Best Fortnite Graphics Settings: High FPS and Low Latency - Setup.gg (2024)

If you’re experiencing low FPS or input latency in Fortnite and want to customize your settings for improved performance, then you’re in the right place. Our guide to the best Fortnite settings provides you with a full rundown of the right settings to use, whether you’re gaming with a low-end or high-end PC.

But before diving in, you may be tempted to mail it in and choose either one of the quality presets or Fortnite’s performance mode instead of spending a few minutes reading this guide and implementing the best settings for Fortnite.

Our in-house testing demonstrates that doing so would be a mistake. In our testing, a well-equipped gaming PC dropped frames using some of Fortnite’s lower-quality presets. For anyone with a low-end gaming PC, it’s almost certain even the lowest-quality presets will result in bad Fortnite performance.

Our suggested Fortnite PC settings are simple to set up and can consistently generate high FPS and reduce latency, all with no dropped frames, for many ranges of gaming PCs. Let’s dive in so you can improve the performance of Fortnite on your machine.

Update your graphics drivers

Customizing your Fortnite settings can yield some impressive FPS results and improve latency. But it’s all for naught if you don’t first ensure your graphics drivers are up to date. Fortunately, it’s simple to update your graphics drivers, whether you have an AMD or an NVIDIA GPU.

Best Fortnite graphics settings for low-end setups

Fortnite can run at great performance levels on many low-end gaming PCs. Our low-end Fortnite settings are best for gaming PCs with graphics cards and CPUs over several years old, less than 8GB RAM, and less than 2GB VRAM. We’re also assuming the reference setup for these settings doesn’t include an RTX-series NVIDIA GPU (or AMD equivalent).

Display

• Window mode: Fullscreen
• Resolution: 1080p
• Frame rate limit: Set at the FPS option that is one level above your monitor’s refresh rate. For example, set to 160 FPS in Fortnite if you have a 144 refresh rate monitor.

Graphics

• Brightness: 100%
• User interface contrast: 1x
• Colorblind mode: Off
• Colorblind strength: 0

Graphics quality

• Anti-aliasing and super-resolution: Off
• 3D resolution: 100%
• View distance: Near
• Shadows: Off
• Textures: Low
• Auto-download high-resolution textures: Off
• Effects: Low
• Post-processing: Low

Advanced graphics

• Vsync: Off
• Motion blur: Off
• Show FPS: On
• Rendering mode: Performance
• Allow multithreaded rendering: Off, if you don’t have a gaming PC with at least 8GB RAM, 2GB VRAM, and a CPU with at least eight cores.
• Use GPU crash debugging: Off
• NVIDIA reflex low latency: On + boost, if you have at least a GTX 900 NVIDIA GPU

Best Fortnite graphics settings for high-end setups

Since Fortnite isn’t as graphically intensive as other triple-A games, you can achieve very high FPS with a mid-range gaming PC. For reference, a “mid-range” gaming PC is one with an RTX-series NVIDIA GPU (or AMD equivalent), an Intel Core i7 (or AMD equivalent), and 16GB of RAM.

Display

• Window mode: Fullscreen
• Resolution: Set to 1080p or 2K, depending on your monitor resolution and desired visual quality
• Frame rate limit: Set at the FPS option that is one level above your monitor’s refresh rate. For example, set to 160 FPS in Fortnite if you have a 144 refresh rate monitor.

Graphics

• Brightness: 100%
• User interface contrast: 1x
• Colorblind mode: Off
• Colorblind strength: 0

Graphics quality

• Anti-aliasing and super-resolution: NVIDIA DLSS, if you have an RTX-series NVIDIA GPU
• NVIDIA DLSS: Balanced
• View distance: Medium or far
• Shadows: Off
• Textures: Low
• Auto-download high-resolution textures: Off
• Effects: Low
• Post-processing: Low

Advanced graphics

• Vsync: Off
• Motion blur: Off
• Show FPS: On
• Rendering mode: DirectX 12 (beta)
• Allow multithreaded rendering: On, if you have a gaming PC with at least 8GB RAM, 2GB VRAM, and a CPU with at least eight cores.
• Use GPU crash debugging: Off
• NVIDIA reflex low latency: On + boost

Raytracing

• Raytracing: Off
• Shadows: Off
• Reflections: Off
• Ambient occlusion: Off
• Global illumination: Off

Fortnite system requirements

Recommended Fortnite FPS

If your gaming rig is struggling to push out more than 60 FPS in Fortnite, then it’s a good idea to adjust your settings. Otherwise, you’ll be at a disadvantage to other gamers who can more quickly and accurately target enemies with smooth gameplay all along.

We suggest aiming for at least 144 FPS in Fortnite, which can require some visual sacrifices to achieve on lower-end setups.

