How to Optimize PC Game Settings for Better FPS: The Complete Guide

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For a breakdown of which panel type suits your gaming style — IPS, VA, or OLED — see our <a href=’https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/ips-vs-va-vs-oled-gaming-monitor/’>IPS vs VA vs OLED gaming monitor guide</a>.
Related: <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/best-resolution-for-gpu-2026/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Best Resolution for Different GPUs: 1080p, 1440p and 4K Match-Up</a>
Related: <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/gsync-vs-freesync-2026/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>G-Sync vs FreeSync vs VRR: Which Should You Use in 2026?</a>
For a complete step-by-step walkthrough on enabling and calibrating HDR, see our <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/hdr-settings-pc-gaming/”>HDR settings guide for PC gaming</a>.
Related: <a href=”best monitor settings for gaming” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>best-monitor-settings-for-gaming</a>
For exact values on brightness, gamma, and Black Equalizer, see our <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/best-color-settings-gaming-monitor/”>best color settings for gaming monitors guide</a>.
Related: <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/what-is-vrr-gaming/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>What Is VRR? Variable Refresh Rate for Gamers Explained</a>
Related: <a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/how-to-calibrate-gaming-monitor/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>How to Calibrate Your Gaming Monitor</a>

<a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/diablo-4-lord-of-hatred-best-settings/”>Best Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred PC Settings 2026</a>
<a href=”https://www.switchbladegaming.com/game-settings/arc-raiders-best-settings/”>ARC Raiders Best PC Settings 2026: FPS and Visibility Optimization</a>

Looking for game-specific optimisation? Our Marathon PC settings guide covers GPU-tiered recommendations and competitive visibility settings for Bungie’s extraction shooter.

Elden Ring Nightreign brings co-op to the Elden Ring engine with its own distinct performance profile. Our Nightreign PC settings guide covers GPU-tier recommendations, co-op visibility settings, and fixes for the DX12-only stutter profile that differs from base Elden Ring.

Genre-specific settings guides: If you play co-op horror games, the R.E.P.O. best PC settings guide covers GPU-tier recommendations and the visibility tweaks that matter most for spotting monsters in dark environments.

Related: best-monitor-rtx-5060

For complete mouse configuration — DPI, polling rate, button mapping, and surface calibration — see the gaming mouse setup guide.

Understand how polling rate affects your mouse precision: Polling Rate Explained: 125Hz vs 500Hz vs 1000Hz vs 8000Hz.

For DPI selection and sensitivity tuning — including eDPI, grip style, and pro benchmarks — see Why Pro FPS Players Use 400–800 DPI.

Related: best-mouse-settings-fps-games

Related: 6875

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Beast of Reincarnation best PC settings.

Manor Lords settings are a different problem entirely, since its worst FPS drops come from population-driven CPU load rather than graphics settings — see our Manor Lords best settings guide for the graphics options that help and the patch history behind the late-game stutter.

Final Fantasy 16 is the opposite case: testers found it GPU-bound even at 1080p, so lowering the preset gains little and upscaling gains much more — see our Final Fantasy 16 best PC settings guide for the measured numbers and the few settings worth changing.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how much PC you actually need for Blood of Dawnwalker.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Blood of Dawnwalker best PC settings guide, covering which UE5 options cost the most FPS and how RTX 3070, 4070, and 5080 compare.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Battlefield 6 controller settings guide.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Balatro Steam Deck settings guide.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Sons of the Forest Steam Deck settings guide.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see enshrouded steam deck settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see No Man’s Sky Steam Deck settings guide.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Nightingale Steam Deck settings.

Fallout 4 is heavier on the GPU than most of the titles above, so its Fallout 4 Steam Deck settings guide leans on a 40Hz/40 FPS refresh-rate pairing for real battery gains, plus a launch-option fix for the settings menu Bethesda’s next-gen update removed.

God of War Ragnarok is one of the heaviest Deck ports covered here — its Steam Deck settings guide breaks down why Frame Generation, not the graphics preset, is what actually decides whether you land closer to a stable 40 FPS or 60.

Ghost of Tsushima is a case where the game’s own Steam Deck Verified preset isn’t the answer — our Ghost of Tsushima Steam Deck settings guide explains why the built-in preset still stutters in grassy open fields and which two settings actually fix it.

Diablo 4 is a case where the general PC preset actively works against you on handheld — our Diablo 4 Steam Deck settings guide breaks down the exact TDP wattage that separates a 90-minute battery from a 3-hour one.

PUBG’s competitive scene runs its own aggressive settings profile purely for visibility — see our PUBG best settings guide for the exact three graphics options pro lobbies run at zero, and why each one hides or reveals enemies at range.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how to install FiveM.

War Thunder’s spotting system is one of the most misunderstood in the genre — Gaijin equalized foliage and object render distance across every graphics preset back in 2021, so the sliders that actually decide who sees whom now split cleanly between ground and air battles. See our War Thunder best settings guide for the FPS-impact numbers on the three sliders that matter most.

Control: Resonant’s minimum spec skips ray tracing entirely, but the real GPU gate is hidden inside DLSS 4.5 itself — see our Control: Resonant PC requirements guide for which RTX generation actually unlocks Frame Generation and Multi Frame Generation, and why an RTX 3070 and an RTX 5080 won’t get the same game.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see The Finals best settings for FPS and competitive play.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see the best PC settings for Squad, including which ones Offworld Industries has locked to stop cheating.

Gray Zone Warfare pushes the visibility-versus-FPS trade-off further than most tactical shooters — Foliage Quality alone costs roughly 12% of your frame rate, but dropping it too low collapses jungle vegetation into flatter shapes that hide players rather than reveal them. See our Gray Zone Warfare best settings guide for the full foliage-vs-FPS breakdown and which preset fits PvP stability versus long-range spotting.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Dead by Daylight best PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see our Monster Hunter Wilds stuttering fix guide, covering the diagnostic table that separates VRAM stutter from Resizable BAR and Frame Generation issues after the 2026 performance patches.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see whether 8GB VRAM is still enough in 2026.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see fix the open-world traversal stutter.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see warranty-safe fixes for gaming laptop thermal throttling.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see fix frame pacing and stutter even when your FPS looks fine.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how to fix PC game crashes.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how to fix an out of memory error in PC games.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see when to turn frame generation on based on your base FPS.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see which specific graphics settings to turn down first, ranked by real FPS cost.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see diagnose and fix Death Stranding 2’s movement-triggered frame pacing stutter.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see the best settings for The First Descendant.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see best Delta Force PC settings for FPS and competitive play.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Once Human best PC settings for FPS and visual quality.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Nightingale best PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see our full Sons of the Forest PC settings guide.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Marvel Rivals best PC settings for Season 10.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see No Man’s Sky best settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see the best PC settings for Rocket League, including the 120Hz physics-tick floor that decides how uncapping your frame rate actually helps.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see best Enshrouded PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how Roblox’s 60 FPS cap and graphics quality slider really work.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see best Doom: The Dark Ages PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Wuthering Waves best PC settings and which graphics options cost the most FPS.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Marvel Rivals low-end PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Silent Hill 2 Remake best PC settings.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see how FOV differs by axis, aspect ratio and monitor distance, and which value to start from.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see low-end PC settings for The Finals.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Far Cry 5 best settings: the three options that actually cost FPS.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Assassin’s Creed Mirage best settings and its Adaptive Quality resolution cut.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Alien: Isolation’s best PC settings and the frame cap that fixes its audio bug.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Days Gone Remastered best PC settings and a horde FPS test.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see Valorant console settings for PS5 and Xbox, and why PC sensitivity does not convert to a stick.

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.