Key takeaways
- 60 Hz monitor: target 58–60 FPS for consistent pacing.
- 75 Hz monitor: target 72–73 FPS.
- 120 Hz monitor: target 117–118 FPS if your system can sustain it.
- 144 Hz monitor: target 141–142 FPS with VRR, or use a lower stable target such as 90 or 120 FPS.
- 165 Hz monitor: target 162–163 FPS, although a stable 120 FPS is often preferable to frequent drops.
- 240 Hz monitor: use 237 FPS only with a high-end system; otherwise target a consistent 144–200 FPS.
The best Ready or Not settings for FPS are a competitive 1080p or 1440p configuration with medium textures, low shadows and effects, a quality upscaler, motion blur disabled, and an FPS cap set slightly below your monitor’s refresh rate.
Recommended competitive settings
Ready or Not can be demanding because its indoor lighting, shadows, AI activity, particle effects, and CPU simulation all affect frame time. The highest average FPS is not always the smoothest result: a stable 90 FPS usually feels better than a fluctuating 130 FPS that repeatedly drops to 55 during breaches.
| Setting | Competitive recommendation | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Display mode | Exclusive fullscreen if available; otherwise borderless | Fullscreen can reduce desktop interference and latency |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 for maximum FPS; 2560×1440 for sharper image | Resolution is usually the largest GPU workload |
| V-Sync | Off when using VRR; otherwise test On only if tearing is distracting | V-Sync can add latency or create uneven pacing |
| Frame limit | Refresh rate minus 2–3 FPS | Leaves room for VRR and reduces render-queue spikes |
| Textures | Medium or High, depending on VRAM | Texture quality uses VRAM more than GPU processing power |
| Shadows | Low or Medium | Shadows can cause large GPU and frame-time costs indoors |
| Effects and particles | Low or Medium | Helps during smoke, muzzle flashes, explosions, and destruction |
| View distance | Medium | Reduces distant rendering without making rooms unclear |
| Motion blur | Off | Improves clarity while turning and aiming |
| Depth of field | Off | Prevents artificial blur around the reticle and weapon |
| Film grain and chromatic aberration | Off | Removes visual noise and color fringing |
| Upscaling | Quality first; Balanced if necessary | Improves FPS while preserving more detail than Performance mode |
Choose the right FPS target first
Your target should match both your monitor and your hardware. A 60 Hz display does not need a 144 FPS target, while a 144 Hz display benefits from a stable frame rate well above 60 FPS.
- 60 Hz monitor: target 58–60 FPS for consistent pacing.
- 75 Hz monitor: target 72–73 FPS.
- 120 Hz monitor: target 117–118 FPS if your system can sustain it.
- 144 Hz monitor: target 141–142 FPS with VRR, or use a lower stable target such as 90 or 120 FPS.
- 165 Hz monitor: target 162–163 FPS, although a stable 120 FPS is often preferable to frequent drops.
- 240 Hz monitor: use 237 FPS only with a high-end system; otherwise target a consistent 144–200 FPS.
For reference, 60 FPS gives each frame about 16.7 milliseconds, 120 FPS gives 8.3 milliseconds, and 144 FPS gives 6.9 milliseconds. If your frame-time graph repeatedly jumps from 8 ms to 20 ms, the game will feel stuttery even if the displayed average is high. Prioritize the one-percent lows and frame-time consistency over the largest headline FPS number.
Balanced presets by PC class
Entry-level gaming PC
Use this profile for a recent six-core processor paired with a graphics card offering roughly 6–8 GB of VRAM, or for older hardware that struggles at native 1080p.
- Resolution: 1920×1080
- Upscaling: Quality; switch to Balanced if heavy scenes fall below your target
- Textures: Medium
- Shadows: Low
- Effects: Low
- View distance: Medium or Low
- Post-processing: Low
- Foliage and similar detail settings: Low or Medium
- Motion blur, depth of field, film grain, and chromatic aberration: Off
- FPS target: 60–90, depending on the mission and patch
Do not immediately choose the lowest texture setting. If VRAM usage remains below the card’s limit, Medium textures can make walls, doors, and evidence easier to read at a relatively small performance cost. Lower shadows and effects first because they are more likely to affect busy scenes and combat clarity.
Mid-range gaming PC
This profile suits a modern six- or eight-core processor, 16–32 GB of system memory, and a graphics card with around 8–12 GB of VRAM.
- Resolution: 1920×1080 for high-refresh play, or 2560×1440 for image quality
- Upscaling: Quality at 1440p; native resolution if performance remains stable
- Textures: High
- Shadows: Medium
- Effects: Medium
- View distance: Medium or High
- Post-processing: Medium
- Foliage and environmental detail: Medium
- Visual blur effects: Off
- FPS target: 90–144, depending on resolution and hardware
At 1440p, Quality upscaling is often a better compromise than reducing every graphical setting. It preserves much of the native image structure while reducing the number of pixels the GPU must shade. If distant foliage or thin geometry shimmers, move from a lower upscaling mode to Quality before raising shadows.
