When you’re really serious about playing a competitive multiplayer game like Apex Legends, you need to secure every possible edge. For one thing, your preferred framerate may not be one that the game offers natively. If you want it to be higher or lower than what the in-game settings can manage, you’ll have to take matters into your own hands. Here’s how to limit FPS in Apex Legends on Steam.
How to Limit FPS in Apex Legends on Steam – Performance Tips
While the idea of tinkering with the game’s files may seem a little intimidating, it’s actually a very simple process, as our step-by-step guide will show. And don’t worry, this is a pretty benign modification, so you won’t accidentally break your game or anything like that.
Step 1: Go to your Steam Library
Assuming your copy of Apex Legends is hosted on Steam, open up the Steam client, go to your library and right click on Apex Legends in the game list. From the drop-down menu, select “Properties” at the very bottom.
Step 2: The Launch Options
When you open Apex Legends’ Properties window, you should be on the General tab by default. At the bottom of this tab, you should see a big text box labeled “Launch Options.” This input allows you to set direct commands for the game application to follow when you launch it. It’s only intended for advanced users, since you need to know the commands, but we’re gonna give you the one you need.
Step 3: Setting the Cap
The command you need to enter into the prompt to control framerates is “+fps_max,” followed by any number from one to three digits. So, for example, if you type “+fps_max 200,” that would set the game’s frame limit at 200 fps. The default frame limit for Apex Legends is 60 fps, while the Apex community generally considers the optimal framerate to be 144 fps. If you’re feeling gutsy, you can also type “+fps_max 0” to make your frame cap unlimited. The important thing you have to remember is that the higher you set your frame limit, the more strain Apex Legends will place on your computer. If you don’t have an especially strong rig, keep the frame limit reasonable, lest you fry your processor like bacon.
Step 4: Cleaning Up
Once you’ve entered your preferred frame limit into the box, just close the Properties window. The next time you launch Apex Legends, the game should be capped at your preferred framerate.
Controlling the framerate like this is great for both users of high-end systems who want to get the most frames possible and users of low-end systems who need to keep the game’s framerate from going crazy.
