How much FPS optimization adds in Apex
See the gain for your hardware. How to get there yourself is in the guide below.
- Source: average across measurements on our clients' PCs over 7 years, not a guarantee
- Depends on: your hardware and how cluttered the system is, weaker PC means a bigger gain
- Network: we cut jitter and extra traffic; physical ping to the server depends on your ISP
- Exact numbers: after a free diagnostic of your PC
Quick: best Apex Legends settings for 2026. In Video, set 1920x1080, turn V-Sync, Volumetric Lighting and Ambient Occlusion OFF, drop Model and Effects Detail to Low, and switch NVIDIA Reflex ON + Boost. In autoexec.cfg add fps_max 0 and mat_queue_mode 2, set the launch options to -novid -preload -high, and enable XMP in the BIOS. On our test rigs this delivers a +55-63% FPS gain, up to 280 FPS on an i7-13700K with an RTX 4070.
Why Apex eats more FPS than you’d expect
Apex Legends runs on a modified Source Engine (a legacy from Titanfall 2). Don’t confuse it with the Source 2 in CS2. The paradox is that the engine is older yet consumes more resources. The reason: huge open maps, up to 60 players at once and a pile of abilities with particles, smokes and shields.
Unlike CS2, where 80% of the load falls on the processor, in Apex the weight is split roughly 50/50 between CPU and GPU. The graphics card draws volumetric lighting and open spaces, while the processor handles ability physics, the positions of dozens of players and the netcode. That’s why the bottleneck shifts from scene to scene.
RAM plays a big role in Apex. The Source Engine leans heavily on RAM for texture streaming, and the difference between DDR4 2400 MHz and DDR4 3600 MHz CL16 can be 20-30% on 1% low. If your picture occasionally stutters while the average FPS stays steady, RAM is most likely the culprit.
Moving to DirectX 12
In March 2025 Respawn moved Apex fully to DirectX 12 and dropped DX11 support. This affects how the shader cache behaves: on the first launch after an update the game recompiles all shaders for DX12, and you’ll get noticeable hitching for the first 3-5 matches. It’s a one-time thing; once compilation finishes everything runs smoothly. Don’t panic and don’t crank settings down, just play a couple of rounds. Set the shader cache in the NVIDIA panel (section below) to 10 GB or unlimited so the compiled shaders don’t get evicted.
One more problem: the servers. Apex has some of the worst servers of any battle royale. 20 tickrate, constant packet loss, no-reg hitmarkers. Some of it can be fixed with settings, some of it can’t. But we’ll pull the client-side FPS up.
Graphics settings
In-game settings, the “Video” tab. Top to bottom.
| Setting | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Display mode | Fullscreen | Windowed adds input lag through DWM |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 (native) | Some pros use 4:3 stretched: models look wider, easier to aim at. But the field of view is narrower, and in a BR that's critical |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 | The competitive standard. Below 1080p you lose visibility at long range |
| V-Sync | OFF | No exceptions |
| Adaptive Resolution FPS Target | OFF | Dynamically lowers resolution. Aiming becomes unpredictable, more in the FAQ |
| Anti-aliasing | OFF / TSAA | TSAA is nearly free in FPS terms. If you want maximum frames, turn it off |
| Texture budget (Streaming Budget) | By VRAM: 2-4 GB | 6 GB card: set 4 GB. 4 GB card: set 2 GB. Don't set it higher than you physically have |
| Texture filtering | Bilinear | Anisotropic looks nicer, but bilinear is 3-5% faster |
| Ambient Occlusion | OFF | Corner shading. Pure cosmetics, costs 5-8% |
| Sun Shadow Coverage | Low | Sun shadows on distant objects. No gameplay value in Apex |
| Sun Shadow Detail | Low | Detail of sun shadows up close |
| Spot Shadow Detail | OFF | Shadows from point light sources |
| Volumetric Lighting | OFF | Volumetric rays. Pretty, but minus 8-12% FPS |
| Dynamic Spot Shadows | OFF | Dynamic shadows from lights and flashes |
| Model Detail | Low | The difference between Low and High is invisible in a fight |
| Effects Detail | Low | Ability particles, explosions. The lower it is, the less visual noise in teamfights |
| Impact Marks | OFF | Bullet marks on walls. They eat RAM |
| Ragdolls | OFF | Corpse physics. Useless load |
| NVIDIA Reflex | ON + Boost | Native support since Season 7 (October 2020). Cuts input lag by 15-25 ms. On an AMD card this option will be greyed out |
Autoexec.cfg
Apex inherited its config system from Titanfall 2 and the Source Engine. You need to create an autoexec.cfg file in the game’s root folder, next to r5apex.exe.
