A low frame rate is one of the most common problems gamers encounter, especially as new games prefer higher specifications. And while the best way to improve the frame rate is to upgrade some of your components, such as its RAM or graphics card, or get a faster CPU, you will need to shell out some money. But before you do, there are several tips you can do to improve the low frame rate of your gaming PC.
Here are the common fixes you can do if you’re not a technical person:
1 – Close any programs running in the background.
Before starting your video game, make sure that any programs you don’t need aren’t running in the background. You may not know it but programs running in the background while your playing can significantly affect your unit’s processing speed and frame rate. To fix this issue, follow these steps:
- Open the Task Manager.
- Click CPU and click Memory Tabs.
- Check which programs are taking up large chunks of your CPU’s RAM.
- If you don’t need the Program or App, close it.
2 – Update your video games.
Make sure that the video games you are playing are up to date. Occasionally, developers release several patches which optimize the game. Some optimizations can affect major performance issues in your game aside from fixing bugs. So enable auto-updates in the video games you play.
3 – Update your drivers.
Sometimes, your gaming PC will not be able to maximize all its specifications if your drivers are not up-to-date. Graphics drivers are released regularly by manufacturers to ensure that they are optimized and can run the newest games. Updates also come for free, so you don’t have to worry about anything. All you will need is to go to the manufacturer’s website and search for Drivers Update.
For example, if you are using an Intel Graphics Card, go to Intel Support and find the graphics driver you are using. Here you can search for the latest version of your graphics driver and install it. You can also find an app online that will notify you if there is a new update for any of your drivers.
4 – Repair any installs.
If one game shows severe performance issues every time you open it, you might want to repair its installation. You can do this by “Verifying Integrity of Game Files” of that specific video game. You can find this on the settings option of most games. But if you’re using Steam, you can do so by opening its Library Tab. Right-click the game and then click “Properties.” Once you are in the Properties Window, choose the “Local Files” tab. On the lower part, you will see “Verifying Integrity of Game Files.” Click that and wait for the process to complete.
If the following tips above didn’t help much, you might want to adjust several of your game settings to improve your frame rate. Here are some tips:
1 – Adjust the shadow settings.
Your game’s shadow settings will include the shadow mapping techniques which can affect the game performance. These are the CPU-intensive shadow volume, the GPU-intensive techniques, and rays that emanate from individual light sources. Shadow settings are also responsible for smoothing out sawtooth edges, casting shadows, and matching the shadows on the movements of their sources.
You can turn the game’s setting which will lead to smoother shadows. You can set them to medium or low, which will improve your frame rate instead.
2 – Reduce anti-aliasing.
The anti-aliasing (AA) effect is a feature that smooths out the jagged edges of the digital objects that appear on our game as it is made from square pixels. Anti-aliasing works by taking samples of the pixels on the screen and guessing the correct color of its neighboring pixels. This way, it will fill in the gaps to clean up any of its sawtooth edges.
If you have any performance problems in your game, you might want to try turning off the Anti-Aliasing effect. Although it may affect the graphics of your game, it will improve the frame rate.
3 – Turn off the Dynamic Reflections.
Turning on the Dynamic Reflections of your game will require some of your hardware to render the same scene twice. This will give more work to your GPU. Doing so will slow down the frame rate of your gaming PC. But dynamic reflections can be sacrificed in some games. For example, if you’re playing a fast-paced shooter, you don’t need to admire the action reflected in a window. You can sacrifice that reflection quality if you gain extra frames.
4 – Reduce Ambient Occlusion.
Some games have Ambient Occlusion, which works by enhancing the contact between the adjacent textures, shadows, and lights in your game. It’s a fine detail if you prefer to play and enjoy the high graphics. However, if you care more for your game’s FPS, you might want to reduce the quality of the textures.
5 – Reduce Volumetric Lighting.
Another effect you don’t actually need is the volumetric lighting of the game. This refers to the effects that make the light shafts so they can have depth. This also enables you to see particles such as smoke, mist, or dust motes, especially when drifting across the air. You can either turn off or reduce this effect which will help improve your frame rate.
6 – Turn down the Motion Blur.
The Motion Blur will simulate a normal camera operation by blurring any background objects when the player turns around. Although it may help disguise low frame rates, this effect has a performance impact as well. If you’re a player who prefers a cinematic look, turn this setting on. However, if you like to play your video game with more digital clarity, you can turn it off.
7 – Lower the resolution.
Last but not least, your game’s resolution has the most impact on your game performance. If you prefer high resolution, it needs to process more pixels in each frame which gives more work for your GPU. If you are not enjoying the performance of your video, if your game resolution is 1080 px, you might prefer to reduce its resolution to 720 px. This will boost the game’s performance but will have a significant impact on the game’s graphics.
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If these tips don’t work, you can follow this guide on How to Boost FPS in Your Gaming PC. You can also talk to a professional gaming PC manufacturer or retailer to inspect your unit and find out the components you need to upgrade.
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