High-end gaming PC
Use this profile with a fast modern CPU, 32 GB of RAM, and a graphics card with at least 12 GB of VRAM for 1440p or higher. High-end hardware can still encounter CPU-limited scenes, so maximum settings are not automatically optimal.
- Resolution: 2560×1440; use 3840×2160 only when the target is modest
- Upscaling: Quality or native resolution
- Textures: High or maximum available
- Shadows: Medium or High
- Effects: Medium or High
- View distance: High
- Post-processing: Medium or High, with blur effects disabled
- FPS target: 120–165 at 1440p, varying by CPU, GPU, mission, and patch
At 4K, retaining High textures is usually sensible if VRAM allows it, but lower shadows and effects if the GPU cannot maintain the desired frame time. A powerful graphics card cannot fix a CPU-limited drop caused by AI, physics, or a crowded multiplayer session; lowering resolution will then have little effect.
How to tune the settings without guessing
- Set a realistic baseline. Start at your monitor’s native resolution, disable blur effects, choose Medium settings, and select Quality upscaling.
- Measure a difficult scenario. Test a mission section with several teammates, doors, lights, smoke, and enemies. A quiet hallway can produce a misleadingly high FPS reading.
- Identify the limit. If GPU usage stays near 95–99% while FPS falls, reduce resolution, upscaling quality, shadows, or effects. If GPU usage is low and FPS still drops, the limit is probably CPU-side.
- Change one major setting at a time. This reveals which option actually affects performance instead of producing a confusing mixture of improvements.
- Cap the result. Set the frame limiter a few frames below the refresh rate, then retest the difficult scenario.
- Check the one-percent lows. If average FPS is high but movement feels uneven, lower the setting that causes spikes rather than chasing a higher average.
Worked resolution and frame-time example
Moving from 1080p to 1440p increases the pixel workload from 2,073,600 pixels to 3,686,400 pixels. That is approximately 1.78 times as many pixels, or about 78% more work for resolution-dependent GPU stages. This is why a system producing approximately 120 FPS at 1080p might fall into an approximate 70–95 FPS range at 1440p, depending on the GPU, upscaler, CPU, scene, and game patch. These are planning ranges, not guaranteed benchmarks.
If your 1440p monitor runs at 144 Hz, a stable 90 FPS cap may be a better choice than an uncapped result that varies between 70 and 125 FPS. The 90 FPS target corresponds to an 11.1 ms frame budget, leaving more consistent delivery than repeatedly missing the 6.9 ms budget required for 144 FPS.
VRAM and memory decisions
Textures primarily consume VRAM, while shadows, lighting, effects, and resolution place more pressure on rendering performance. As a practical decision rule, use Medium textures on cards with about 6–8 GB of VRAM when playing at 1440p, and High textures on cards with 10–12 GB or more if the in-game memory indicator stays clear. Leave headroom rather than filling VRAM completely, because overflow can produce hitching when new rooms or assets load.
System memory also matters in multiplayer. 16 GB can be workable, but 32 GB gives more room for the game, voice software, browser tabs, and background applications. Close unnecessary overlays and recording tools when investigating stutter, since they can affect frame-time consistency even when average FPS looks unchanged.
Quick fixes for common performance problems
High FPS but visible stutter
Enable a sensible FPS cap, disable unnecessary overlays, and check whether the game is repeatedly streaming assets. Lowering textures slightly can help if VRAM is full. If the stutter happens only when entering new areas, it may be asset-streaming or shader compilation rather than a setting that needs to be permanently lowered.
GPU usage is low and FPS drops during fights
Lowering resolution will not solve a CPU limit. Reduce view distance and heavy environmental detail, close background applications, use the game’s recommended CPU scheduling options if available, and ensure the processor is not overheating or power-limited. Multiplayer AI and mission complexity can create different results from solo testing.
Image looks blurry after enabling upscaling
Use Quality instead of Balanced or Performance, confirm that render resolution has not been manually reduced, and disable excessive sharpening if it creates halos. At 1080p, native resolution may look better; at 1440p, Quality upscaling generally provides a more acceptable compromise.
Screen tearing or input delay
With a variable-refresh-rate monitor, enable VRR and cap FPS slightly below the maximum refresh rate. If tearing continues, test V-Sync according to your GPU driver’s recommended VRR configuration. Competitive players should compare responsiveness and pacing rather than assuming one synchronization method is best for every display.
Best overall configuration
For most players, the strongest starting point is 1440p, Quality upscaling, High textures, Medium shadows, Medium effects, Medium view distance, and all cinematic blur effects disabled. Cap the game at a frame rate your system can sustain during the heaviest missions. If performance is insufficient, reduce shadows and effects before textures; if the game still stutters with low GPU usage, investigate CPU limits and background software instead of continually lowering resolution.