The path is usually:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Apex Legends\
Or for the EA App:
C:\Program Files\EA Games\Apex Legends\
// Remove the FPS cap
fps_max 0
// Preload all assets at map start
cl_forcepreload 1
// Multithreaded rendering (2 = forced)
mat_queue_mode 2
// Raw mouse input, no Windows processing
m_rawinput 1
// Disable VSYNC at the engine level
mat_vsync 0
// Disable GPU letterbox limiting
mat_letterbox_aspect_goal 0
mat_letterbox_aspect_threshold 0
// Network optimizations
cl_interp_ratio 1
cl_interp 0
// Save the config
host_writeconfigcl_forcepreload 1 will add 5-10 seconds to map load time, but it removes the micro-stutters on your first contact with an enemy. Worth it.
About mat_queue_mode 2: this parameter forces multithreaded rendering. By default the engine sets -1 (auto), and on some processors it picks single-threaded mode. Forcing it to 2 reliably gives +10-15% on 6+ core CPUs.
Launch options
Steam: right-click Apex Legends, “Properties”, “Launch Options”. EA App: game settings, “Advanced Launch Options”.
-novid -preload -high +fps_max unlimited| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
-novid | Skips the intro videos (Respawn, EA) |
-preload | Preloads resources. Works together with cl_forcepreload |
-high | High process priority |
+fps_max unlimited | Alternative way to remove the FPS cap |
Don’t add -threads X. The engine distributes threads on its own; forcing a limit usually does more harm than good.
If you play through the EA App rather than Steam: the EA App sometimes resets launch options after an update. Check after every patch.
NVIDIA settings for Apex
NVIDIA Control Panel, “Manage 3D settings”, “Program Settings”, select r5apex.exe.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Image scaling | OFF | Unnecessary post-processing |
| FXAA | OFF | Blurs the image. The game has TSAA if you need it |
| Low latency mode | ON | In-game Reflex is better, but this option works in the lobby and menus |
| Power management | Max performance | The GPU won't downclock |
| Shader cache | 10 GB | Apex compiles shaders on the fly. Without a cache you'll get freezes for the first 2-3 matches |
| Texture filtering quality | High performance | |
| Threaded optimization | ON | Apex parallelizes well |
| Triple buffering | OFF | Not needed without V-Sync |
| Vertical sync | OFF |
Digital Vibrance in the NVIDIA display settings can be raised to 65-75%. It helps you pick out legends against the map, especially on green maps like Olympus.
About the shader cache: on the first launch after a driver update or a patch, Apex will recompile shaders. The first 2-3 matches will stutter. That’s normal. Don’t lower your settings in a panic, just play a couple of rounds.
AMD Radeon settings
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, profile for Apex Legends.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon Anti-Lag | On | Cuts input latency. Safe with EAC |
| Anti-Lag+ | DO NOT ENABLE | Pulled by AMD in 2023. It hooked into the game process and triggered EAC bans. If it’s still in older drivers, leave it off |
| Radeon Chill | Off | Lowers FPS unpredictably |
| Radeon Boost | Off | Dynamically lowers resolution when the mouse moves |
| Wait for Vertical Refresh | Always off | |
| Texture filtering quality | Performance | |
| Tessellation | Off (override) | In Apex, terrain tessellation loads the GPU with no visible difference |
Apex uses Easy Anti-Cheat. Regular Anti-Lag is fully compatible with EAC. Anti-Lag+ was a problematic technology: it hooked into the game process, and EAC banned players for it. AMD withdrew Anti-Lag+ in 2023. Its replacement, Anti-Lag 2 (2024+), works in a fundamentally different way: it requires integration from the game’s developers and does not inject into the process. But Anti-Lag 2 support in Apex isn’t confirmed yet, so stick with regular Anti-Lag.
Windows optimization
This is where the biggest potential is. Apex is more sensitive to RAM speed than most games. A Source Engine legacy: the engine leans heavily on RAM for texture streaming and the network buffer.
| Setting | Where to find it | State | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| VBS / Memory Integrity | Windows Security, "Core Isolation". Check with: msinfo32 | OFF | +5-15% FPS |
| XMP / EXPO in BIOS | Del/F2 at boot, enable Profile 1 | ON | +10-20% FPS. In Apex the difference is enormous |
| "Ultimate Performance" power plan | PowerShell: powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 | ON | +5-10% |
| Game Mode | Settings - Gaming - Game Mode | ON | Steadier 1% low |
| HAGS (hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling) | Settings - Display - Graphics | ON | For RTX 30+ / RX 6000+ |
| Startup apps | Task Manager - Startup | Clean up | Frees up RAM. Apex likes to eat 8-10 GB |
| Discord / Steam / EA App overlays | Discord Overlay, Steam Overlay, EA App settings | OFF | Removes micro-stutters |
About VBS
VBS (Virtualization-Based Security) is on by default in Windows 11. It virtualizes part of the OS kernel and costs 5-15% of in-game performance. Check it: Win+R, msinfo32, the “Virtualization-based security” line. If it says “Running”, it’s active. On a home gaming PC you don’t need it.
