.
NVIDIA describes Reflex as coordinating CPU and GPU work to reduce system latency; its benefit depends on game support and workload. See the latency guide.
Single-player cinematic games
Keep textures, geometry, and effects high where possible. Start with Quality upscaling, then reduce ray tracing, volumetrics, shadows, and reflections before output resolution. Frame generation is reasonable when base FPS is stable and latency and artifacts are acceptable. Cap to a rate the system can sustain.
Low-end PCs and integrated graphics
Use a lower output resolution or scale, disable ray tracing, and set shadows, reflections, volumetrics, foliage, and crowds to Low. Keep textures as high as shared memory allows, disable unwanted post-processing, and test fullscreen, borderless, and windowed modes because behavior varies by title.
Laptops and handhelds
Test on AC power, select the performance profile, confirm the active GPU, and monitor temperature, fan noise, and battery drain. Cap FPS when maximum output creates heat without improving playability. Verify the display’s intended refresh rate.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Windows, drivers, and control panels
Windows 11 graphics options
For per-game GPU preference and windowed-game optimization, use Settings → System → Display → Graphics, select or add the game, choose Options, select the graphics preference, and save. Microsoft says Optimizations for windowed games can move compatible titles to flip-model presentation and enable features such as Auto HDR and variable refresh rate on supported hardware. Availability depends on Windows version, presentation mode, GPU, and display.
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Game Mode may prioritize game processes, but it is not a guaranteed FPS multiplier. Test it on the specific system. Use per-game driver profiles for preferred GPU, power mode, V-Sync, caps, low-latency options, shader-cache behavior, and texture filtering. Avoid assuming “maximum performance” or “Ultra Low Latency” increases rendering capacity.
Update a driver when a game requires it or release notes identify a relevant fix. If a new driver causes stutter, test a clean installation or return to the previous stable version.
V-Sync, VRR, caps, and tearing
Tearing shows parts of multiple frames in one refresh; stutter is uneven delivery; latency is delayed response. If your monitor supports G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible, FreeSync, or another adaptive-sync mode, enable it and verify that it is active. If VRR is unavailable, V-Sync can remove tearing but may alter latency and synchronization behavior. When FPS frequently exceeds the monitor’s refresh rate, a cap appropriate to the display and sync setup can improve consistency.
There is no universal V-Sync rule. NVIDIA’s documented VRR guidance combines synchronization, V-Sync, and Reflex or another low-latency mode; AMD describes application-controlled V-Sync and frame-rate targeting as API- and game-dependent in its Radeon settings guide.
Quick Recap
Fix stutter even when FPS is high
- Shader compilation can cause pauses during first-run effects or after updates.
- Asset streaming can stall when storage, RAM, or VRAM is pressured.
- CPU spikes may come from crowds, traversal, simulation, background tasks, or overlays.
- Frame generation can expose pacing or artifact problems.
- Unstable overclocks, undervolts, thermal throttling, conflicting caps, refresh-rate mismatches, borderless presentation, and driver regressions can all create uneven delivery.
- Network lag can feel like poor performance but is not a rendering bottleneck.
- Return to the default preset and disable frame generation and third-party overlays.
- Clear or rebuild shader caches only through supported Windows or driver procedures.
- Compare fullscreen and borderless modes.
- Check GPU and CPU clocks, temperatures, utilization, VRAM, and frame-time graphs.
- Compare a built-in benchmark with normal gameplay, then re-enable settings incrementally.
Choose the next setting with this decision tree
- GPU near full load: lower upscaler mode or resolution, ray tracing, shadows, volumetrics, or reflections.
- GPU usage low and FPS low: investigate CPU limits, frame caps, background tasks, power settings, or engine limits.
- VRAM nearly full with traversal stutter: lower textures or streaming quality.
- High FPS but uneven motion: inspect frame-time graphs, VRR, caps, V-Sync, overlays, and frame generation.
- Delayed input: disable frame generation for testing, use supported low-latency features, reduce GPU load, and apply a stable cap.
- Only one title is affected: investigate that game’s engine, shaders, patch, and driver compatibility before buying hardware.
Final checklist
- Set Windows and the game to the monitor’s intended refresh rate and resolution.
- Record a repeatable baseline, including percentile FPS and frame time.
- Classify the limit as GPU, CPU, VRAM, thermal, power, cap, or synchronization related.
- Apply Quality upscaling first, then lower the expensive settings relevant to the bottleneck.
- Keep textures high unless VRAM or streaming is the problem.
- Use frame generation only after base FPS and pacing are acceptable.
- Configure VRR, V-Sync, low-latency features, and a sensible cap for your display and genre.
- Retest the same scene after each change and keep the configuration that feels smooth, not merely the one with the largest counter number.
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