How to Break Apex Legends' FPS Cap

2022-06-18 06:00

Here's how to get the maximum frame rate in Apex Legends, plus how to pass the game's built-in FPS cap.

In Apex Legends, as in any first-person shooter, your frames per second (FPS) are crucial to success. Having a high FPS allows you to react faster to situations such as incoming enemies.

However, PC players will notice in Apex Legends that your FPS is capped at 144. Fortunately, there is a way to surpass that cap, even if your graphics card isn't the best. Here's how to get a higher FPS rate on Apex, plus how to go beyond 144 FPS on PC.

How to Â Avoid the FPS Cap in Apex Legends Without Enabling V-Sync

To make sure you have no FPS cap in Apex Legends, you need to add a command line to Apex Legendsâ launch options in Steam and Origin.

CloseÂ Apex LegendsÂ (you canât change launch options if the game is running).
OpenÂ OriginÂ orÂ Steam.
Go to yourÂ Game LibraryÂ and right-click onÂ Apex Legends.
Click theÂ âGame PropertiesâÂ option onÂ Origin. If onÂ Steam, chooseÂ âProperties.'
Navigate to theÂ Advanced Launch OptionsÂ (Origin)/GeneralÂ (Steam)Â tab on your preferred platform.
UnderÂ Command line argumentsÂ (Origin)Â orÂ Launch OptionsÂ (Steam), type: +fps_max unlimited

If you donât play with a great graphics card but still want to be able to stay competitive, you also have options. You can do this by turning every graphics setting you can to the lowest possible option. This will give you higher FPS (and is definitely advisable with lower-end or older GPUs). There is, of course, a trade-off in visual fidelity, but the higher FPS is often worth it to competitive players.

Adjusting Discord Settings to Add FPS

A lot of PC Apex Legends players use Discord to communicate with their friends whilst in-game. Although the software is great, thereâs a way to make sure itâs fully optimized to squeeze out a few more FPS.

OpenÂ Discord.
Navigate to theÂ Settings menuÂ (cog icon in the bottom left).
Click theÂ OverlayÂ tab and ensure âEnable in-game overlayâ is unchecked.

The Discord overlay might not seem like much, but it can often affect in-game FPS on low- and medium-spec PCs. Users can also turn offÂ Hardware Acceleration, located at the bottom of the âAppearanceâ tab. This stops Discord from using your graphics card to accelerate the speed of the software and will net you a few more FPS in-game.

Upgrade your PC

If these don't help, your last resort is upgrading your PC. According to Respawn Entertainment, these are the PC requirements youâll need to run Apex Legends effectively. If you donât quite meet these requirements, then you may be experiencing frame drops and other performance issues.

Minimum System Requirements for higher FPS in Apex Legends