Start 1
Turn mouse acceleration off
Uncheck Enhance pointer precision, set the pointer-speed slider to the middle notch, and turn acceleration and angle snapping off in the mouse software.
Start 2
Texture streaming budget matches the card
None or 2 GB on an 8 GB card and below. 4 GB or more only if the card has the memory. A budget that is too high hitches instead of helping.
Start 3
Adaptive supersampling off, or a manual resolution scale
Adaptive resolution changes sharpness as you turn. A fixed resolution, or a fixed render scale, is steadier. Drop the scale only if you need the frames.
Start 4
Impact marks, ragdolls, and spot shadows down
These spike when a fight starts, which is when you notice. Low or disabled.
Video
Apex is streaming a big map. The stutter people call “bad FPS” is often the game pulling textures, not the average counter. Put the game on an SSD, set the streaming budget inside what the GPU can hold, and leave a few gigabytes of VRAM unused. An 8 GB card at “Very high” budget will hitch in Fragment and in endgames.
NVIDIA Reflex On + Boost. V-Sync off. The in-game FPS cap at 0 means uncapped. Cap near the monitor if the frame time wanders.
- Display ModeFullscreen
- Texture Streaming BudgetFits the GPU memory
- Texture FilteringAnisotropic 4x
- Ambient OcclusionDisabled
- Shadow QualityLow
- Volumetric LightingDisabled
- Adaptive SupersamplingDisabled
- NVIDIA ReflexEnabled + Boost
Streaming budget is the Apex-specific row. The rest is the usual competitive cut.
| Setting | Set it to | Frames |
|---|---|---|
| Texture streaming budgetToo low looks muddy. Too high stutters when the card runs out of memory. This is the setting to get right before you touch sharpening. | 2 GB on 6–8 GB cards, higher only with headroom | LargeToo low looks muddy. Too high stutters when the card runs out of memory. This is the setting to get right before you touch sharpening. |
| Adaptive resolution / supersamplingA moving internal resolution makes aim feel inconsistent. A fixed 80 or 90 percent scale is honest: you chose the blur. | Off, then a fixed scale if you need FPS | LargeA moving internal resolution makes aim feel inconsistent. A fixed 80 or 90 percent scale is honest: you chose the blur. |
| Anti-aliasingNone shimmers badly in this game. TSAA is the stable default. The cost is some softness, not a large FPS hole. | TSAA | SmallNone shimmers badly in this game. TSAA is the stable default. The cost is some softness, not a large FPS hole. |
| Shadow quality and spot shadowsDynamic lights in a building are a spike. Low keeps the game readable. | Low, spot shadows off or low | LargeDynamic lights in a building are a spike. Low keeps the game readable. |
| Volumetric lighting and fogPretty air. Real GPU time, especially outdoors. | Disabled or low | SomePretty air. Real GPU time, especially outdoors. |
| Impact marks and ragdollsThey appear at the worst moment. Cut them. | Low or disabled | SomeThey appear at the worst moment. Cut them. |
| Model detailVery low makes distant players harder to read. This is the one quality row worth protecting if you can. | Medium or High | SomeVery low makes distant players harder to read. This is the one quality row worth protecting if you can. |
Look sens, per-scope sens, no acceleration
Apex does not have a useful mouse-acceleration slider in the current controls menu. It uses raw mouse input. If you ever see a launch option or a config file that sets acceleration, delete that line. The Windows Enhance pointer precision checkbox still gets turned off, using the Windows guide.
Look sensitivity is hipfire. Each optic has its own ADS multiplier in the same menu. Those multipliers are not acceleration. Set the 1x sight first, until tracking feels like hipfire, then the longer scopes. Changing six scopes and your DPI on the same day is how people convince themselves the game “feels random.”
Per-optic values are the thing to write down. A respawn or a settings reset puts them back to default, and the default is not what you practiced.
| Setting | Set it to | Frames |
|---|---|---|
| Enhance pointer precisionRaw input covers the match. The checkbox still covers everything else. | Off | LargeRaw input covers the match. The checkbox still covers everything else. |
| Mouse acceleration in configs or launch optionsIf a guide told you to add one, that guide is out of date. | Removed | LargeIf a guide told you to add one, that guide is out of date. |
| Look sensitivityDPI times this number is your turn speed. | One number you stop editing | SomeDPI times this number is your turn speed. |
| Per-scope ADSIndependent multipliers. They do not change FPS. | Set after hipfire feels right | SmallIndependent multipliers. They do not change FPS. |
Startup and the origin of hitching
In Steam, the launch option +fps_max 0 is the same uncapped choice as the menu. You do not need both. -novid no longer does useful work. Leave the field empty unless you are setting a cap on purpose.
The first match after a driver update compiles shaders and will stutter. Play one unranked game or the firing range and let it finish. Deleting the cache to “fix” it just repeats the compile.
Read the number in a fight, not the range
The firing range is quiet. A third party in Fragment is not. If you only look at the range, every setting looks fine and the game still hitches when three squads land on you. Drop the same spot twice, once before the change and once after, and write down the number while people are shooting.
Texture streaming budget is the one to recheck after a GPU swap. A card with 8 GB of memory does not become a 12 GB card because the slider still says Very High. If landings hitch and the average FPS looks normal, lower the budget one step and land again.
- 1Turn on the in-game FPS counter.
- 2Note the number in the firing range, then ignore it.
- 3Land the same place in two matches.
- 4Change one video row.
- 5Land there again. Keep the change only if the busy number moved.
Leave these alone
Insane texture budget on an 8 GB card
The average FPS can look unchanged while every third-party landing hitches. Lower the budget one step and land in the same place again.
Adaptive FPS target as a substitute for settings
It will chase a number by blurring the image whenever you need to see. Set a fixed scale instead, and keep Reflex on.