Gaming is not all that hard.
Except when your teammates are noobs, and when you have a constantly growing and persistent lag, and… and when your FPS drops.
While it usually indicates that your gaming unit (desktop computer, laptop) needs an upgrade in hardware components, most of the times this problem is easy to overcome.
Here is how to improve FPS rate on more demanding games!
FPS dropping is a common place. It is probably the most annoying, discouraging, and disappointing occurrence in both online and single-player world of gaming. Luckily there is a simple solution. Well, most of them.
You can easily solve these problems with little to no technical knowledge. In this article, we will highlight all the most important methods, commonly used amongst the passionate gamers like you.
What is FPS?
FPS, or better known as frames per second is commonly used unit. It is used mostly for measuring the performance of the display device. Basically, the highest the frame rate, the more accurate and smoother performance you will get on your display.
The horizontal scan lines which layer your screen create a frame. That being said, we can freely say that the number of scan lines per frame measures this unit. It is worth pointing out that there are three different FPS standards, which are considered fundamental. They are used mainly on movie making. These are 24p, 25p, and 30p.
These numbers are what contributes to the compatibility with the TV, mimicking of the camera’s frame rate, and conversion of a recorded video into the film. When it comes to the high-definition, it is mandatory to point out these consist of at least 50p up to the experimental format of 72p.
When you add 2 and 2, it won’t be hard to realize that the higher FPS rate results in much better display performance. Movement in the pictures is smoother, faster, and more natural. Video will appear clear, without flickering, freezing, and what not.
This also delivers another important result. There are different formats of videos, as such, they have different FPS demands. The 4K videos demand the highest possible frame rate, as they are quite demanding and clear. On the other side, the smaller computer files, and weaker ones as well, produce the less frame rate per second.
While some older games will demand only as little as six to ten measured frames to second, today’s most demanding games will require minimally 30 frames per second or higher. If you are a dedicated gamer, you will certainly know that 30 frames per second is the utmost minimum for playing anyhow decently.
Now that you have taken a grip of the basics of the concept of FPS and its’ meanings, it is time to move forward and boost your FPS without purchasing a completely new unit.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Reduce the resolution.
Alright, this is the one a captain obvious would suggest. Naturally, many people have already done this, but, it didn’t help. On the other side, people didn’t really bother. Reasons may vary, from being unsure to the utmost ignorance in solving things. What if I told you that your resolution doesn’t have to be 1920 x 1080 to have high detail accuracy and enough clear picture to observe the entire picture the way you want?
If the game can run nearly flawlessly on a lesser resolution, then lowering the resolution is the best and the most efficient method that you can refer to. Not to mention that it is almost painless. As long as you can see your character and give into the beauties of the open world realm, you are good to go.
The worst thing that can happen is the picture showing a pixelated pattern over your screen. However, there is a guaranteed 50% improvement inside the overall in-game performance. Try it and you will see that the linear decrement yields great results, improving the FPS rate and letting your graphics card breathe.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Change the video settings
If you are addicted to the PC view distance and the accuracy in detail, this will hit you hard. But, there is the bright side. Change of the video card settings can boost the FPS and make you the ultimate pro of every game you play. Shadow, textures, characters, and other details in game have a vast impact on the gaming performance. Perhaps, you are not even aware how much.
If you are inexperienced and insecure about which settings you should change, consider downloading Nvidia’s GeForce Experience, if you are an Nvidia user, or/and Gaming Evolved featured by the AMD competitor. These two applications will automatically adjust your settings accordingly to your computer’s possibilities, thereby increasing the framerate.
It is worth mentioning the anti-aliasing setting. It is another setting which plays great role in video card performance. Turning it off, or adjusting it will help you have some higher FPS. You should definitely try it and see how it goes.
If neither the resolution lowering and a thorough change in settings don’t do the thing, you can take a look at the below explained cases. Who knows, perhaps, you find them handier than you thought.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Upgrade your graphics card drivers (and your other drivers as well)
The above mentioned software GeForce Experience and Gaming Evolved should automatically track any sort of change in the updates for your graphics card model in particular. This is another reason to have them by your side.
In case you don’t, you will most likely not track the changes in the graphics card drivers. Basically, when the graphics card driver updates, it comes to a change in the game performance. This often solves most of the problems. Furthermore, it is the first method gamers run after.
In order to update your graphics card driver, the first thing you need to find out is what graphics card are you even using. This is a simple one, as every gamer should know this. After all, it is the video card that makes the high-end gaming possible.
