The Tool Desk
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Which settings should you lower first?
Riot Games Support recommends starting with demanding graphics options, testing, and then gradually restoring settings to find a balance between performance and image quality. Its list is a useful starting point, not a universal ranking: setting names and their impact vary by game and system. Riot Games Support’s graphics-settings guidance states that there is no single perfect setup for every PC.
- Shadows: Lower shadow quality or disable costly shadow effects if the game offers that option.
- Effects, particles, and post-processing: Reduce effects quality, particle density, or post-processing settings such as visual filters where available.
- Environment, detail, or material quality: Lower these settings to reduce scene complexity or surface detail.
- Anti-aliasing and image enhancement: Reduce anti-aliasing quality or disable other enhancement effects, then check whether the image remains comfortable to view.
- Textures: Try a lower texture setting if the earlier changes are not enough. Its performance effect depends on the game and PC, so measure rather than assuming it will help.
Change only a few options at a time. That makes it easier to tell whether a change helped and to restore the settings you prefer.
How to test changes without guessing
- Choose what you want to improve. Decide whether the problem is generally low frame rate, inconsistent performance, or brief hitches. Your preferred result depends on the game and display; there is no single FPS target that suits everyone.
- Record a baseline. Use the game’s performance readout or a repeatable benchmark or scene, if available. Note both the average frame rate and whether performance feels inconsistent.
- Lower a small group of demanding settings. Start with the graphics options above, using the labels your game provides.
- Repeat the same scene or benchmark. Compare the result with your baseline. Avoid relying on a different area or gameplay situation, since that makes the comparison less useful.
- Restore settings individually if performance improves. Raise one option at a time and test again. Keep the highest-quality combination that still meets your performance preference.
- If there is no meaningful improvement, try another approach. Test resolution or a supported upscaler, then check whether the game is using the intended GPU if you have switchable graphics.
AMD documents a Game Advisor for supported Radeon setups that can report average FPS and frame-time information, including a 95th-percentile measure, and recommend changes such as lowering a preset, advanced rendering, render scale, or display resolution. Its available games and options vary, and its recommendations must be applied manually. These are features of AMD’s tool, not universal performance guarantees. See AMD’s Game Advisor documentation.
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When to lower resolution or use upscaling
Reducing resolution can reduce rendering work, but it usually makes the image visibly softer or less detailed. Riot places resolution among the options to consider when other changes are not enough, because its image-quality impact is more noticeable.
If the game supports an upscaler, check its own graphics menu and compatibility requirements. AMD recommends using a game-integrated implementation of FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) rather than driver-level Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) when the game offers FSR, because game-specific optimizations may produce better results. See AMD’s RSR guidance.
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Microsoft Auto Super Resolution (Auto SR) is not a universal Windows gaming switch. Microsoft lists requirements covering supported device classes, Windows 11 version 24H2 or later, compatible resolutions, and supported games. The feature can also affect UI or text quality in some games. Check Microsoft’s Auto SR requirements and guidance before expecting it to work on your PC.
Compare the trade-offs, not just the settings names
| Option | What to compare | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Shadows, effects, detail, anti-aliasing, or textures | Performance in the same scene and whether the visual change is acceptable | May reduce visual detail or effects while retaining the current resolution; results vary by game and PC. |
| Lower resolution | Performance against image clarity at your display’s chosen resolution | Can reduce rendering work, but the quality loss is more noticeable. |
| Game-integrated upscaling | Whether the game and hardware support it, plus image quality and performance in play | Availability and results depend on the game, hardware, display mode, and implementation. |
| V-Sync | Whether disabling it changes performance or input delay, and whether tearing is distracting | Riot says disabling V-Sync may improve performance or reduce input delay in some cases, but can cause visible screen tearing. |
There are no reliable universal FPS gains for lowering a particular setting. Treat your own repeatable comparison—not a promised number—as the measure of whether a change is worthwhile.
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If graphics changes do not help
On a laptop with both integrated and high-performance graphics, check that the game is using the intended GPU. NVIDIA documents that systems may select either GPU and that changing the preferred GPU can require restarting the program. The exact controls depend on the system and software version; a preference change is a troubleshooting check, not a guaranteed fix. See NVIDIA’s preferred graphics processor documentation.
If the game is already using the intended GPU, continue diagnosing the specific cause rather than lowering settings indefinitely. A lack of improvement after graphics changes means those changes have not addressed the problem you measured.
Quick Recap
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