In-house tested results

We tested in-house the suggested low-end and high-end settings on a gaming PC with specs that far surpass Fortnite’s recommended level.

Unsurprisingly, we were able to achieve very good results in both low-end and high-end scenarios. Our gaming PC generated 400+ FPS consistently on low-end settings. We even hit 500+ FPS in some scenarios. Of course, these numbers aren’t to be expected on a low-end gaming PC.

At the high-end settings, we consistently hit 350+ FPS and many times maintained higher than 400 FPS.

What’s most important in both scenarios is that neither settings lineup resulted in dropped frames, which can’t be said even for Fortnite’s quality presets, which we tested in-house as well. You can see our tested results below using Fortnite’s presets.

Sure, FPS is high in all scenarios. But in all but the low preset scenario, we experienced dropped frames and stutters. This is mainly due to raytracing being enabled, even by default with the low-quality preset. Raytracing has a massive impact on FPS, and we suggest turning it off in our low-end and high-end settings scenarios.

For these reasons, we don’t recommend using Fortnite’s quality presets. Simply put, even mid-range gaming PCs may struggle on the low quality preset, putting you at a competitive disadvantage. Our lineup of the best Fortnite graphics settings helps avoid this potential outcome.

Fortnite graphics settings with the biggest FPS and latency impacts

There are over 30 different Fortnite graphics settings you can choose from. If you’re wanting to improve FPS and reduce latency, 12 of those options can move the FPS and input latency needle the most. The below 12 are the best Fortnite settings to focus on for the biggest impact on FPS and latency.

• Window mode
• Resolution
• Anti-aliasing and super-resolution
• 3D resolution
• Shadows
• Textures
• Effects
• Post processing
• Rendering mode
• Allow multithreaded rendering
• NVIDIA reflex low latency
• Raytracing

Narrowing this list down further, resolution and raytracing are two critical settings that can impact Fortnite’s performance. The Fortnite players we track settings for all play at 1080p, even when they have high-end gaming PCs with 2K and 4K resolution monitors.

Disabling raytracing is another similar trend among pro players prioritizing FPS over visual, which is a key theme in how we determined our low-end and high-end Fortnite settings. Check out our Fortnite pro settings guide to get a rundown of their full in-game setup, including keybinds, sens, graphics settings, and more.

Other PC optimizations to consider

NVIDIA DLSS

We included suggested NVIDIA DLSS settings for our high-end setup since many gamers use NVIDIA GPUs. But it’s worth diving into slightly more detail here to understand how NVIDIA DLSS works within Fortnite.

Firstly, NVIDIA DLSS at its core takes low-resolution images and makes them look better. That’s the layman’s explanation, and we’ll keep it at that level of detail for this guide. The benefit to gamers is significantly higher FPS while retaining quality visuals. This is one reason why NVIDIA GPUs are so popular.

Within Fortnite, you can choose from three DLSS settings, performance, balanced, and quality. Performance prioritizes FPS whereas quality prioritizes visuals. We recommend balanced for most gaming PCs that have DLSS capabilities.

Fortnite lag

Our suggested settings configurations are helpful to increase FPS and reduce latency to give you a competitive edge. But these settings won’t fix Fortnite lag, which players occasionally experience for many reasons. Busy servers and slow internet connections are common causes.

Turn off background apps to improve performance

Turning off background apps can reduce your CPU and GPU overhead and improve FPS in Fortnite. This step is only necessary for low-end setups struggling to reach the desired FPS.

You can turn off unnecessary background apps in Windows by typing “Startup Apps” into the search bar and opening it. After doing so, you’ll see a list of apps running in the background and their level of impact on performance. Now you can turn off apps directly unrelated to Epic Games Launcher.

Fortnite settings defined

For gamers wanting more detail on each Fortnite setting, we’ve included a brief explanation of each below. Understanding these settings in more depth can be helpful for the tinkerers that love to try out different combinations of settings to squeeze out the most FPS possible.

Display

Window mode: Select from three window options, including fullscreen, windowed fullscreen, and windowed. Fullscreen can improve the game’s performance, particularly by reducing input delay. Selecting one of the windowed options makes having multiple programs open in other windows easier.

Resolution: Your native resolution will likely be automatically selected. For the most competitive gaming, it’s best to ensure that 1080p resolution is selected, even if your monitor offers a higher resolution. God-tier systems can support 2K resolution or more and competitively high FPS, but your mileage will vary based on your gaming pc.

Frame rate limit: Selecting a frame rate limit allows for a more stable experience the lower the targeted frame rate. You can choose from 30 FPS up to 360 FPS or unlimited. It’s best to choose a frame rate limit from 60 to 180 FPS on low-end gaming PCs, depending on your PC and monitor. Select unlimited for mid-range and higher gaming PCs. There’s no sense in setting the FPS above your monitor’s refresh rate on lower-end monitors.

