How do I adjust my graphics settings for games?
The most important graphics settings are inside each game: open the game's Settings or Options menu and look for a Video, Display or Graphics tab. On Windows you can also choose which GPU a game uses under Settings > System > Display > Graphics, and your graphics card's control app (NVIDIA app or AMD Software) offers driver-level options.
1. Start with the in-game menu
- Set resolution to your monitor's native resolution and display mode to fullscreen or borderless.
- Pick a preset (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) as a starting point.
- Turn on upscaling (DLSS, FSR or XeSS) if the game supports it and you need more FPS.
- Adjust individual settings, starting with the heaviest: shadows, volumetric effects, ray tracing, ambient occlusion and anti-aliasing.
- Keep texture quality as high as your GPU's video memory allows; it costs little FPS if you have enough VRAM.
2. Choose the right GPU in Windows
On laptops with both integrated and dedicated graphics, games sometimes run on the weaker chip. In Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics, find the game (or add it with Browse), open its options and choose High performance.
3. Use your graphics card's app
- NVIDIA: the NVIDIA app (or the older NVIDIA Control Panel) lets you set global or per-game options like low-latency mode and power management.
- AMD: AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition has per-game profiles and features like Radeon Anti-Lag and Radeon Super Resolution.
Most players should leave driver settings at default and change things in-game; driver overrides are for specific problems.
4. Match settings to your monitor
Set your monitor's refresh rate in Settings > System > Display > Advanced display. If you have a 144 Hz monitor and it runs at 60 Hz, games will feel choppy no matter what. Turn on G-Sync or FreeSync if your monitor supports it.
5. Keep drivers updated
New drivers often improve performance in recent games. Download them from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel, or through their apps.
FAQ
What graphics settings matter most for FPS?
Resolution, ray tracing, shadows and volumetric effects usually have the biggest impact. Textures matter mainly if you run out of VRAM.
What resolution should I play at?
Your monitor's native resolution looks sharpest. If FPS is too low, use upscaling instead of lowering the resolution directly.
How do I make a game use my GPU instead of integrated graphics?
In Windows 11, open Settings > System > Display > Graphics, select the game and set it to High performance.
How do I reset GPU settings to default?
Both the NVIDIA and AMD apps have a restore-defaults option for global and per-game settings.
Why are my PC graphics so bad?
Common causes are a non-native resolution, the game running on integrated graphics, outdated drivers, or low in-game settings and render scale.
How do I check if my graphics card is working properly?
Make sure it appears in Device Manager under Display adapters without a warning icon, and watch GPU usage in Task Manager while gaming.