How to Cap Your FPS Correctly: In-Game vs RTSS vs Driver
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A frame cap is the cheapest upgrade in competitive gaming: pick the right limiter and value, and you get flatter frame times, no V-Sync, and often less input lag than uncapped. Pick the wrong one and you leave latency on the table. Here’s the decision in full.
The goal is a flat frame-time line at a number you never dip below.
Why cap at all
- Frame pacing — a stable 140 FPS feels smoother than 120–180 swinging, because frame times stay even.
- GPU headroom — at 99% GPU load, frames queue and latency rises. A cap that keeps load near 95% removes that queue.
- VRR window — with G-Sync/FreeSync, the cap keeps you below refresh where VRR works.
The three limiters, ranked
| Limiter | Latency | Frame-time smoothness | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-game limiter | Lowest | Good | It exists and works — default choice |
| NVIDIA Reflex (auto-cap) | Lowest | Good | Game supports Reflex + VRR — set and forget |
| RTSS (RivaTuner) | +up to 1 frame | Flattest | In-game limiter is broken/absent, or you want perfectly even pacing |
| Driver cap (NVCP/Adrenalin) | Between the two | Good | Per-game caps without extra software |
Rule of thumb: in-game limiter first; Reflex handles it automatically where supported; RTSS when you need the smoothest possible graph or the game’s limiter is poorly implemented.
What value to set
- With VRR: refresh minus 3–5 (141 @ 144 Hz, 237 @ 240 Hz).
- Without VRR: the highest value your PC holds in the heaviest scenes — fights, smokes, late-game circles. Test there, not in a quiet area.
- CPU-bound esports titles: if you hold 2–3× your refresh constantly (CS2/Valorant on strong PCs), uncapped is a legitimate choice — at very high FPS, queuing is minimal and the freshest frame wins.
Set it, then verify with a frame-time overlay: the graph should be a flat line. Spikes through a cap mean the bottleneck is elsewhere — see the lag spike guide.
Setting each one up
In-game: usually under Video → Frame Rate Limit. Avoid “smooth framerate”-style options that are V-Sync in disguise.
NVIDIA driver: Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Max Frame Rate (global or per-game). Full walkthrough in the NVCP guide.
AMD driver: Adrenalin → Gaming → Frame Rate Target Control. See the Adrenalin guide.
RTSS: install with MSI Afterburner, set “Framerate limit” per profile. Use the same value logic as above.
Stack it with the rest of the latency chain
A cap fixes pacing; it’s one link in the chain. Pair it with Reflex/Anti-Lag, proper fullscreen mode, no mouse acceleration, and a raised Windows timer resolution via Tier1Timer — which also lets you measure the result.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Should I cap my FPS or leave it uncapped?
Cap it if your FPS fluctuates or you use G-Sync/FreeSync; the stable frame pacing is worth more than the peak. Leave it uncapped mainly in esports titles where you hold several times your refresh rate.
Is an in-game FPS limiter better than RTSS?
Usually, yes. In-game limiters act earlier in the render pipeline and typically have the lowest latency. RTSS adds up to one frame of delay but produces the flattest frame times.
What FPS cap should I use on a 144 Hz monitor?
Around 141 with G-Sync/FreeSync, to stay inside the VRR window. Without VRR, cap at a value your PC holds constantly — stability matters more than the number.
Does capping FPS reduce input lag?
When you are GPU-bound, yes — a cap keeps the GPU below saturation so frames stop queuing. An uncapped GPU at 99% load adds more latency than the cap costs.