Higher Frame Rate vs. Resolution: How to Find the Perfect Balance for Gaming

If you browse enough forums, you can find decades-old conversations that feature many different preferences for frame rates and resolutions in games. The discussion often boils down to better graphics versus better performance, but the ideal balance doesn’t just depend on the number and dimensions of FPS. On the one hand, you will have to take into account the specifications of your PC; If you output certain frame rates at higher resolutions than your graphics card can handle, it will hamper performance and take the fun out of your game. However, when adjusting your graphics settings, you should also consider the types of games you want to play.

In online multiplayer games, achieving the highest possible frame rates is often considered paramount to having a competitive advantage. If you don’t mind getting a slight performance boost at the expense of crisp graphics, you can lower your game’s resolution and get higher frame rates since there are fewer pixels to render. You can also use what’s called “extended resolution,” which involves setting an old-fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio and then stretching the image to fill the black bars that appear on a standard 16:9 monitor. Not only does this result in higher frame rates, but it also tends to widen hitboxes, which is especially beneficial in first-person shooters.

Conversely, if you want to experience the latest and greatest single-player campaigns in AAA gaming – or just want to dig deeper into that new indie game you’ve been digging – prioritizing resolution is almost always the way to go. With these games, playing at higher resolutions is much more immersive and aesthetically appealing, provided your frame rates don’t take too much of a hit. But even if this happens, you can try to improve the balance between performance and graphics fidelity using graphics settings alone.

Many PCs built with mid-grade components as of 2020 are capable of supporting 1440p (QHD) at 144 frames per second, which has been considered the “sweet spot” in gaming by a number of tech writers. This setting provides improved graphical fidelity and smoother gameplay compared to 1080p (FHD) at 60 frames per second, and it also provides a more stable experience than the resource-intensive 4K resolution. While many gamers are moving away from 1080p monitors in favor of those with 1440p resolution, upgrading a monitor doesn’t provide much mileage if your PC’s specs aren’t up to par. But the good news? Even if you’re using an older graphics card, you may be able to improve your gaming experience with advances in graphics card upscaling technology.

If you have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 20, AMD Radeon 5000, Intel Arc A-series or higher graphics card, you can improve game performance using your card’s native features. These cards leverage proprietary AI-based upscaling technologies—DLSS on Nvidia graphics cards, FSR on AMD graphics cards, and XeSS on Intel graphics cards—to generate additional frames in your games. AMD even announced that it would upgrade some of its older graphics cards to its improved FSR 4 technology for free. Moves like this make it even easier for gamers to balance frame rate and resolution using nothing more than their existing hardware.

Although frame generation nets you more frames for a smoother experience, it does this by inserting false frames into your game, which can impact responsiveness more than you’d like. If your PC can’t natively reach 60fps without additional support, using frame generation can actually introduce input latency, so be sure to tweak your scaling settings to find a balance that works for you, your PC, and your monitor. The right combination of resolution and scaling settings could breathe new life into your gaming experience.