Frame lag is one of the most frustrating things to deal with in simracing. Here’s how to fix low FPS in F1 2021.
Image credit: Codemasters / EA
If there is one thing that bothers all gamers across all genres, it’s a laggy game. Especially in F1 2021, where your reaction in a single moment can decide the outcome of the entire race, having good and consistent frames per second (FPS) is key.
If you are experiencing low FPS or any sort of lag in F1 2021, here are eight quick tips to improve your framerate in the game.
Settings to Fix Low FPS in F1 2021
There are several graphics settings to adjust in the game which might help you to get back your FPS. First, make sure you play the game in full-screen mode. If you are suffering from low FPS, turn VSync off. However, if you are experiencing sudden frame drops or screen tearing, turn VSync on. Both anti-aliasing and HDR can be turned off too to stabilise your framerate.
There are several visual details in the game that are nice to have but cost a lot of performance. Try turning some or all of them off to get closer to your preferred framerate. The settings you should consider turning low or off are: shadows, smoke, particles, crowd, mirrors, and lighting.
If you are using and Nvidia or AMD driven graphics card, you can also take a shortcut and use their GeForce Experience or Gaming Evolved software. Both of these include a feature which computes the optimal settings for your system and applies them to the game with just one click. Most of the time, these recommended settings work very well.
Apart from these in-game settings, there are also several hardware settings to boost your framerate which you can find below.
Disable Background Apps
Other apps running on your system alongside F1 2021 mean your PC won’t be able to put all its resources into running the game. In particular, hardware-hungry applications like web browsers can cost you lots of FPS. We recommend turning off all applications you do not need while playing F1 2021.
Disable Gaming Overlays
Several gaming-related programs like Steam, Discord, Xbox Game Bar or GeForce Experience use overlays you can use while playing F1 2021. While these features might be cool, they also take away a lot of performance from the game. We recommend turning them off to improve FPS.
Update your Graphics Drivers
Just like F1 2021 receives regular updates, your graphic drivers do as well. To make sure your hardware is prepared for the latest update of the game, make sure to update your drivers as well. This can easily be done via the support software by Nvidia GeForce Experience or AMD Gaming Evolved, or manually by downloading the drivers from your manufacturer’s website:
Delete Temporary Data
A tidy hard drive is always going to run significantly faster than a messy and overfilled one. However, even if you are a tidy person, over time you will fill your hard drive with a lot of hidden temporary data fragments, slowing it down.
Luckily, there are several free programs on the market which find and delete this junk from your hard drive. Make sure to let one of these clean your PC from time to time.
Set F1 2021 to High CPU Priority
Low FPS can be a result of lacking CPU power. A quick tip to tackle this issue is to raise the CPU priority for the game via the Windows Task Manager. While F1 2021 is running, open the Task Manager and go to the tab “details”. Right-click on “F1 2021.exe”, hover over “set priority” and choose “high”.
Deactivate Xbox Game Bar and Background Capture
Windows 10 comes with a lot of Xbox features that cost a lot of performance during a game session. To deactivate them, open the Windows Settings and click on “Gaming”. Via the tabs “Xbox Game Bar” and “Captures”, deactivate the respective functions to get a performance boost.
Boost your GPU Using Windows
Another easy trick is boosting your GPU and F1 2021 via the Windows settings. Once again, go to Settings and search for “graphic settings” in the search bar. Once you entered the menu, make sure to turn “Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling” on.
Also, you can boost the graphics performance preference specifically for F1 2021. To do so, click on “browse” in the respective section. Go to the directory where F1 2021 is installed and find the executable file to start F1 2021. Usually, it should be called “F1_2021_dx12.exe”. Select the file and click “add”. Now you should see it in your graphic settings tab in the Windows settings. Choose “options” and then set the graphics preference to “high performance”.
Combining these tips should bring your framerate back on track and make sure you can finally race for the win again in F1 2021.
What is your best tip to improve FPS in F1 2021? Share it with the community by leaving a comment or tweet us @OverTake_gg!