While the video cards of the newer generations efficiently track their updates without a sweat, the older ones need extra care. When you notice that your game starts staggering around the FPS demanding textures, check whether does your video card driver need an update. If it does, go to the site, download, and install it.
Avoid using manufacturer’s site, going to Nvidia’s site is all you need to do. Many times this was the only thing necessary to solve my problem.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Use the video card’s control panel
Believe it or not, the most of the graphics cards have their own control panels. Don’t get me wrong, there are great games out there. However, it is not rare that they are badly optimized. For example, many MMORPG games, especially those designed in Unreal Engine 3, have poor optimization. In the overcrowded server, this is the death for the low-end computers.
Using control panels dedicated to the video cards will adjust the graphics appropriately to the game you are playing. This vastly improves the FPS, especially against the poorly optimized MMORPGs. You will notice the change, especially as the demanding graphics effects emerge in the demanding, and focus-threatening boss fights. The last thing you want there is a framerate drop.
You can do this for nearly any game. As long as the control panel recognizes it, you can adjust it. Furthermore, it will give you an insight of its’ capabilities compared to the in-game performance. It’s worth mentioning that the settings return to the default every time the game gets updated/patched. It is important to keep track of that.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? Speed up the fans!
This is not the most recommended option for laptops. However, the newer graphics cards are eligible for this action. This process used to require at least some technical hardware knowledge and experience. However, now, with the programs such as MSI AfterBurner, everything is possible.
Knowing that temperatures are the biggest physical arch enemy of the enraged framerate drops, the several tracking programs were developed to control the temperature. Aside from getting a proficient cooling pad, we recommending downloading some of these trackers.
Aside from giving a graphical, ongoing image of your RAM, CPU (each core is calculated separately), graphics card, and more, it allows you to either speed up the fans and overclock the utilities (More about this later). Speeding up the fans helps a lot of users maintain the temperature inside the components, thereby enhancing the FPS. Once, my FPS even jumped by 80 after boosting my fan from 45 to 80. It was a great time.
This method of FPS boosting is mostly recommended during the summer. The oscillating temperatures and unstable weather cause the FPS to be very low. Unless you are experiencing the problems because of this, making these changes during the winter won’t do much to make your FPS better.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Unpark your processor
Not the best option, especially for the laptop users.
There is software for unparking either physical and virtual cores of your processor. It can vastly improve FPS, despite of the vast majority of games depending on the performance and clocking of the graphics card. This solved many problems for me.
This shouldn’t be a problem for the advanced laptop users. Brands such as Asus, Lenovo, and MSI have the advanced ventilation systems which can take just anything.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Clean the ventilation of your laptop/Fans of your desktop computer
When your gaming device is new, it is free from any dust. While better models feature systems and technologies to brush away any threatening dust, the more budget-oriented models easily get dirtied with the dust. It is recommended to clean your ventilation system anywhere between six months and one year.
On the other side, if you have already been hanging out with your computer with some years, cleaning the ventilation is recommended every two to three months. Needless to say, be extra careful when cleaning your laptop. If you have a lasting warranty with the manufacturer, take the laptop to the service and they will do it for free, and much more methodically than a non -tech-savvy person would do.
Additionally, applying some thermal paste if your computer is old will be of great help when managing the temperature inside both laptop and desktop. This is usually the last resort for all gamers. I was about to give up my favorite MMORPG after years of playing because FPS was dead for months and I couldn’t afford a new computer. After a teammate advised me to try cleaning I skeptically did it. I’m glad I did it.
How to improve FPS rate on more demanding games? – Overclocking your utilities
Overclocking your graphics card proved effective many times when the dedicated gamers were barriered by an angry framerate falling. However, this is not for everyone. Overclocking is almost as dangerous as anything that can damage the components inside your computer.
Overclocking means putting the performance of your configuration far beyond their possibilities. Processor will intelligently shut the computer down if it is not eligible for over-clocking. Unfortunately, graphics card won’t.
Overclocking will definitely deliver the smoothest performance when it comes to boosting FPS. But it includes the professional approach to the BIOS, and support from the third-party software. It requires some more knowledge if the graphics card drivers don’t support overclocking.
All in all, do this at your own risk, or at least ask for help from someone reliable and well-versed.
Summary
These are all the proven ways to boost your framerate. If none of these help, it might be that your components are simply too old and are starting to die out. In these positions, an upgrade is the only option. Which ways do you use to boost your framerate? Let us know in the comments!
