Why Your FPS Is Low (And How to Fix It)

Dropping frames kill games. Whether you're getting stutters in Fortnite, sub-60 in Elden Ring, or unplayable 20 FPS in the latest open world — the fix is almost always one of five things: wrong settings, outdated drivers, background processes, thermal throttling, or hardware bottlenecks.

This guide walks you through every layer, from 5-minute quick wins to deep OS-level tuning. Follow in order — most people fix 80% of their FPS problem in the first three sections.

Quick Wins: Do These First (5–15 Minutes)

1. Set Your Power Plan to High Performance

Windows defaults to "Balanced" power mode, which throttles your CPU and GPU to save energy — even on a gaming desktop.

Windows 11:

  1. Press Win + I → System → Power & battery
  2. Set Power mode to Best performance
  3. Or search "Power plan" → Change plan settings → High performance

For maximum control, press Win + R → type powercfg.cpl → choose High performance. If it's not listed, click "Show additional plans."

Impact: +5–20 FPS on CPU-limited games. Bigger effect on laptops.

2. Update Your GPU Drivers

Outdated or corrupted GPU drivers are the #1 cause of unexplained FPS drops and stutters.

Pro tip: If a recent driver update broke things, roll back in Device Manager → Display Adapters → right-click your GPU → Properties → Driver → Roll Back Driver.

3. Close Background Processes

Games compete with browsers, Discord, antivirus scans, and update services for CPU/RAM.

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
  2. Click "CPU" or "Memory" column headers to sort by usage
  3. Kill anything consuming >5% CPU that you don't need:

RAM tip: If you have 8 GB or less, close absolutely everything. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy need 12 GB of RAM when running actively.

4. Enable Game Mode

Windows 11: Settings → Gaming → Game Mode → On

Game Mode deprioritizes background tasks and system processes during gameplay. Minor but free.

Also turn off Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) if you're on an older GPU (pre-RTX 30 / pre-RX 6000). On newer hardware, keep it ON.

Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Change default graphics settings → Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling

5. Set the Game to High Priority

  1. Launch your game
  2. Alt-Tab → open Task Manager
  3. Find the game's process → right-click → Set priority → High

This tells Windows to give the game priority access to CPU time. Don't set to "Realtime" — it can freeze your system.

For a permanent fix, use Process Lasso (free tier works fine) to auto-set priority on launch.

In-Game Settings: The Biggest FPS Gains Per Visual Trade-Off

Not all settings are equal. Some cost massive FPS for minimal visual improvement. Here's the priority order:

Highest FPS Impact (Lower These First)

SettingFPS ImpactVisual ImpactRecommendation
Resolution scale / render scaleVery HighVery High90–95% instead of 100% is nearly invisible
Ray tracingVery HighHighOff unless RTX 4070+
ShadowsHighMediumMedium or Low
Anti-aliasingHighMediumDLSS/FSR/XeSS > TAA > MSAA
Ambient occlusionMediumLowOff or Low
View distanceMediumMediumMedium is usually fine
Volumetric fog/cloudsMediumLowLow or Off

Lowest FPS Impact (Keep These High)

SettingFPS ImpactVisual Impact
Texture qualityLowHigh — keep on High/Ultra
Anisotropic filteringVery LowKeeps textures sharp at angles
LOD qualityLowKeep on Medium+

Use DLSS, FSR, or XeSS (The Single Biggest FPS Boost)

These upscaling technologies render the game at a lower internal resolution and use AI (or algorithms) to upscale to your monitor's native resolution. The results often look better than native at the same FPS cost.

Setting to use: Quality mode for minimal visual loss, Balanced for extra FPS.

FPS gain example: Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p — from 45 FPS native to 80+ FPS with DLSS Quality.

Windows 11 System-Level Tuning

Disable Full-Screen Optimizations

Microsoft's "full-screen optimizations" feature sometimes causes microstutters.

  1. Right-click your game's .exe → Properties → Compatibility
  2. Check "Disable full-screen optimizations"
  3. Click "Change high DPI settings" → check "Override high DPI scaling behavior" → Application

Disable Visual Effects

  1. Press Win + R → type sysdm.cpl
  2. Advanced tab → Performance → Settings
  3. Select "Adjust for best performance" (disables all animations)
  4. Or manually uncheck: Animate windows, Fade menus, Show thumbnails

Impact: Frees CPU cycles on lower-end systems. Marginal on high-end hardware.

Configure Your Monitor's Refresh Rate

If your monitor is 144 Hz or 165 Hz but your game is only running at 60 FPS, check Windows display settings:

Settings → System → Display → Advanced display → Refresh rate → Set to your monitor's maximum

Also check in-game: cap FPS at 1–2 below your refresh rate to prevent tearing without V-Sync latency.

