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For the best balance, keep your monitor’s native resolution, enable a quality-oriented temporal upscaler (DLSS, FSR or XeSS) when the game supports it, and lower ray tracing and shadows before textures. Turn on variable refresh rate (VRR), cap FPS inside the display’s supported range, and change one option at a time while checking frame-time consistency in a repeatable scene. This approach usually removes the most expensive GPU work while preserving texture detail and a stable image.
What “smooth” means in a graphics menu
A high average frame rate is only one part of smoothness. A game can report a strong average FPS yet feel uneven if occasional frames take much longer than the rest. Evaluate six outcomes together:
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- Average FPS: the broad rendering rate over a representative play session.
- Frame-time lows and consistency: the pauses between frames that cause hitching or stutter.
- Image sharpness and temporal stability: whether fine detail stays clear instead of shimmering or crawling as the camera moves.
- VRAM use: whether textures and other assets fit in graphics memory without streaming delays.
- Input latency: the delay between an input and the displayed result.
- Tearing: visible horizontal breaks when the display refresh and rendered frames are out of sync.
The best settings depend on your CPU and GPU tier, available VRAM, output resolution, monitor refresh rate, game engine and tolerance for latency or reconstruction artifacts. There is no universal “ultra” or “competitive” preset that is optimal for every system.
Use this order when tuning a game
Start with a known baseline, then make the smallest change that can solve the observed bottleneck. The following sequence protects image quality better than dropping every slider at once.
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- Confirm the display mode and native resolution. Select the monitor’s native output resolution and a refresh rate it can actually run. If the game offers exclusive fullscreen, borderless and windowed modes, begin with the mode that works reliably with your VRR and HDR setup; borderless mode is useful on Windows 11 when its windowed-game optimization is available.
- Record a baseline. Play a repeatable demanding scene for several minutes. Note average FPS, the lowest-feeling moments, frame-time behavior, VRAM usage and whether the image is sharp or unstable. A built-in benchmark is useful, but a real gameplay route often exposes streaming and CPU problems that a short benchmark misses.
- Enable temporal upscaling before broad quality cuts. Try DLSS, FSR or XeSS at a quality mode appropriate to your resolution. These methods render internally at a lower resolution and reconstruct the output, reducing GPU work while retaining more detail than simply lowering the output resolution.
- Reduce ray tracing, then shadows. These options often have a large frame-time cost. Lower the ray-tracing preset or disable individual effects, then test shadow quality and shadow distance.
- Adjust geometry or draw distance only when measurements point to it. Keep visibility-related settings high enough to preserve gameplay information. Reduce them when GPU or CPU frame times show that object density, simulation or draw calls are the bottleneck.
- Leave textures alone until VRAM is the problem. Texture quality generally consumes more VRAM than compute, so it can remain high when memory headroom is available. Lower it when VRAM is full, assets stream late or traversal causes hitching.
- Fine-tune antialiasing, ambient occlusion and post effects. These can produce incremental gains after the major cost centers are addressed. Compare motion clarity, edge stability and latency rather than judging a paused screenshot only.
- Set VRR and an in-range frame cap. Use the monitor and driver’s variable-refresh support, then cap FPS below the display’s maximum so the renderer stays inside the adaptive range.
- Change one setting at a time and retest. Replay the same demanding scene and keep the change only if it improves consistency without an unacceptable image or latency penalty.
Resolution: the first decision, not the first slider to sacrifice
Resolution has a very high performance impact because it changes how many pixels the GPU must shade every frame. Native resolution gives the display its cleanest one-to-one image, so it should be your starting point. Lowering the output resolution can recover substantial performance, but it also makes a fixed-pixel monitor soften the image and can make interface text less clear.
When native-resolution performance is insufficient, temporal upscaling is usually the better first compromise. It lets the game present at the monitor’s native output while rendering fewer internal pixels. Quality modes preserve more detail; performance modes recover more FPS but are more likely to show blur, ghosting or shimmering.
