How to increase FPS in CoD Vanguard: video settings
The video settings of Call of Duty Vanguard can be optimized to increase your FPS and improve your gameplay.
On the web, you can find several configuration files to replace yours and boost the fps. Honestly, I don’t like this approach because I want to know exactly what I am changing, so I decided to review all the options in this article.
These adjustments are useful if you are struggling to reach an acceptable amount of fps as you are using a low-spec PC, but also if you have a monitor with a high refresh-rate as you bought it to gain an edge in a competitive FPS such as Call of Duty.
Video Settings
Launch Call of Duty Vanguard, select Settings at the bottom left (or press F3 on the keyboard), and open the Graphics tab. I will show you how to set up each setting for maximum performance.
Display
Display Mode: Fulscreen or Fullscreen Borderless.
Fullscreen is the best choice performance-wise, but you might prefer Fullscreen Borderless if you have a multi-monitor setup and you wish to move quickly on another display.
Note: Generally, you can switch from Fullscreen to Fullscreen Borderless by pressing Alt+Enter on the keyboard.
Monitor: select your main gaming monitor.
Refresh Rate: your monitor refresh rate.
Sync Every Frame (V-Sync): Off.
Framerate Limit: Custom.
Gameplay Custom Framerate Limit: your monitor refresh rate, or slightly lower if you have a Freesync or G-Sync display.
If you have a G-Sync or G-Sync compatible monitor, I suggest selecting a global cap about 3-4 FPS below your refresh rate in the Nvidia control panel. For example, my monitor has a refresh rate of 160hz, so I selected a framerate limit of 156. In this way, you don’t have to tune manually each game.
Menu Custom Framerate Limit: 60.
Minimized Game Custom Framerate Limit: 30.
Nvidia Reflex Low Latency: Enabled.
Enabling this option reduces the system latency, so the game feels smoother. Setting it to Enabled is sufficient, however, Enabled + Boost provides slightly better results because it forces the GPU to maintain higher clocks even in CPU bound scenarios.
Display Resolution: use your native one.
Using your native resolution is desirable for a better view, but if you badly need a performance boost, decreasing the resolution will greatly improve your fps. 720p is usually a solid compromise between quality and performance.
Quality
Global Quality
Quality Presets: Custom.
We will set up each option individually.
Render Resolution: 100.
I warmly recommend to not change this setting unless you really need more fps. Decreasing the value below 100 will grant more performance at the cost of blurred textures.
The visual effect at 90 is acceptable, and 75-80 is the minimum value you should consider. Generally, decrease the Screen Resolution first, and use the Resolution Scale as the last resort.
VRAM Usage Target: 90.
Try reducing VRAM usage to 80% if you notice stuttering.
Details & Textures
Texture Resolution: Medium.
Texture quality depends mostly on the VRAM available on your graphic card, so it barely affects your fps. You can reduce it to lower values, but I suggest keeping it at Medium for a better viewing experience.
Texture Filter Anisotropic: Medium.
Nowadays, Anisotropic Filtering has a negligible impact on performance in most systems, so you may consider using High even on older machines.
Particle Quality Level: Low.
Particle resolution: Low.
Bullet Impacts & Sprays: On.
Bullet Impacts is a personal preference, but in any case they won’t hinder your fps.
Tessellation: Off.
Level of Detail: Medium.
Reducing too much the level of detail can affect visibility, so I suggest keeping it at Medium, if possible.
Level of Detail Distance Quality: Low.
Volumetric Quality Level: Low.
Shadow & Lighting
Shadow Map Resolution: Low.
Shadow and Lightning effects have a big performance cost in any game, so I always recommend disabling or lowering them if you need more FPS.
Sun Shadow Cascades: Low.
Cache Spot Shadows: On.
Spot Cache Size: Low to High.
Cache Sun Shadows: On.
Disable Cache Spot Shadows and Cache Sun Shadows if you have less than 8GB RAM. Instead, Spot Cache Size is VRAM dependent, so you can keep it at High if your graphic card has 8GB.
Spot Shadow Quality: Low.
Particle Lightning: Medium.
Low impact on fps and the game looks a bit better.
Ambient Occlusion: Off.
GTAO: Low.
Screen Space Reflection: Off.
Post Processing Effects
Anti-Aliasing: SMAA T2X.
Filmic Strength: 0.
SMAA T2X is quite expensive, but you can’t disable it in the beta. In any case, it is a recommended option to avoid visual noise and artifacts.
Do not use Filmic SMAA T2X because it makes the game a bit blurrier.
Gameplay
Field of View: it depends on your preference. In this game, 100, 110, and 120 are the most popular choices.
I published an article about the best FoV in CoD Vanguard, containing the results of a survey and detailed explanations on each setting.
A higher field of view (FOV) increases your peripheral vision, but at the same time all the targets are smaller, and it can cause a fisheye effect. In any case, lower values will improve your performance.
ADS Field of View: Affected.
Camera Movement: Least (50%).
World Motion Blur: Off.
Weapon Motion Blur: Off.
Depth of Field: Off.
Reducing the camera shake, and removing Blur and DoF helps visibility. I turn them off in all games as they generate visual effects that influence negatively your gameplay.
