Graphics settings guides
Plain-English explainers behind the recommendations — written from the same research and real-world FPS data that powers the optimizer.
- How graphics settings actually affect FPS
Shadows, textures, upscaling, ray tracing — which settings really cost frames, which are nearly free, and why the answer changes with your hardware. - CPU vs GPU bottleneck: which one is limiting your FPS?
How to tell in five minutes whether your processor or your graphics card is holding you back — and why lowering settings sometimes does nothing. - VRAM explained: why 8GB matters in 2026
What video memory actually stores, what happens when you run out (stutter, not low FPS), and how to pick texture settings that fit your card. - DLSS, FSR and XeSS: upscaling explained
The single biggest free FPS gain on modern PCs. How upscalers work, what Quality/Balanced/Performance really mean, and when NOT to use them. - Which settings to lower first (and which to leave alone)
A practical order of operations for squeezing more FPS out of any game without making it ugly. - How FrameCoach estimates your FPS
Our methodology, honestly explained: the model, its limits, and how thousands of real crowdsourced FPS reports keep it calibrated.