Practical DLSS, FSR and XeSS starting points
As a concrete starting example, NVIDIA’s Fortnite guidance maps DLSS modes this way:
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| 2560×1440 | Balanced | Middle ground between reconstructed detail and performance. |
| 1920×1080 | Quality | Higher internal resolution to preserve fine detail at 1080p. |
Those values come from a 2020 Fortnite guide and are starting points, not guarantees. Upscaler implementations differ by game, motion-vector quality and anti-aliasing integration. If a Quality mode still misses your target, step down one mode and inspect thin geometry, foliage, hair, particle effects and HUD elements while moving the camera. If the reconstructed image looks unstable, a slightly lower native target with a clean presentation can be preferable to an aggressive performance mode.
Ray tracing and shadows: the best quality-preserving cuts
Ray tracing
Ray tracing is rated “Very High” for performance impact in MSI’s July 30, 2026 graphics-settings guide. Reflections, global illumination, ambient occlusion and shadows can each add expensive rays, denoising and acceleration-structure work. If your frame time is high in scenes with many lights, reflective surfaces or dense geometry, lower the ray-tracing preset first rather than reducing every conventional setting.
Many games expose separate ray-traced effects. Disable the least noticeable effect before turning the entire feature off, then retest the same scene. Reflections in a wet city, for example, may be more visible than ray-traced shadows in a bright outdoor level; the useful choice is scene-dependent. Keep a conventional screen-space reflection or shadow option enabled if it prevents obvious visual gaps after ray tracing is reduced.
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Shadow quality and distance
Shadows are a practical performance lever because they affect both the number and resolution of shadow maps and the distance at which objects cast them. Lower shadow resolution or filtering before cutting texture quality. If distant shadows flicker or pop, reduce shadow distance modestly rather than selecting the lowest global preset. In a competitive game, a stable shadow edge can matter less than consistent frame time; in a cinematic single-player game, retain the setting that preserves contact shadows around characters and objects.
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Texture quality is primarily a VRAM decision
MSI classifies textures as “Medium” impact and notes that they are generally more VRAM-heavy than compute-heavy. If your graphics card has memory headroom, high textures can deliver a large visual benefit at a relatively small FPS cost. Lower them when the VRAM meter is near full, when the game reports streaming pressure, or when traversing a level causes brief stalls as assets load.
Texture quality and texture filtering are separate controls. Keep anisotropic filtering high when available; it improves the clarity of surfaces viewed at an angle and is often inexpensive compared with ray tracing or shadows. If a game provides a texture-streaming budget, set it below the card’s total VRAM so the operating system, background applications and other buffers retain room.
Geometry and draw distance
Geometry is rated “Low–Medium” in MSI’s table, but its real cost depends on the engine and whether the workload is CPU- or GPU-limited. Draw distance also affects gameplay visibility, so do not lower it automatically. Reduce object distance, foliage density or level-of-detail transitions only after observing a CPU or GPU frame-time bottleneck in the same area.
Watch for the specific symptom you are trying to fix: a CPU-limited open-world scene may improve when crowd density, foliage and object distance fall, while a GPU-limited scene with simple geometry may barely change. Very low geometry settings can introduce pop-in that is more distracting than a modest reduction in shadows.
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Antialiasing, ambient occlusion and post-processing
Antialiasing determines how jagged edges are treated and often interacts directly with temporal upscaling. A lower anti-aliasing setting can improve FPS, but it may increase shimmer on fences, foliage and thin wires. Test it while panning the camera, not only in a static screenshot.
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Ambient occlusion adds small-scale contact shading beneath objects and around corners. It is usually a smaller cost than ray tracing, but it can become worthwhile to lower after the major settings are tuned. Compare dark creases and contact areas; disabling it entirely can make scenes look flat even when average FPS improves.
Post effects include bloom, depth of field, motion blur, film grain, chromatic aberration and other presentation filters. MSI rates post effects as “Low” impact overall, so they are rarely the first fix for a large performance deficit. Disable unwanted blur or film grain for a cleaner image, but do not expect a dramatic FPS change from these options alone.