Optimize Your Pagefile

For systems with 8 GB RAM or less, Windows uses the pagefile as overflow RAM. Set it correctly:

  1. sysdm.cpl → Advanced → Performance → Settings → Advanced → Virtual Memory → Change
  2. Uncheck "Automatically manage"
  3. Custom size: Initial = 1.5× your RAM in MB, Maximum = 3× your RAM in MB
  4. Move it to your fastest SSD

GPU-Specific Tuning

NVIDIA Control Panel Settings

Open NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings:

For Reflex-supported games (Valorant, Apex, Fortnite): enable NVIDIA Reflex in-game instead of these settings.

AMD Radeon Software Settings

AMD Software → Gaming → Graphics:

Fix Thermal Throttling (Often Overlooked)

If your CPU or GPU hits 90°C+, it automatically reduces clock speeds to prevent damage — this directly causes FPS drops mid-game.

Check Temperatures

Warning thresholds:

Solutions for Overheating

Laptop:

Desktop:

RAM Optimization

Enable XMP / EXPO

RAM often runs at 2133 MHz by default even if it's rated for 3200 or 6000 MHz. XMP (Intel) or EXPO (AMD) is a BIOS profile that runs it at the rated speed.

  1. Restart → enter BIOS (usually Delete or F2 at boot)
  2. Look for "XMP" or "EXPO" or "D.O.C.P" in memory settings
  3. Enable it and save

Impact: +5–15% CPU performance in games, especially 1% lows.

Dual-Channel Mode

Make sure your RAM sticks are in the correct slots for dual-channel operation. Consult your motherboard manual — usually slots 2 and 4 (A2 and B2), not 1 and 2.

Dual-channel effectively doubles your memory bandwidth. The difference between single and dual channel can be 15–25% in CPU-bound games.

Storage: SSD vs HDD for FPS

SSDs don't directly increase FPS during stable gameplay, but they dramatically reduce:

If you're still on an HDD for gaming, migrating to a SATA SSD (~$30–50 for 1 TB) is one of the best upgrades. NVMe is even faster for large asset games like Starfield or Avatar.

Per-Game Optimization Checklists

Fortnite FPS Boost

Valorant FPS Boost

Call of Duty (MWIII / Warzone)

When to Upgrade Hardware

If you've done everything above and still can't hit your target FPS, it's a hardware problem. Here's how to diagnose:

GPU Bottleneck

CPU Bottleneck

RAM Bottleneck

Storage Bottleneck

Frame Generation (New in 2024–2026)

If you have a compatible GPU, frame generation can effectively double your perceived FPS:

Frame generation inserts AI-generated frames between rendered frames. At 60 FPS rendered → 120 FPS displayed. Latency increases slightly, so enable NVIDIA Reflex or AMD Anti-Lag alongside it.

Quick FPS Boost Summary Table

ActionTimeFPS GainDifficulty
Set High Performance power plan2 min+5–20%Easy
Update GPU drivers10 min+5–30% (if outdated)Easy
Close background apps3 min+5–15%Easy
Lower in-game shadows1 min+10–25%Easy
Enable DLSS/FSR/XeSS1 min+30–80%Easy
Enable XMP/EXPO in BIOS5 min+5–15%Medium
Dual-channel RAM check5 min+10–25%Medium
Disable full-screen optimizations2 minVariesEasy
Fix thermal throttling30 min–2 hours+10–40%Medium–Hard
Upgrade to SSD (from HDD)1–2 hoursStutter fixMedium

FAQ

Q: Does more RAM increase FPS? Going from 8 GB to 16 GB significantly helps in modern AAA games and while multitasking. 16 GB → 32 GB only matters for content creation or running multiple programs alongside gaming.

Q: Does cleaning PC increase FPS? Yes, if thermal throttling is involved. Dust restricts airflow → higher temps → clock speed reduction → FPS drops. Clean dust filters and heatsinks every 6–12 months.

Q: Will overclocking help? GPU overclocking (via MSI Afterburner) can add 5–10% performance. CPU overclocking adds more on CPU-bottlenecked games. Both require adequate cooling and carry warranty risk.

Q: Is 60 FPS still acceptable in 2026? For single-player story games, yes. For competitive shooters (Valorant, CS2, Fortnite), 144+ FPS gives a real advantage. Aim for matching your monitor's refresh rate.

Q: How do I show FPS in any game?

EmuDesk helps you play everything better. Browse our PC optimization guides and emulator setup tutorials for more.