Valorant FPS Boost: Best Settings and Stutter Fix

Quick: best Valorant settings for 2026. Use fullscreen mode, resolution 1920x1080 (16:9, not 4:3), NVIDIA Reflex ON + Boost, VSync off, FPS limit removed, and material and detail quality set to low. In Windows, enable XMP/EXPO, the Maximum Performance power plan, Game Mode and HAGS, and disable VBS (Memory Integrity). On our test rigs the gain is +50-59% to average FPS (220-280 before, 350-420 after) and +103-109% to 1% low.

Why Valorant loses frames

Since July 2025 Valorant runs on Unreal Engine 5 (it used to be UE4, the switch came with patch 11.02 on July 29). Riot promised the move would boost FPS, especially on weaker hardware, and on the whole it did. But the visuals have been built up over the years, agents with complex particle effects were added, and the average FPS still dips. The newer maps are heavier than the old ones: Lotus and Abyss eat 15-20% more resources than Bind or Ascent. And then there is Riot Vanguard, their anti-cheat, which runs at the kernel level and eats resources before the game even launches.

Valorant’s main quirk: the game is incredibly CPU-bound. The processor here matters roughly 80% more than the graphics card. You can drop in an RTX 4080, but if you’re on an i5-10400 the difference versus a GTX 1660 will be almost nothing. The whole load falls on the CPU’s single-thread performance and the speed of the RAM. This is the key difference from CS2, where the balance is closer to 60/40 in favor of the CPU.

Where the drops come from:

• The CPU can’t keep up. On a Ryzen 5 3600 you’ll see 200 average, but the 1% low collapses to 90 during fights on Bind or Lotus. Agent abilities (Viper, Omen, Brimstone) add extra load on the CPU
• Vanguard in the background. It starts together with Windows and runs constantly, even when you aren’t playing. It’s a kernel-level driver, it takes up space in the OS scheduler
• Windows 11 out of the box adds telemetry, real-time Defender, background updates. That’s minus 15-20% from what your processor could otherwise put out
• Slow RAM. DDR4 at 2666 MHz versus 3600 MHz CL16 gives a 20-30% difference in 1% low. In a CPU-bound game like Valorant the RAM affects FPS more than the graphics card does

After tuning everything described below, the gain is usually 40-60%. On neglected systems it can reach 80%.

Valorant graphics settings

Because Valorant is CPU-bound, graphics settings matter less than in CS2 or Apex. But a few things are still worth setting correctly.

Basics

Advanced video settings

NVIDIA Reflex

A separate block, because it matters. Valorant natively supports NVIDIA Reflex, and it’s one of the best implementations in the industry. Set it to ON + Boost. This lowers input latency by 15-30 ms, which on a 144 Hz monitor feels like the difference between “hit” and “missed”. It doesn’t affect FPS, but the mouse response will be noticeably better.

Boost mode forces the GPU to run at maximum clocks even when the load is low. In Valorant the GPU often sits idle (the game is CPU-bound after all), and without Boost the card lowers its clocks, adding micro-latency. With Boost it’s always ready to draw a frame instantly.

If you’re on AMD, enable Anti-Lag 2 in Valorant’s graphics settings (added in patch 12.09, May 2026). This is the official integration, the Radeon equivalent of Reflex. It requires drivers from March 2026 or newer. More details in the AMD section below.

Why you don’t need 4:3

In CS2 stretched 4:3 makes sense: the models look wider and you render fewer pixels. In Valorant it doesn’t work. Hitboxes are tied to the server model, visual stretching does nothing. You’ll just lose your peripheral vision, and that’s critical on maps with flanking lanes like Breeze or Haven. Stay on 16:9 1920x1080.

NVIDIA settings for Valorant

NVIDIA Control Panel, “Manage 3D settings”, “Program Settings” tab. Add VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe (it’s in Riot Games\VALORANT\live\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\).

Raise Digital Vibrance in the NVIDIA display settings to 70-80%. Valorant maps can be dull (Icebox, Breeze), and saturated colors help you spot enemies sooner.

AMD Radeon settings for Valorant

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, Valorant profile.

It’s important not to confuse Anti-Lag 2 with the old Anti-Lag+ (2023). Anti-Lag+ injected its code straight into the game’s executable, which made anti-cheats see it as a cheat and hand out bans. AMD removed it from the drivers. Anti-Lag 2 works completely differently: it requires integration on the game developer’s side, and Riot added it to Valorant officially in patch 12.09. You enable it in Valorant’s graphics settings, no injections, no bans.

Windows 11 optimization

This is where the biggest gain is. Graphics settings in Valorant give 10-15%, while cleaning up the system and the BIOS give 30-50%.

Riot Vanguard and VBS: where’s the catch

The situation here is different from CS2. In the CS2 guide we recommend disabling VBS (Memory Integrity) because it eats 5-15% FPS. With Vanguard it’s more complicated.

Vanguard requires:

• Secure Boot: enabled
• TPM 2.0: enabled

Without these two Vanguard will refuse to start, and you won’t get into the game. You can’t disable them.

