How to Increase FPS on PC: 15 Tweaks That Actually Work in 2026

Stuttering frame rates and sudden drops in competitive games can ruin your gameplay experience. If you are wondering how to increase FPS on PC without spending money on hardware upgrades, you are in the right place. Hardware performance often gets bottlenecked by misconfigured Windows settings, outdated GPU drivers, and default BIOS profiles.

In this guide, we break down 15 proven tweaks that actually boost your frame rate, eliminate input latency, and stabilize frame times in 2026. For a complete system-wide latency deep dive, check out our guide on how to optimize your gaming PC for low latency.

Quick Summary: Top FPS Tweaks at a Glance

Here is a quick reference table of key recommended settings for instant frame rate gains:

Setting	Recommended Value	Why
Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling	On	Reduces CPU overhead and input latency.
Windows Power Plan	High / Ultimate Performance	Prevents CPU downclocking during gameplay.
XMP / EXPO	Enabled (Profile 1)	Unlocks rated RAM speeds and dual-channel bandwidth.
NVIDIA Low Latency Mode	On / Ultra	Minimizes render queue delay.
DLSS / FSR Mode	Quality / Balanced	Dramatically boosts FPS with minimal quality loss.

1. Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)

Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling offloads high-priority memory management tasks from the CPU directly to dedicated GPU scheduling hardware. This reduces CPU overhead and improves frame consistency in GPU-bound scenarios.

• Open Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings.

• Toggle Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling to On.

• Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

2. Enable XMP or EXPO in Your BIOS

Many PC gamers unknowingly run their high-speed RAM at default DDR4 (2133MHz) or DDR5 (4800MHz) base speeds. Enabling Extreme Memory Profile (XMP for Intel) or Extended Profiles for Overclocking (EXPO for AMD) unlocks your RAM’s full advertised bandwidth, yielding up to a 15–20% FPS boost in CPU-heavy esports titles.

• Reboot your PC and press Del or F2 to enter BIOS.

• Locate XMP (Intel) or EXPO / DOCP (AMD).

• Select Profile 1, then save and exit (F10).

3. Switch to High Performance Power Plan

Windows defaults to Balanced power mode, which dynamically lowers CPU clock speeds during quiet moments. Switching to High Performance or Ultimate Performance keeps your CPU cores at higher clock frequencies, preventing sudden micro-stutters during intense gaming moments.

• Press Win + R, type powercfg.cpl, and press Enter.

• Select High Performance or Ultimate Performance.

4. Optimize Windows Game Mode & Disable Background Captures

Windows Game Mode prioritizes CPU and GPU resources for your game process while preventing background Windows updates from starting during matches. However, Xbox Game Bar’s passive recording feature can consume precious VRAM and CPU cycles.

• Go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode and turn it On.

• Go to Settings > Gaming > Captures and turn off Record in the background while playing a game.

5. Fine-Tune NVIDIA & AMD GPU Driver Control Panels

Optimizing driver control panel settings ensures your graphics card operates without artificial power throttles or excessive rendering latency.

For NVIDIA Users:

• Open NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings.

• Set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance.

• Set Low Latency Mode to On or Ultra.

• Set Texture Filtering – Quality to High Performance.

For AMD Users:

• Open AMD Software > Gaming > Graphics.

• Enable Radeon Anti-Lag and set Wait for Vertical Refresh to Always Off.

6. Clean Install GPU Drivers & Clear Shader Caches

Corrupted driver files and bloated shader caches are leading causes of sudden FPS drops after game updates. Performing a clean installation using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) ensures a pristine software environment.

• Download the latest driver installer from NVIDIA or AMD.

• Use DDU in Windows Safe Mode to remove old drivers completely.

• Install the fresh driver package and rebuild in-game shader caches.

7. Utilize AI Upscaling (DLSS, FSR, XeSS)

If you play at 1440p or 4K resolutions, modern spatial and temporal upscaling technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS render games at lower internal resolutions before reconstructing them using AI. Setting DLSS or FSR to “Quality” mode can boost frame rates by 30% to 60% with virtually zero loss in visual clarity.

8. Optimize In-Game Graphics Settings

Not all graphic settings impact performance equally. You can drastically improve FPS on PC by lowering demanding options that contribute little to competitive clarity:

• Shadow Quality: Set to Medium or Low (saves up to 15% GPU overhead).

• Volumetric Fog & Lighting: Lower or disable.

• Ray Tracing: Turn Off for competitive titles.

• Ambient Occlusion: Set to Low or SSAO.

• Textures: Keep High if VRAM allows, as texture filtering relies heavily on VRAM capacity rather than GPU compute.

9. Disable Unnecessary Startup Programs & Background Apps

Background applications such as Discord overlays, RGB software (iCUE, Synapse), browser tabs, and cloud sync tools draw CPU time and RAM capacity away from your games.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.

• Click the Startup Apps tab.

• Disable non-essential launchers, bloatware, and auto-updating tools.

10. Configure G-Sync / FreeSync & NVIDIA Reflex Properly

Misconfigured Adaptive Sync can cause stuttering or frame tearing. To achieve the lowest latency and smoothest frame delivery:

• Enable G-Sync / FreeSync in GPU Control Panel and Monitor OSD.

• Cap your frame rate 3 FPS below your display refresh rate (e.g., 141 FPS on a 144Hz monitor).

• Turn on NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency to On + Boost in supported games.

11. Clear Temporary Files and Windows Shader Cache

Over time, accumulated DirectX Shader Cache and temporary system files can degrade disk read speeds and cause micro-stutters during asset loading.

• Press Win + R, type cleanmgr, and press Enter.

• Select your system drive (C:) and check DirectX Shader Cache and Temporary Files.

• Click OK to execute cleanup.

12. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

Windows Fullscreen Optimizations can sometimes force games into a hybrid windowed mode, introducing input lag and frame pacing issues.

• Right-click your game executable (.exe) and choose Properties.

• Navigate to the Compatibility tab.

• Check Disable fullscreen optimizations and click Apply.

13. Disable Core Isolation (Memory Integrity) for Pure Gaming Performance

Virtualization-based Security (VBS) and Memory Integrity in Windows 11 protect systems from malicious code injection, but they introduce a measurable performance penalty in gaming workloads (around 5% to 10% lower FPS on certain CPUs).

• Search Core Isolation in the Windows Search Bar.

• Toggle Memory Integrity to Off (if your machine is strictly used for gaming and behind a safe network firewall).

• Restart your PC.

14. Tweak Windows Visual Effects

Windows transparent animations and smooth shadows consume GPU resources that should be dedicated to rendering frames.

• Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, and open Advanced system settings.

• Under Performance, click Settings.

• Choose Adjust for best performance, or manually uncheck window animations and smooth shadows.

15. Manage Thermal Throttling & Fan Curves

If your CPU or GPU exceeds critical temperature thresholds (typically 85°C–90°C), hardware safety features automatically throttle clock speeds, causing severe FPS drops.

• Clean dust out of your PC case, intake filters, and heatsink fins regularly.

• Use MSI Afterburner to set aggressive custom fan curves.

• Consider applying fresh thermal paste or undervolting your CPU/GPU for lower temperatures and sustained boost clocks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Knowing how to increase FPS on PC isn’t about running mysterious registry scripts or downloading suspicious optimizer software. By applying these 15 system, driver, and game-level tweaks, you ensure that your hardware delivers peak performance, smooth frame pacing, and minimal latency in every game you play.