Low FPS is one of the most frustrating gaming experiences — especially when you're half a second behind in a competitive match. The good news: you don't always need a new GPU to get more FPS. Most of the steps below are free and take 10-15 minutes. This guide is ordered from the most effective (and cheapest) to the most expensive.
1. Find out how much FPS your current hardware should give you
Before touching any setting, it helps to know what FPS you should realistically expect from your GPU/CPU/RAM combo. Use FPS Driver's free calculator to see the expected FPS range across 115+ games. If your actual FPS is way below that estimate, the problem likely isn't your hardware — it's your settings or something running in the background.
2. Lower the right graphics settings
Not every setting impacts FPS equally. You typically get the biggest gains from lowering:
- Shadows: Usually the most expensive setting — even going from ultra to medium makes a noticeable difference.
- Draw distance: Puts serious load on the GPU in open-world games.
- Anti-aliasing: Especially unnecessary at higher resolutions — consider turning it off or switching to a lighter option like FXAA at 1440p and above.
- Reflections and ambient occlusion: Subtle visual differences at a high performance cost.
Texture quality is usually the setting to lower last — if you have enough VRAM, it barely affects FPS but has a big visual impact.
3. Turn on DLSS, FSR, or XeSS
If your GPU supports it, upscaling technology is probably the single biggest FPS boost you can get from one setting — sometimes 40-70%. We cover how it works and which one to pick in our DLSS vs FSR guide.
4. Update your GPU driver
Playing on an outdated driver leaves performance on the table — drivers optimized for new games can add 10-20% FPS in a single title. We walk through the update steps in this guide.
5. Optimize Windows for gaming
Apps running unnecessarily in the background (browser tabs, Discord overlay, auto-updaters) eat into your CPU and RAM. Turning on Windows Game Mode, setting your power plan to "High Performance," and disabling unnecessary startup apps are free but effective steps — see the full list in our Windows gaming settings guide.
6. Use resolution wisely
4K looks amazing but comes at a massive FPS cost. If you're chasing high FPS in a competitive game, dropping to 1080p or 1440p — especially with a mid-range GPU — can be a much smarter choice. Try changing the resolution in our calculator to see exactly how big the difference is on your own hardware.
7. Identify your bottleneck
Sometimes the problem isn't your GPU — it's your CPU (or vice versa). Learn how to tell what's holding you back in our CPU vs GPU bottleneck guide before spending money on the wrong upgrade.
8. If a hardware upgrade is really necessary
If you've done all of the above and still aren't hitting your target FPS, it's time to look at hardware. Use our hardware recommendation tool for a budget-appropriate upgrade, or put candidates side by side against your current GPU on our comparison page.
Summary
The general order should be: measure first (is your actual FPS close to the expected range?), do the free stuff (settings, drivers, Windows), turn on upscaling, and upgrade hardware only as a last resort. Follow this order and you'll likely fix most of the problem before spending a cent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the single setting that boosts FPS the most?
If your GPU supports it, turning on an upscaling technology like DLSS/FSR is usually the single biggest gain you'll get from one setting. Lowering shadows and draw distance in your graphics settings comes next.
How much can I increase FPS without buying new hardware?
Combining a driver update, the right graphics settings, and Windows optimization can add 20-40% on many systems — turning on DLSS/FSR can push that even higher. The actual gain depends on your hardware and the specific game.
Does FPS always need to be very high?
No — the target depends on the type of game. Fast-paced competitive games benefit from 144+ FPS; cinematic, single-player games are fine at a stable 60 FPS for most players. What matters most is consistency, not the raw number.