VBS (Memory Integrity), on the other hand, can be disabled. Vanguard doesn’t require VBS directly, it requires Secure Boot + TPM specifically. Go to “Windows Security”, “Core isolation”, “Memory integrity”: off. Reboot. Check with msinfo32 that VBS is off. Gain of 5-15% FPS.

If Vanguard won’t start after you disable VBS, make sure Secure Boot is still enabled in the BIOS. Sometimes changing one setting resets another.

For reference: VBS (Virtualization-Based Security) virtualizes part of the OS kernel to protect against rootkits. On a home gaming PC you don’t need this. And Secure Boot and TPM, which Vanguard requires, work at a different level: they verify the signature of the bootloader and store encryption keys. These are different technologies, and disabling VBS does not affect Secure Boot.

Launch options and config

Valorant isn’t a Steam game, so there are no launch options in the usual sense. But you can tweak the config directly.

GameUserSettings.ini

The file is in %LocalAppData%\VALORANT\Saved\Config\{ID}\Windows\GameUserSettings.ini. Open it and find:

[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=100.000000
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=0
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
sg.ShadowQuality=0
sg.PostProcessQuality=0
sg.TextureQuality=0
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.FoliageQuality=0

A value of 0 = minimum, 3 = maximum. Some of these settings let you go lower than the in-game menu allows. After editing, set the file to “read-only”, otherwise the game will overwrite it.

Don’t overdo it: if you crank ViewDistance to zero, you can lose visibility of some objects. Leave it at 0 or 1.

Questions from our Discord

”Valorant shows 300 FPS but feels like 60”

This is a frame pacing problem. The FPS is high, but the time between frames jumps around. The usual culprit is windowed mode (Borderless Windowed). Switch to fullscreen. If you’re already in fullscreen, check: is NVIDIA Reflex on, is VSync off in the NVIDIA panel, are there any overlays. Another common cause: an FPS limit set in the Riot Client rather than in the game. Check both places.

”Vanguard won’t let me start after CustomX”

CustomX and custom Windows builds can disable Secure Boot or strip out TPM components. Vanguard checks this on every launch. The fix: go into the BIOS, make sure Secure Boot: Enabled, TPM 2.0: Enabled. If you have CustomX from us, we don’t touch these settings, they stay enabled. If you installed it yourself or through another service, check them.

One more nuance: FACEIT Anti-Cheat and Vanguard can conflict. If you play both CS2 on FACEIT and Valorant, sometimes you need to reboot the PC between games. Both run at the kernel level and don’t like sharing space.

”Should I set 4:3 like in CS2?”

No. In CS2 it gives a real FPS gain and visually widens the models. In Valorant you just lose your side vision. The hitboxes don’t change. Every Valorant pro plays on 16:9.

”Is it worth overclocking the GPU for Valorant?”

Weak effect. The game is CPU-bound. A GPU overclock gives 3-5%, while RAM overclocking with tuned timings gives 15-25%. If you want the maximum, start with DDR4 overclocking or DDR5. The processor can also be overclocked if you have a K-series Intel or any Ryzen.

”Micro-freezes every 30 seconds, but the FPS doesn’t drop”

Looks like a shader cache problem. Valorant compiles shaders while you play, and if the cache is corrupted or full, you get regular hitches. Delete the %LocalAppData%\VALORANT\Saved\ShaderCache\ folder and restart the game. The first 2-3 matches will have minor stuttering (the shaders are recompiling), then it clears up. Also raise the shader cache to 10 GB in the NVIDIA panel.

”Which RAM should I get for maximum FPS in Valorant?”

DDR4: 3600 MHz CL16, two 16 GB modules. Proven picks: G.Skill Ripjaws V, Kingston Fury Beast. DDR5: 6000 MHz CL30-36. Dual-channel is a must: a single 32 GB module will be slower than two 16 GB ones. If you’re stuck on the choice, ask us in the chat and we will help you pick the right kit.

What you can do yourself

Everything in this guide can be done in an evening. Set the options, clean up startup, enable XMP, remove VBS. That gives +20-30% FPS. But beyond that you get into things where it’s easy to break the system:

Overclocking RAM without experience ends in a BSOD 15 minutes into a game. Fine-tuning the BIOS for specific hardware requires knowing which settings are safe for your motherboard. A custom Windows without proper preparation will disable Secure Boot, and Vanguard will stop working.

Our packages:

• Classic 11 ($25): clean Windows 11 + drivers + BIOS. Vanguard works right away
• CustomX ($30): custom Windows that keeps Vanguard compatibility intact
• GamePro ($60): full CPU/GPU/RAM overclock + system + stress tests
• Separately: DDR4 overclocking, DDR5, CPU, GPU, BIOS tuning

Results on real hardware

The numbers below were measured on our test benches: the same build and scene before and after, with no hardware swap. Treat them as a reference point, your result depends on your specific configuration, cooling, and room temperature.

RTX 3060 + i5-12400F after GamePro:

RTX 4060 + Ryzen 5 5600X after GamePro:

The main gain, as usual, comes from RAM overclocking and cleaning up the system. The video settings in Valorant give about 10%, the rest comes from the hardware and Windows.

You can see customer reviews in Discord. If you’d like us to tune everything for you, pick a package in the services catalog.