You boost FPS on a PC without upgrading hardware by fixing software bottlenecks first: a clean GPU driver, upscaling turned on, the heaviest graphics settings turned down, and Windows set to stop fighting your GPU for resources. Most rigs leave frames on the table long before the silicon runs out of headroom. Work through this list in order.
Install a Clean GPU Driver First
An outdated driver caps your frame rate no matter what else you change. Grab the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel, and use the clean-install option to wipe old driver leftovers instead of installing on top. That residue is a common source of stutter and inconsistent frame pacing.
Turn On Upscaling Before Anything Else
DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are the biggest free performance win available in modern games. Each renders at a lower internal resolution and reconstructs it to your screen’s native resolution, so you keep most of the sharpness for far less rendering work. Match the upscaler to your GPU brand, and start at Quality mode before touching anything else here.
Turn Down the Settings That Cost the Most FPS
Shadows, ambient occlusion, and volumetric fog or lighting are consistently the most expensive settings relative to how much they improve the picture. Dropping them a notch rarely looks worse in motion.
Turn ray tracing off unless your card handles it comfortably, since it stacks a heavy cost on top of everything else. For anti-aliasing, TAA or FXAA costs far less than MSAA at high sample counts.
Set Windows and Your GPU Panel to Favour Performance
Turn on Windows Game Mode and enable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling under Settings, System, Display, Graphics. Switch your power plan to High Performance instead of Balanced, then open NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Software and set power management to prefer maximum performance.
Close Background Apps, Overlays, and Startup Programs
Discord, a browser full of tabs, and RGB lighting software all sit in the background eating CPU cycles and VRAM while you play. Close them before launching a game rather than minimizing them, and disable anything unnecessary in Task Manager’s Startup tab.
Confirm the Right GPU and the Right Refresh Rate
On a laptop, some games default to integrated graphics instead of your discrete GPU, which tanks frame rate instantly. Set the game’s executable in your GPU control panel to use the high-performance discrete GPU explicitly.
Windows also sometimes defaults a monitor to 60Hz even when it supports more. Check Settings, System, Display, Advanced Display, and confirm the refresh rate matches your monitor’s rating. Want to push a monitor past its factory number? Our guide on overclocking a monitor past its stock refresh rate covers that separately.
Clear Shader Caches, Free Drive Space, and Clean Out Dust
A drive running low on space slows load times and can cause stutter while shader caches rebuild. Clear the cache through your GPU control panel or the game’s settings and let it rebuild over your next few sessions.
Dust buildup also raises temperatures enough to trigger thermal throttling over time. Opening the case to clean fans and heatsinks is maintenance, not an upgrade, and our guide to cleaning a GPU safely covers the process, including when repasting makes sense.
Worked through everything here and still want more? The next step is hardware-level, and our guide to overclocking your GPU safely for more FPS is built for exactly that stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does updating drivers actually change FPS? Yes. Driver updates often include game-specific optimizations that affect frame pacing, and a clean install removes conflicts left by older versions.
Is DLSS or FSR worse quality than native resolution? At Quality mode the difference is minor in motion, and the frame rate gain is usually worth the trade in fast-paced games.
Does closing background apps really help? It depends what’s running. Overlays and browser tabs with heavy scripts compete for CPU and memory the game could use instead.
Tricia Nelson writes about technology, science, and how-to guides for 3Zebras. She has a knack for turning dense, technical topics into clear explanations, covering everything from iPhone and Android troubleshooting to the science stories behind the headlines.