VRR and frame caps: make frame delivery match the display
Microsoft defines variable refresh rate as a display feature that adjusts its refresh rate to the frame rate of the image being shown. Compatible technologies include AMD FreeSync, Nvidia G-SYNC and VESA DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync. When VRR is active, the monitor can follow fluctuating frame output instead of refreshing on a fixed schedule, reducing visible tearing and making uneven rates feel smoother.
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- Enable Adaptive-Sync, FreeSync or the equivalent option in the monitor’s on-screen display.
- Enable the matching VRR option in the graphics driver.
- Turn on the game’s VRR or variable-refresh setting if it has one.
- Confirm that the connection, resolution and refresh-rate combination is supported; some displays limit VRR range when HDR or a high refresh mode is selected.
- Use an in-game frame cap when possible. Set it a few frames per second below the display’s maximum refresh so the game remains inside the VRR window instead of repeatedly hitting the ceiling.
AMD notes that a frame-rate target can keep output within a FreeSync range while reducing power use, heat and fan noise. A cap also reduces unnecessary GPU work when the system could render far beyond the monitor’s refresh rate. The exact cap depends on the display’s refresh rate and measured behavior; choose the highest value that stays reliably inside the adaptive range without causing repeated ceiling hits.
When to prefer a fixed cap or synchronization mode
If VRR is unavailable, a fixed frame cap can still reduce oscillation and fan noise, but it cannot remove tearing by itself. Traditional synchronization can eliminate tearing at the cost of waiting for a refresh, which may increase latency. Competitive players often prioritize a low and consistent latency path, while slower-paced games may benefit more from a tear-free presentation. Compare the feel at the same cap rather than assuming one mode is universally superior.
Windows 11 settings for systems with multiple GPUs
Windows 11 can choose which GPU a game uses. On a desktop with integrated and discrete graphics, or on a laptop with hybrid graphics, assign the game to the high-performance GPU when the system is selecting the wrong adapter.
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- Open Settings and go to System > Display > Graphics.
- Find the game in the app list. Add its executable with Browse if it is not listed.
- Select the game, choose Options, select High performance, and save.
- Restart the game so it creates a new graphics device with the selected adapter.
For eligible DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 games running in windowed or borderless mode, enable Optimizations for windowed games in the same Graphics settings area. Microsoft says this optimization reduces presentation latency and supports Auto HDR and VRR on supported displays. Availability depends on the game, display and Windows configuration, so verify the result in the game rather than assuming the toggle changes every title.
How to measure a change without fooling yourself
Use a repeatable route: the same save, benchmark pass, map section or scripted encounter. Stand in the same location for a short idle check, then repeat the movement or combat sequence that normally causes trouble. Keep background applications and overlays consistent.
AMD Game Advisor monitors normal gameplay for up to 90 seconds and reports average FPS plus 95th-percentile frame time. The 95th-percentile figure is useful because it reflects the slower end of frame delivery without being dominated by one exceptional hitch. Game Advisor can suggest lowering presets, antialiasing or ambient occlusion, render scale or display resolution. Treat those suggestions as starting points and verify image quality yourself.
- GPU-limited pattern: GPU utilization stays high, lowering resolution or upscaling improves frame time, and CPU utilization has headroom.
- CPU-limited pattern: one or more CPU threads are saturated, lowering resolution barely helps, and crowd density, simulation or draw distance changes matter more.
- VRAM-pressure pattern: memory usage approaches the card’s limit, textures stream late or traversal hitches; lowering texture quality or streaming budget helps more than lowering post effects.
- Stutter without a sustained load: shader compilation, asset streaming, background tasks or a driver issue may be involved; changing every graphics slider can hide rather than solve the cause.
Keep a small record of each test: setting changed, scene, average FPS, 95th-percentile frame time, VRAM usage and visual result. Revert a change that improves the average but worsens frame-time spikes or introduces distracting artifacts.
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Native-resolution quality profile
- Native output resolution and monitor refresh rate.
- Upscaler off, or Quality mode if native performance misses the target.
- Ray tracing reduced one step before touching textures.
- Shadows one step below maximum, with adequate shadow distance.
- Textures high while VRAM remains below the game’s safe budget.
- High anisotropic filtering, moderate ambient occlusion and restrained post effects.
