How to Boost FPS and Fix Lag in GTA 5 (Easy and Effective)
How to Boost FPS and Fix Lag in GTA 5 (Easy and Effective)
Grand Theft Auto V is an extremely demanding game that requires a powerful system to run smoothly. Even high-end PCs can struggle to maintain 60 FPS at max settings in GTA 5. On console, frame rate drops and lag spikes are also common issues.
Fortunately, there are many tweaks and settings adjustments you can make to get better performance and eliminate stuttering or input lag in GTA V. With the right optimizations, you can boost your average FPS by 20-30+ frames and achieve a smooth gameplay experience.
Best Tips to Boost FPS in GTA 5
1. Lower Graphic Settings
The most obvious way to improve FPS is lowering your graphic settings. Here are the settings to adjust:
- Texture Quality - Lower from Very High to High or Normal
- Shader Quality - Lower to High or Medium
- Shadow Quality - Lower to High or Medium
- Reflection Quality - Set to High or Medium
- Reflection MSAA - Turn OFF
- Grass Quality - Lower to High or Medium
- Post FX - Set to High or Medium
- Motion Blur - Turn OFF
- In Advanced Graphics - Lower Extended Distance Scaling and Extended Shadows Distance
2. Adjust Video Memory Usage
GTA 5 has a setting to manually adjust how much video memory (VRAM) the game uses. Lowering this can improve FPS and reduce lag spikes.
- Set Video Memory to 80% or lower
3. Disable MSAA
MSAA (Multi-sample anti-aliasing) smooths out jagged edges but it's extremely demanding. Disabling MSAA can significantly improve FPS.
- Set MSAA to OFF in Graphics settings
4. Update Graphics Drivers
Outdated graphics drivers can hamper performance in games. Update to the latest drivers from NVIDIA or AMD to get optimizations and fixes for GTA 5.
5. Close Background Apps
Many apps running in the background can take up RAM and CPU usage. Close other demanding apps before playing GTA 5 to prioritize resources for the game.
6. Overclock GPU
Overclocking your graphics card can boost FPS by allowing higher clock speeds. Use MSI Afterburner or other OC utilities. Increase core and memory clock speeds slowly for extra performance.
7. Upgrade Hardware
If the above optimizations don't work, upgrading PC components like your graphics card, CPU, RAM etc will definitely improve FPS. GTA 5 loves high single core CPU clock speeds.
How to Fix Stuttering and Lag
1. Install on SSD
Installing GTA 5 on an SSD greatly improves load times and reduces stuttering during gameplay. The faster read/write speeds prevent lag spikes.
2. Increase Virtual Memory
Having adequate virtual memory allows Windows to swap data from RAM to your hard drive if needed. Set virtual memory to at least 16GB for lag-free gaming.
3. Disable Game DVR and Game Bar
Windows 10 includes DVR and Game Bar features that can negatively affect game performance. Disabling them prevents conflicts and boosts FPS.
4. Set Game to High Priority
You can manually set GTAV.exe to High priority in Task Manager. This allocates more PC resources to the game over other background tasks.
5. Reinstall/Verify Game Files
Corrupted or missing game files can cause performance issues. Reinstall or use Steam's Verify Integrity of Game Files option to restore all files.
6. Update Windows and Drivers
Windows and driver updates include optimizations and fixes for games. Keep your OS, chipset, and hardware drivers updated for best performance.
7. Tweak Nvidia Control Panel Settings
For Nvidia GPUs, tweaking control panel settings like Texture Filtering, Power Management Mode etc can fix stuttering.
8. Close Background Apps
As mentioned before, too many apps running in the background takes away crucial resources from games. Force close all unnecessary programs.
Conclusion
With these tips, you can easily boost FPS by at least 20-30 frames and fix irritating lag in GTA 5. Experiment with different settings combinations to find the right balance of visual quality and high performance for your system. Focus on lowering the most demanding settings first. Also make sure to keep your drivers and Windows updated for smoother gameplay.