How to Increase FPS in Fortnite

Looking for a way to boost the number of frames per second (FPS) in Fornite? So do we, and every other gamer whether they’re playing offline, or like in this case, online. In all honesty, experiencing a lack of FPS when other players in a multiplayer game are rocking more than 60 just crushes your potential to be good at games. For that reason, you need to make sure your shooting skills aren’t being hurt by sluggish performance. Here’s an in-depth guide on how to increase FPS in Fortnite. The first four entries are common-sense solutions, while the rest are practical.

1. Purchase a more powerful PC or Mac

If you have a low-spec machine, no matter how hard you try, the performance boost can be only incremental. The resolution? Purchase a newer model of a pre-built PC. You can also look for a second-hand model that fits the minimum or recommended system requirements for Fortnite. If you are short on cash, learn how to earn money by playing games.

In the case of Apple devices, you need any machine that supports Metal, their proprietary CPU/GPU technology. From our research, we concluded that you need:

• iMac model newer than 2012
• MacBook Air or Pro newer than 2012
• Mac Pro released after late 2013
• MacBook released after 2015

2. Set Fortnite to the Low graphical setting

If you are really hurting, you will have to sacrifice the best graphics settings for maximum performance. It’s not for everyone, especially because of view distance, but if you can’t afford any better, it’s the only option. Check your FPS afterward. Is it well underneath the 60, the most common FPS number? If so, it might be time to give up until you can upgrade your machine or buy a new one. If you are desperate, you can reduce the resolution from 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) to 720p (1240 x 720 pixels).

3. Clean your PC, Mac, PlayStation, or Xbox

This should be common sense because overheating is a common reason for weak performance. PC, Xbox, and PlayStation first start to downclock its CPU and GPU, and if the temperature keeps rising, turn the machine off automatically to save your electronics from damage.

If you are scared about losing your warranty contact the official repair shop or the manufacturer for clarification. Did it expire? If so, open the console or computer, and blow the dust from the fans and the heatsinks. If the computer or console is old, consider changing the thermal paste too.

4. Update Fortnite, Epic Games, and Windows 10/Console OS/macOS

We don’t need to explain, the title says it all. Before you do anything, make sure everything is up to date. The latest patch often fixes a lot of things and improves performance.

5. Configure in-game settings

Here’s a secret. Most professionals don’t crank their in-game settings to Epic because they favor a high FPS number over the best graphics. Your goal is to have a stable frame per second (FPS) number that matches your monitor’s refresh rate. For example, if your monitor is 60 Hz, your goal is to have a stable 60 FPS number. The same applies to 75 Hz, 144 Hz, and 240 Hz monitors. Here’s what we recommend.

1. Set the resolution to the native resolution of your monitor.
2. Enable Vsync.
3. Put everything on Low or Off except View Distance, put it on Epic.
4. Make sure Show FPS is set to On.
5. Click on Apply.
6. Play a game of Fortnite and see if your computer or console keeps up with your monitor’s refresh rate.
   1. If it’s way above the target number, you can increase the settings to Medium and slowly enable things such as Shadows, Anti-Aliasing, Post Processing, Effects while keeping View Distance to Epic and test the numbers again. Stop when you find a sweet spot (your FPS never falling below the target number).
   2. If it’s close to the number, but slightly below, apply the optimizations below, and you should see an improvement.
   3. If it’s nowhere close, you need to follow the 1st method or combine methods 2, 3, and 4 mentioned above and give it another try.

On consoles, you don’t have much of a choice. Go into the Game tab, and make sure the 60 FPS option is set to On.

6. Alter your AMD/Nvidia settings

The next best thing you can do is trying to alter the graphics settings. If you are using Nvidia or AMD graphics to play Fortnite on your PC, you could follow the steps given below to optimize the game for the best possible performance.

On Nvidia

1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel, and go to Manage 3D settings.
2. Switch to Program Settings and choose Fortnite from the drop-down list. If it isn’t there, click on Add, find the Fortnite source folder by clicking Browse, and click on Add Selected Program.
3. Now, set:
   1. Maximum pre-rendered frames to 1
   2. Power Management Mode to Prefer maximum performance
   3. Monitor Technology to G-SYNC (if your monitor supports it).
   4. Multi-Display/Mixed GPU Acceleration to Single display performance mode
   5. Preferred Refresh Rate to Highest available
4. Also:
   1. Disable Vsync (Vertical Sync)
   2. Enable Threaded Optimization

On AMD

1. Open AMD Radeon Settings.
2. Click on Gaming, then choose Fortnite from the Installed list.
3. When a new window opens up, find Graphics Profile and set it to eSports.

7. Optimize Windows 10

If you are running Windows 10, you can do a couple of things to make sure that everything is perfectly configured. This may not be necessarily the reason for the Fortnite FPS drop. However, in rare cases, it could impact gaming performance.

Run an antivirus scan

Install the software of your choice (we recommend Malwarebytes) and run a full scan. You can also run a full scan with two programs to increase the chances of malware discovery.

Clean temporary files

1. Press the Window key to open the Start tab.
2. Type %appdata% and click on the search result.
3. Open the Temp folder.
4. Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all files.
5. Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
6. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Alternatively, you can use the built-in Disk Cleanup utility or install third-party software such as CCleaner.

Change process priority

1. Run Fortnite.
2. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete, then choose Task Manager.
3. Switch over to Details, and find FortniteClient-Win64.exe.
4. Right-click on it, then select Set priority -> High.

Switch the power plan

1. Open the Start tab.
2. Start typing ‘power plan’ then click on Choose a power plan.
3. Click on the downward arrow next to Show additional plans.
4. When it expands, click on High performance.

Maximum performance on Windows

There are ways to turn off various features and functions. A lot of them have to do with updates, ads, animations, certain background processes, bloatware, etc. Disabling them might break functionality. But, if you follow instructions closely, this is rare, and you can always revert the changes you made. We don’t recommend these steps since it’s more of a desperate attempt – it’s always better to do a hardware upgrade. A lot of Fornite players report good results following this written optimization guide, and this video optimization guide. Use them at your own risk.

8. Turn off any resource-hogging programs or apps

Before you launch Fortnite, turn everything that isn’t essential. That includes Google Chrome and other browsers, Origin, Uplay (Ubisoft Connect), Steam, torrent apps, media apps playing music or video, etc. If you must use the program, look for a way to disable Hardware Acceleration on it.

9. Final tips

It’s possible that having a laggy Internet connection can deceive you into thinking your computer is underperforming. 

1. Reset your router by holding the reset button for about 15 to 20 seconds.
2. Switch form a Wi-Fi (Wireless) Internet connection to a wired connection via Ethernet cable.
3. Call a technician to look into your connection and check for bandwidth and Internet speed you’re getting.
4. Reinstall Fortnite.
5. Install a fresh copy of Windows 10 or macOS.