How to Increase FPS in Fortnite on PC (2026 Settings Guide)

7 min read

Fortnite scales from a potato laptop to a high-end rig, but its default settings lean towards looks, not frames. The biggest single win is Performance rendering mode; after that it's turning off the expensive DirectX 12 lighting features and fixing what Windows is doing in the background. Here's the order that gets the most FPS for the least effort.

In-game settings (Settings → Graphics)

1. 1

   Switch Rendering Mode to Performance

   Under Advanced Graphics, set Rendering Mode to Performance and restart Fortnite. It's a lightweight renderer built for competitive play and weaker hardware — on most low- and mid-range PCs it's the biggest FPS jump available, often far bigger than any other single setting.

2. 2

   Use Fullscreen, not Windowed Fullscreen

   Set Window Mode to Fullscreen. Exclusive fullscreen generally gives the lowest input lag and the most consistent frame pacing.

3. 3

   Set the Frame Rate Limit to your monitor

   Match it to your refresh rate (144, 165, 240…) or just above. An uncapped frame rate makes the GPU run flat out and swings harder between highs and lows — a steady cap feels smoother than a higher but jumpy average.

4. 4

   If you stay on DirectX 12: turn off Lumen and Nanite

   Set Global Illumination and Reflections to Off, disable Nanite Virtualized Geometry, and keep Shadows Off. These are the features that make DirectX 12 mode look great and cost the most frames.

5. 5

   Turn on NVIDIA Reflex

   On NVIDIA cards, set NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency to On + Boost. It cuts system latency without costing FPS.

6. 6

   Keep 3D Resolution at 100%

   Dropping 3D resolution makes everything blurry. If you need more frames, use Performance mode or an upscaler (TSR/DLSS/FSR) instead.

Stutter in the first matches after an update is normal

After a Fortnite or GPU-driver update, the game recompiles its shaders, and the first few matches can hitch when new effects appear. That settles on its own. If stutter never goes away, the cause is almost always outside the game — see below.

Windows-side fixes

• Update your GPU driver directly from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel — Fortnite gets game-ready driver fixes regularly.
• Settings → Gaming → Game Mode → On.
• Set a High Performance power plan, and keep laptops plugged in — on battery the GPU is throttled.
• On a laptop: Settings → System → Display → Graphics → add FortniteClient-Win64-Shipping.exe → High performance, so it runs on the dedicated GPU.
• Close Chrome, Discord overlays and anything recording in the background before you queue.