GPU Optimization Guide: Nvidia and AMD Settings for Max FPS

Most players never touch the NVIDIA App or AMD Radeon Software after installing their GPU drivers. That's a mistake. The default settings are tuned for general use — they actively cap your GPU's clock speed to save power and pre-render frames to smooth output. For gaming, those tradeoffs cost you FPS and input lag you don't need to give up.

Here's exactly what to change, and why each setting matters.

If you're looking for the NVIDIA Control Panel, it's gone. NVIDIA retired it on 26 May 2026 with driver 610.47, after 20 years, and moved its settings into the NVIDIA App. A clean driver install removes it; upgrading over an older driver leaves it behind on your system, so you may still see it even though it no longer receives fixes. Every NVIDIA path below uses the App — if you're looking for a specific setting, see where every NVIDIA Control Panel setting moved.

NVIDIA App Settings

Open the NVIDIA App from the Start menu or the system tray, then go to Graphics. The desktop right-click shortcut that used to open the Control Panel is no longer added.

Two scopes matter here: Global Settings applies to everything, and Program Settings applies to one game. Prefer Program Settings when you're tuning for a single title — that way an aggressive setting can't break an older game, a creative app, or your browser.

Graphics → Global Settings

Power management mode: Change from "Optimal power" to Prefer maximum performance. The default mode reduces GPU clocks during brief load dips between frames, causing clock ramp-up latency that shows up as microstutter. Maximum performance keeps clocks high at all times.

Low Latency Mode: Set to Ultra. This reduces the GPU render queue to minimum. Your CPU submits fewer frames in advance, which increases GPU utilization slightly but dramatically reduces system latency. Measurable in frame timing tools as 10–30ms latency reduction.

Max Frame Rate: Leave at Off unless you have a specific reason to cap (like using G-Sync at maximum monitor refresh). Let the game or NVIDIA Reflex handle frame pacing.

Texture filtering - Quality: Set to High Performance. Anisotropic filtering is handled better in-game anyway. The driver-level quality setting mostly affects edge cases that aren't visible during gameplay.

Vertical Sync (in the NVIDIA App): Set to Off. If you use G-Sync, set it to "Use the 3D application setting" and control V-Sync in-game instead.

Shader Cache Size: Set to Unlimited or a large fixed value (10GB+). This allows DirectX 12 and Vulkan games to cache compiled shaders without eviction, eliminating shader compilation stutter after the first session.

Legacy: PhysX processor selection

The old "Configure Surround, PhysX" page was a Control Panel feature and PhysX has been de-emphasised across recent GPU generations, so this setting may not appear for your card at all. If you do find it, point the PhysX processor at your dedicated GPU rather than Auto. If it isn't there, there's nothing to configure.

System → Displays: scaling

If you play at a resolution other than native, set Scaling to be performed on the display rather than the GPU, so you're not paying for a scaling pass. Games that request native fullscreen will then bypass the scaler.

NVIDIA Resizable BAR (ReBAR)

Resizable BAR allows the CPU to access the full VRAM (instead of 256MB chunks). On RTX 30/40 cards with supported motherboards, it's free FPS.

Check status: NVIDIA App → System Info → look for the "Resizable BAR" row, which should read "Yes".

To enable if it's off:

1. Update motherboard BIOS to the latest version (most boards added ReBAR support in 2021+ updates)
2. BIOS → Above 4G Decoding → Enable
3. BIOS → Resizable BAR or Re-Size BAR Support → Enable

Games with confirmed ReBAR gains: Elden Ring (+10%), Far Cry series (+8%), Cyberpunk 2077 (+6%), Assassin's Creed games (+5%).

AMD Radeon Software Settings

Open Radeon Software (right-click desktop → AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition) or from the Start menu.

Performance → Tuning

Tuning Control: Manual Power Tuning: Slide TDP (Power Limit) to 0% or slightly positive. This ensures the GPU runs at full power during gaming. Negative values reduce power to lower heat/noise at cost of performance.

GPU Frequency: Leave on Automatic unless you're manually overclocking. Radeon's auto-OC algorithm is generally good.

Gaming → Graphics

Radeon Anti-Lag: Enabled. AMD's equivalent of NVIDIA's Low Latency Mode. Reduces input latency by limiting the render queue.

Radeon Anti-Lag+: Available on newer drivers for supported games. More aggressive than standard Anti-Lag. Enable if available for your game.

Image Sharpening (RIS): Set to 80% sharpening if you play at a lower resolution. It compensates for the blurriness of upscaling. Leave off at native resolution.

Wait for Vertical Refresh: Set to Off (same as disabling V-Sync globally).

Radeon Boost: Dynamically reduces resolution during fast movement, increasing FPS at minimal visual cost. Worth testing — works well in competitive games where you're already moving fast and not scrutinizing pixels.

AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR)

If your games support FSR, use it at Quality mode for 77% render resolution with significant FPS gains. FSR works on any GPU (not just AMD) and doesn't require driver integration.

FSR 3 with Frame Generation (supported in select titles) can double frame rates from a base rendered frame. It adds some latency but works on older hardware unlike DLSS Frame Generation.

NVIDIA DLSS

For NVIDIA RTX users, DLSS Quality mode renders at ~67% resolution and upscales with AI. In games with good DLSS implementation:

• DLSS Quality often looks better than native TAA at the same resolution
• FPS gains of 20–40% are common
• Use Quality mode for visual parity, Balanced or Performance when you need more FPS

DLSS 3 Frame Generation (RTX 40-series only) generates intermediate frames for 1.5–2x frame rate multiplier. Adds ~20ms latency compared to rendered frames, but NVIDIA Reflex compensates.

In-Game vs Driver Settings

The rule: in-game settings take precedence over driver settings for the same feature. Set V-Sync, anti-aliasing, and sharpening in-game when possible. Use driver settings as global defaults for apps that don't expose the option.

One thing worth saying: these settings won't add 50 FPS by themselves. What they do is remove self-imposed limits — keeping your GPU at full clock speed, cutting the render queue, and stopping Windows from interfering with power management. On top of a clean driver install, the combined effect is meaningful. For the OS-level changes that work alongside these driver tweaks, see best Windows settings for gaming in 2026.

If you want driver settings, power plan tuning, and HAGS guidance matched to your GPU generation, SageTweaks can surface hardware-aware recommendations and apply supported Windows-side changes.