In the fast-paced world of League of Legends, every frame matters. Whether you’re dodging a crucial skill shot, last-hitting under turret, or navigating a chaotic teamfight, a smooth frame rate can make the difference between a clutch play and a crushing defeat.
But what happens when your FPS starts to stutter? Drops in performance are frustrating, especially in competitive play. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to increase your FPS in League of Legends, whether you’re playing on an older laptop or a gaming PC that needs a bit of tuning.
Here’s a comprehensive guide to improving your in-game performance without compromising gameplay quality.
Adjust In-Game Graphics Settings
The most immediate way to boost FPS is to lower your graphics settings. Head to the League of Legends settings menu (gear icon), then go to Video and Graphics.
Recommended changes:
- Resolution: Use your monitor’s native resolution. If needed, reduce it slightly for performance.
- Character Quality, Environment Quality, Effects Quality: Set to Low.
- Shadows: Turn Off (this has one of the biggest performance impacts).
- Anti-Aliasing: Disable.
- Frame Rate Cap: Set to Uncapped or your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g., 60Hz, 144Hz).
- Enable Low Spec Mode: Under the client settings, this can reduce background processes.
These tweaks alone can significantly stabilize your FPS and reduce in-game lag.
Run League in Fullscreen Mode
League supports three display modes: Fullscreen, Borderless, and Windowed.
- Fullscreen Mode typically delivers the best FPS because it allocates more resources to the game.
- Avoid Windowed Mode unless necessary—it’s the most performance-intensive.
- Borderless Mode offers convenience but may drop a few frames compared to Fullscreen.
Switching to Fullscreen can be especially helpful on lower-end hardware.
Close Background Applications
Streaming music, chatting on Discord, or having multiple browser tabs open? These background apps drain system resources.
Before starting a game:
- Close all unnecessary programs.
- Use Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) to check CPU and memory usage.
- Disable overlays from programs like Discord, NVIDIA GeForce Experience, and Steam, which can reduce FPS.
Less background noise = more frames.
Update Your Graphics Drivers
Outdated drivers can cap your system’s performance. To make sure your GPU is optimized:
- Go to NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel‘s official websites.
- Download the latest drivers for your graphics card.
- Restart your system after installation.
This step alone can fix sudden FPS drops or stuttering issues.
Change Windows Power and Performance Settings
Windows power settings can limit how your system uses its CPU and GPU. Make sure your PC is set up for gaming:
- Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep > Additional Power Settings.
- Choose High Performance mode.
- In Graphics Settings, enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (if supported).
- Turn on Game Mode via Settings > Gaming > Game Mode.
These settings tell your system to prioritize performance over energy saving.
Optimize the League Client
The League client itself can slow down performance, especially on older systems.
- Enable “Close client during game” under Settings > General.
- Disable unnecessary animations and background features like Eternals and skins previews.
Reducing client overhead helps free up memory for in-game action.
Check for System Clutter or Malware
A cluttered or compromised system can slow down performance.
- Run Disk Cleanup to remove temporary files.
- Use a reliable antivirus or malware scanner.
- Consider defragmenting your hard drive if you use an HDD (skip if you’re on an SSD).
A clean machine is a fast machine.
Consider Hardware Upgrades
If your FPS is consistently low despite optimizations, your system may need a hardware boost:
- RAM: 8GB is the minimum; 16GB is ideal for gaming.
- GPU: Even budget cards like the GTX 1650 can run League on high settings smoothly.
- SSD: Installing League on an SSD improves load times and game responsiveness.
- CPU: A modern quad-core processor makes a major difference in multitasking and frame stability.
League is well-optimized, but very old or budget systems may still struggle.
Final Thoughts
League of Legends is a globally accessible game, designed to run on a wide range of PCs. But achieving smooth, high-FPS gameplay takes a combination of smart settings, regular system maintenance, and, in some cases, modest hardware upgrades.
Whether you’re playing for fun or aiming for Challenger, smoother performance makes for better decisions—and better wins.
Written by:
Christian