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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Start by lowering shadows, effects and post-processing, environment or material detail, and anti-aliasing—then replay the same scene and compare. These settings are a practical starting point, not a guaranteed FPS boost: their names and impact differ by game and PC. Change only a few at a time, and save lowering resolution for later because it can make the image noticeably softer.
Lower these settings first
Riot Games Support’s general guidance is to reduce demanding visual settings, test, and then restore options gradually to find a suitable balance. Its list is a starting point for many games, not a universal ranking or promise of a particular frame-rate gain.
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- Shadows: Reduce shadow quality or turn off costly shadow effects if the game offers that choice. The scene may look less dimensional, but you can keep native resolution.
- Effects, particles, and post-processing: Try lowering effects quality, particle density, or post-processing options. These controls may affect visual flourishes such as lighting and screen effects; exact labels vary.
- Environment, detail, or material quality: Lower world or object detail, environment quality, or material settings if available. These controls can reduce scene detail without changing the display resolution.
- Anti-aliasing and image-enhancement effects: Reduce anti-aliasing or other image-enhancement options if performance remains below your target. Edges may look more jagged or the image less polished.
- Textures: Texture quality is also on Riot’s broad starting list. Whether reducing it helps depends on the game and system, so treat it as an option to test rather than an automatic fix.
Riot Games Support summarizes the approach: “There’s no single perfect setup for every PC.” Its advice is to lower demanding settings, test the game, and gradually turn options back up. Riot’s graphics-settings guidance was displayed as updated October 7, 2026.
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Change settings in a repeatable way
- Choose what you want to improve. Decide whether the problem is generally low frame rate, an unstable frame rate, or hitching. Your preferred balance depends on the game and display; there is no one numeric target for every player.
- Record a baseline. Use the game’s performance display or a repeatable benchmark or scene, if available. Note what happens in the same situation before and after a change.
- Lower a small group of demanding options. Start with shadows, effects or post-processing, environment or material detail, and anti-aliasing. Avoid changing every setting at once; otherwise, it is harder to tell what helped.
- Replay the same situation. Compare performance and image quality. If the result improves, restore options one at a time until you find the balance you prefer.
- If there is no meaningful improvement, move to the next checks. Try a resolution or supported upscaling change, then check which GPU the game is using on a laptop with switchable graphics.
Do not assume a setting will add a fixed number of frames. Riot’s guidance does not promise universal gains, and the impact depends on the game and hardware.
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When to reduce resolution or use upscaling
If lowering individual quality settings is not enough, test a lower rendering or display resolution. It can reduce the work required to draw the game, but the image may look noticeably softer. Compare it in the same scene and return to the original resolution if the visual cost is not worth the performance change.
Upscaling is an alternative only when your game and hardware support it. AMD recommends using a game-integrated implementation of FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) instead of driver-level Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) when the game supports FSR, because game-specific optimizations may produce better results. Availability and image quality depend on the implementation and system; AMD’s RSR guidance explains the distinction.
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Microsoft Auto SR is not a universal Windows gaming setting. Microsoft limits it to supported devices, Windows 11 version 24H2 or later, compatible resolutions, and supported games. The feature may also affect the appearance of text or user-interface elements in some games. Check the current Auto SR requirements before looking for it in Windows settings.
Check V-Sync based on tearing and responsiveness
V-Sync is a separate trade-off from visual quality settings. Riot says disabling it may improve performance or reduce input delay in some cases, but it can also cause visible screen tearing. Test it both on and off in the game you play, then keep the option that gives you the better experience.
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If graphics changes do little, check the selected GPU
On a laptop with integrated and high-performance graphics, confirm that the game is using the GPU you intend. NVIDIA’s documentation describes systems that can select either graphics processor; after changing a preferred-GPU setting, you may need to restart the game. This is a troubleshooting check, not a guarantee that the GPU choice is the cause or that changing it will solve every performance problem. See NVIDIA’s Manage 3D Settings documentation.
Use measurements to compare results, not to promise gains
If your setup includes AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, AMD’s Game Advisor documentation describes gameplay reports with average FPS and 95th-percentile information, along with recommendations that may include lowering a preset, advanced rendering, render scale, or display resolution. Supported games and available recommendations vary, and recommendations are applied manually. The figures are measurements of your gameplay, not a prediction of how many frames a particular setting change will add. See AMD’s Game Advisor documentation.
When comparing options, judge three things together: measured performance in a repeatable scene, the visual change, and whether the feature works on your game and hardware. A lower shadow setting may preserve native resolution while reducing detail; a lower resolution has a more obvious image-quality cost; upscaling depends on its implementation and compatibility. No option is best for every system.
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