- VRR enabled with an in-range frame cap.
GPU-limited high-refresh profile
- Native output resolution with a Quality or Balanced upscaler mode.
- Ray tracing disabled or limited to the least expensive effect.
- Shadows reduced before textures.
- Geometry and draw distance retained until testing proves they are the bottleneck.
- Frame cap set below the monitor’s maximum refresh to keep delivery inside VRR.
VRAM-constrained profile
- Keep output resolution and temporal upscaling at a visually acceptable mode.
- Lower texture resolution and the texture-streaming budget first.
- Reduce high-resolution shadow maps if memory use remains excessive.
- Watch for traversal hitches after every change; average FPS alone may not reveal streaming pressure.
CPU-limited open-world profile
- Leave resolution and textures relatively high if the GPU has headroom.
- Lower crowd density, foliage, simulation detail or draw distance only where frame-time tests show a CPU bottleneck.
- Use a realistic frame cap rather than chasing a refresh rate the processor cannot sustain.
- Retain visibility-critical geometry settings when reducing them would cause pop-in.
Common problems and targeted fixes
The image is blurry after enabling upscaling
Move up one quality mode, disable additional sharpening filters that exaggerate halos, and check whether motion blur is masking detail. If the game’s temporal implementation produces ghosting on foliage or characters, compare another upscaler supported by the title; implementations are not interchangeable in quality.
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FPS is high but the game still stutters
Inspect frame-time graphs rather than the average. Repeat the same traversal route, check VRAM usage and look for shader-compilation pauses or background activity. A lower cap can make delivery steadier, but it will not fix an asset-streaming or driver fault by itself.
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VRR appears enabled but tearing remains
Confirm the monitor’s Adaptive-Sync switch, the driver setting, the active cable and the game’s selected display mode. Check that the frame rate is inside the monitor’s stated VRR range; repeatedly exceeding the top of that range can reintroduce tearing or synchronization behavior. An in-game cap below the maximum refresh is the next test.
Lowering resolution barely changes performance
The game may be CPU-limited, or another option such as ray tracing may dominate GPU time. Compare CPU and GPU utilization, then test shadows, ray tracing, crowd density and draw distance individually. If one CPU thread is saturated, lowering image resolution cannot remove that limit.
Textures look muddy even though FPS improved
Restore texture quality if VRAM permits and lower a more compute-heavy setting instead. Check texture filtering and streaming-budget controls separately; a low streaming budget can cause softness even when the texture-resolution option is high.
A compact decision checklist
- Is the game outputting at the monitor’s native resolution?
- Is a supported temporal upscaler available, and have you tested its Quality mode first?
- Does the frame-time graph identify the GPU, CPU or VRAM as the limiting resource?
- Have ray tracing and shadows been reduced before textures?
- Are geometry and draw distance being changed only when they affect the measured bottleneck?
- Is VRR enabled on the monitor, driver and game, with an in-range frame cap?
- On Windows 11, is the game assigned to the high-performance GPU and, when eligible, using Optimizations for windowed games?
- Did you change one setting, replay the same demanding scene and inspect both motion quality and frame-time consistency?
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I lower resolution or enable DLSS, FSR or XeSS first?
Keep the monitor’s native output and try a quality-oriented temporal upscaler first. Lower output resolution only when supported upscaling still cannot meet the target or produces unacceptable artifacts.
Which setting should I lower first for more FPS?
Reduce ray tracing, then shadows. They are generally more expensive than textures, while textures can remain high if VRAM is not under pressure.
Do I need a VRR monitor for smooth performance?
No, but VRR can match refresh to changing frame rates, reducing tearing and making fluctuations feel smoother. Enable it when the display, connection, driver and game all support it.
What is a sensible FPS cap with VRR?
Cap the game a few frames per second below the monitor’s maximum refresh so output remains inside the adaptive range. Verify the cap with an in-game counter or frame-time graph.
Why does lowering graphics quality not fix stutter?
Stutter can come from CPU limits, shader compilation, asset streaming, VRAM pressure or background activity. Measure frame times and resource usage in a repeatable scene before changing more sliders.
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