To get straight to the point, Apex FPS goes up almost entirely once you adjust just two things: turning off heavy effects in the in-game video settings, and adding a few frame-related lines to your launch options. How much you gain depends on your hardware and where your settings start, so check the number with Performance Display after each change. Just follow the steps below in order.
First, lower your video settings
In the Video tab of the in-game settings menu, start by turning off the effects that eat into your frame rate. The key is to keep the items you truly need to spot enemies and cut back mainly on visual effects.
- Display Mode: Fullscreen (for a single monitor). Windowed or borderless windowed modes cost you around 5 to 15 frames.
- Anti-aliasing: Off (None). You get jagged edges, but this gives the biggest frame boost.
- Ambient Occlusion Quality: Disabled. It cuts shadow-shading calculations, dropping the load sharply.
- Motion Blur: not on EA's recommended settings list, so there is no need to hunt for it to raise FPS (checked November 4, 2026). EA says a setting it leaves off the list won't affect game performance. If the camera shake while running bothers you, set Sprint View Shake to Minimal.
- Spot Shadow Detail: Disabled or Low. Shadow calculations are heavy, so the effect is large.
- Model Detail and Effects Detail: Low. The lower-end your system, the more you feel it.
- Texture Streaming Budget: Match it to your VRAM. Setting it too high causes stutter.
Add launch options
On Steam, right-click Apex in your library, then go to Properties, General, and enter them in the Launch Options box. In the EA app, open the three-dot menu on the Apex tile in your Library, choose View properties, and put them in the Advanced launch options box. You can paste the line below as-is.
+fps_max 0 -novid -high -forcenovsync -cl_forcepreload 1
- +fps_max 0: Removes the frame cap. If you want to lock it to a number matching your monitor's refresh rate, put a value in place of 0 (see the recommended values below).
- -novid: Skips the intro video when the game launches, speeding up loading.
- -high: Runs Apex at high priority so the system allocates it more resources.
- -forcenovsync: Keeps vertical sync always off so it does not impose a frame cap.
- -cl_forcepreload 1: Preloads textures and sounds. The first load gets a bit longer, but your frame rate is more stable during play.
Which Apex launch options EA officially documents
EA's own FPS help article for Apex Legends covers one launch option, +fps_max, which caps your frame rate, plus where to type it. On Steam it goes in Properties, General, Launch Options.
In the EA app, open the three-dot menu on the game tile, choose View properties, and use the Advanced launch options box. The other commands in the list above, such as -novid and -high, do not appear in that article, so add them one at a time and check whether anything actually changes on your PC.
| Item | What EA says | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| +fps_max value | Caps your frame rate; +fps_max 200 limits it to 200 frames per second | Pick the number from your monitor's refresh rate (see the recommended values below) |
| Where to type it on Steam | Right-click Apex in your Library, then Properties, General, Launch Options | Separate multiple options with a single space |
| Where to type it in the EA app | Three-dot menu on the game tile, View properties, Advanced launch options | Use the box in whichever launcher you actually start the game from |
| Checking your FPS | Settings, Gameplay tab, turn on Performance Display to see FPS and ping in the top right | Compare before and after in the same spot, such as the Firing Range |
| DirectX 12 | The DirectX 11 option was removed in the March 2025 update | The DX12 launch option from older guides is no longer needed |
Performance Display gives you a number, but it will not tell you whether your fights actually feel smoother. Recording a few matches before and after the change is the quickest way to judge that.
With DOR installed, each Apex match is detected and recorded in full automatically, so your before and after matches sit side by side in My Clips. Trim out just the moments you want to keep.
Recommended values: match your monitor's refresh rate
0 (unlimited) is not always the right answer for fps_max. When your frame rate is uneven, it actually feels like stutter, so locking it slightly below your monitor's refresh rate feels smoother.
- 60Hz monitor: +fps_max 60, or +fps_max 58 for stability
- 144Hz monitor: +fps_max 140 (about 4 below the refresh rate)
- 240Hz monitor: +fps_max 236
- If you have plenty of frames to spare and screen tearing does not bother you: +fps_max 0 (unlimited)
If your frame rate spikes excessively in the lobby and causes heat, you can cap just the lobby separately, like +lobby_max_fps 60 instead of +lobby_max_fps 0. It is a way to reduce the load on the waiting screen while leaving your actual fight frame rate untouched.
Once your settings are done, record your matches automatically
In Apex, fights end in an instant. That super glide you pulled off out of nowhere, that final 1v1 clutch, are already gone by the time you try to watch them again. And if you fire up a heavy recording program, the frames you worked so hard to gain get cut right back down.
DOR uses low-overhead capture, so it records your whole match automatically while keeping your fps, and one press of F8 saves the last 30 seconds as a clip.
You do not have to give up recording just to protect your frame rate, and when a match ends you can trim out only the good scenes and share them right away. In games with automatic clips, such as Valorant, your kills are saved as clips on their own.
To sum up, the flow is: turn off heavy effects in the video settings, stabilize your frame rate with launch options, then lock fps_max to match your refresh rate. Once you have it all dialed in, stutter drops a lot, and all that is left is making sure you do not miss the good scenes.