About XMP
If your DDR4 3200 runs at 2133 MHz (the default without XMP), in Apex that’s minus 15-20% on average FPS and minus 30% on 1% low. Check in CPU-Z, the Memory tab. If the frequency is below what’s printed on the sticks, XMP is not enabled.
Apex is more sensitive to RAM than CS2, Fortnite or Warzone. If you never noticed a difference from RAM speed in other games, you will in Apex. DDR4 overclocking or DDR5 by timings gives even more.
Frequently asked questions
”FPS drops by 30-40 frames in teamfights”
A classic Apex problem. During a fight the abilities of several legends render at the same time: Bangalore’s smoke, Gibraltar’s ult, Wraith’s portal. Each effect loads both the CPU and the GPU.
What helps: Effects Detail on Low, Dynamic Spot Shadows off, Impact Marks off. If that’s not enough, drop the texture budget by one step. Also check your CPU temperature during a fight with HWiNFO: above 85°C, the processor is throttling.
”Ping spikes, the packet loss icon shows up”
An Apex server issue. But there’s something you can do. Go into the settings and pick a specific data center instead of auto. For most of Europe that’s usually Frankfurt or Amsterdam. In the autoexec set cl_interp_ratio 2 if you play over Wi-Fi. On a wired connection leave it at 1.
If packet loss is consistently above 2%, the problem is your provider or router. No Apex setting fixes that.
”Which map has the lowest FPS?”
It depends on the map. The heaviest of the current ones: E-District (added in Season 22, 2024). Dense urban geometry, night lighting, lots of point light sources. FPS there is 15-20% lower than on open maps.
World’s Edge: medium load. Olympus: one of the lightest, open spaces and simple geometry. Kings Canyon: roughly like World’s Edge. Broken Moon (added in Season 15, 2022): medium load, comparable in weight to World’s Edge.
Storm Point was removed from the rotation in April 2026. If it comes back, keep in mind: it’s the largest map, with dense vegetation, water and volumetric lighting. It was the heaviest for FPS.
”Should I turn on Adaptive Resolution?”
No. Adaptive Resolution Target dynamically lowers the internal resolution when FPS falls below a set threshold. In theory it sounds fine. In practice your aim goes blurry at the most critical moment (in a teamfight), because that’s exactly when FPS drops and the downscaling kicks in. Set it to 0 (off) and leave it.
”Apex crashes without an error after 20-30 minutes”
Two possibilities. First: overheating. Open HWiNFO, start a match, watch the temperatures. If the CPU or GPU is above 90°C, it’s a cooling issue, not a settings one. Second: not enough VRAM. If the texture budget is set higher than the card actually has, the game crashes silently. Drop the Streaming Budget by one step.
”Is 16 GB of RAM enough?”
For Apex, technically yes. But if you also have a browser with a couple of tabs and Discord open, 16 GB is already tight. Apex likes to take 8-10 GB. Stutters from low RAM look like sharp 1% low drops down to 20-30 frames. If you see that, close what you don’t need or upgrade to 32 GB.
What you can do yourself, and what’s better to hand off
Everything in this guide can be done in an evening. Graphics settings, autoexec, launch options, NVIDIA/AMD drivers. That gets you +20-35% FPS.
For a serious gain you have to go deeper: RAM overclocking by timings, tuning PBO and voltage curves on the processor, custom Windows with the telemetry stripped out. This is where it’s easy to break stability without experience.
Our packages:
- Classic 11 ($25): clean Windows 11 install + drivers + BIOS
- CustomX ($30): custom Windows, 10,000+ unnecessary files removed. EAC-compatible
- GamePro ($60): everything above + full CPU/GPU/RAM overclocking and stress tests
- Standalone: DDR4 overclocking, DDR5, CPU, GPU
Results on real hardware
The measurements below were taken on our test benches: the same build and the same scene before and after, with no hardware swapped. Treat them as a reference point; your result depends on your specific configuration, cooling and room temperature.
After full optimization with GamePro:
| Build | Before | After | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| i5-12400F + RTX 3060 | 120 FPS | 195 FPS | +63% |
| R5 5600X + RTX 4060 | 155 FPS | 240 FPS | +55% |
| i7-13700K + RTX 4070 | 180 FPS | 280 FPS | +56% |
On the first two builds the main gain comes from XMP, RAM overclocking and Windows cleanup. On the third build most of it comes from CPU and GPU overclocking, because Windows there was already in good shape.
Customer reviews are in our Discord. If you want everything in this guide done for you, pick a package in the services catalog.
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