Graphics

Brightness: Brightness determines how bright your Fortnite experience will be. Set this to 100% to start and adjust it to your preference. There is no impact on performance.

User interface contrast: Increasing contrast is possible but not suggested for competitive gaming. Increasing contrast in Fortnite tends to darken the experience too much and can put you at a disadvantage sighting enemies in darker spaces.

Colorblind mode: Select from deuteranope, protanope, and tritanope. Most gamers will select off, but this is more of a preference setting based on your need, not a setting that impacts performance.

Colorblind strength: When selecting a color blind mode other than off, you can adjust the strength of the color blind mode from 0 to 10.

Graphics quality

Anti-aliasing and super-resolution: Anti-aliasing makes jagged edges appear smoother and improves the visual experience within Fortnite but at the expense of FPS. Select NVIDIA DLSS if you have an RTX series NVIDIA graphics card. Otherwise, turn off anti-aliasing and super-resolution to get more FPS.

NVIDIA DLSS: Within Fortnite, you can select performance, balanced, or quality. If prioritizing FPS, you’ll want to select performance or balanced.

3D resolution: Adjusting the 3d resolution affects the appearance of objects within Fortnite. The 3D resolution can only be adjusted when NVIDIA DLSS is off. When DLSS is turned off, you can adjust the 3D resolution down to improve FPS, but consider that visuals degrade quickly without DLSS picking up the slack.

View distance: This setting determines the distance from the player that different players and objects can be seen. Medium or far are good options for most gamers. Higher view distance settings can be advantageous for gameplay, but there is a slight FPS hit. Select near if you’re trying to squeeze out the most frames possible on a low-end gaming PC.

Shadows: This setting improves the visuals in the game, specifically how much shadow is shown on objects. But there is no real competitive advantage. It’s best in many scenarios to turn off shadows to get more FPS.

Textures: Unlike other first-person shooters, Fortnite’s textures across the map aren’t as detailed, and visuals don’t mimic real life. You can adjust textures higher for more detailed objects, but doing so comes at the expense of FPS.

Auto-download high-resolution textures: Fortnite can auto-download game textures in the background while playing. The added textures won’t drastically alter the game’s visual quality and don’t offer a competitive advantage. Accordingly, it’s best to turn off this setting, especially since there may be performance issues with slower internet connections and the download file can take upwards of 7GB of hard drive space.

Effects: Turning on effects adds details to interactions in Fortnite. For the best performance, turn it off.

Post-processing: This setting adds processing to images after they are loaded in the game. It’s best to turn off post-processing, especially since lower settings improve FPS with mostly unnoticeable differences in image quality.

Advanced graphics

Vsync: Vsync reduces potential screen tearing by always ensuring a full frame is rendered on screen. This setting is almost exclusively turned off in competitive gaming scenarios due to its FPS impact when turned on and no major competitive advantage when doing so.

Motion blur: Motion blur adds a cinematic effect to images rendered on screen. We suggest turning off motion blur in most games, including Fortnite. The added benefit is reducing motion blur can also alleviate nausea.

Show FPS: Turn this on to display your FPS. The FPS counter will display in the upper right in the game and lower left in the menus.

Rendering mode: You can choose DirectX 11, DirectX 12, or Performance. Selecting performance grants the greatest positive FPS impact and many competitive gamers select this setting. Remember that visuals aren’t great with performance selected, especially when NVIDIA DLSS is disabled.

Allow multithreaded rendering: This setting splits the work your CPU completes among the chip’s multiple cores. Enable multithreaded rendering if you have a gaming PC with at least 8GB RAM, 2GB VRAM, and a CPU with at least eight cores.

Use GPU crash debugging: Enabling GPU crash debugging sends Fortnite developers details on why the game is crashing.

NVIDIA reflex low latency: Gamers with NVIDIA graphics cards can leverage reflex low latency to improve latency when their GPUs are being pushed hard. We suggest selecting on + boost, which can reduce latency by upwards of 20 milliseconds in Fortnite.

Raytracing

Raytracing: Raytracing can produce beautiful, realistic visuals with detailed lighting and shadows. It’s great, but there is a big impact on FPS. Nearly every competitive gamer disables raytracing in favor of higher FPS.

Shadows: You can alter the details and realism rendered within shadows, but this setting is only available with raytracing turned on.

Reflections: You can alter the realism rendered within reflections, such as puddles, but this setting is only available with raytracing turned on.

Ambient occlusion: This setting impacts the visual quality of light hitting various points in a scene. It can only be adjusted with raytracing on.

Global illumination: Global lighting creates realistic lighting effects in scenarios where light is bounced off of multiple surfaces, such as within a brightly lit room. There is no advantage in competitive FPS gaming, and this setting is only enabled when raytracing is on.