Best Graphics Settings For GTA V to fix lag and Boost FPS

Since GTA V became free on the epic store the number of GTA V players has skyrocketed. More and more players are joining but are facing lag issues since they are not sure which graphics settings to use. So to help those gamers fix lag and use the best graphics settings here is a complete guide to best graphics setting in GTA V. These settings are meant for low to mid-end systems to help fix lag and achieve at least 60FPS gameplay in GTA V. GTA V and GTA Online have the same settings to this guide works for both.

Must read: How to get GTA V free on epic games

You can edit the graphics,  advanced graphics, and Display Settings in GTA V. If you have bought the game from steam then you can also use the steam launch settings for GTA V. So without further ado lets begin:

Best Graphics settings for GTA V:

GTA SETTINGS TO FIX LAG

Graphics settings:

Ignore suggested Limits: off

I recommend you keep this setting off especially if you are using a laptop or a low-end system. This option if enabled tends to cause heating issues in some systems and laptops. You can use enable this option only if you have a high-end system.

DirectX Version: Highest (Directx 11)

Go with the highest version of DirectX 11 your graphics card supports. Unless your graphic card is older than 5 years I recommend using Directx 11. If later GTA starts support for DirectX 12 switch to it.

Resolution: Same as your Monitor Resolution

Using a high resolution for gaming is good for your eyes. You can play for longer durations and also it’s less straining to your eyes. So I recommend using the same resolution as your Monitor for the Best Gaming Experience.

If you want to really lower it then 1280*720 is the lowest you should go. Change resolution only as the last resort. Try all other settings first. Low resolutions make the game look really blurry and thus it’s not recommended.

Aspect Ratio: Default

GTA V settings will auto-detect your aspect ratio in most cases. The aspect ratio depends on your monitor so adjust accordingly so that you get a fullscreen view.

Refresh rate: Same as monitor refresh rate.

A higher refresh rate is better for gaming. I recommend 60 HZ for most devices since that’s the normal screen refresh rate for most devices. You can go higher if your device supports it. But the minimum is 60hz.

FXAA: on

FXAA is not that graphics extensive in GTA V. It helps remove the edges in the game. You can turn it on if you have a mid-end system. Turn it off if you have a low-end system.

MSAA: 4x

Similar to FXAA, MSAA also helps fix the edges in the game making the game look much smoother. It does require some GPU power so if you have a 4GB or higher Graphics card then enable it at 4X settings. Otherwise, disable it.

Nvidia TXAA: Off

If you have a good Nvidia card then enable it. Otherwise, disable it. According to me, you need around 4GB graphics card to use this setting at 1080p resolution. It’s better to turn it off and save the GPU resources for texture quality instead.

Vsync: Off

Vsync adds input lag in online games. Many of you will be playing GTA Online and thus it’s going to be really hard for you guys to play with the input lag. Just disable it.

gta 5 graphics settings

Population density: Low

This setting controls the number of NPCs in the game. Lower it since it consumes a lot of CPU and GPU power. This setting does not impact characters who give missions so you can use this safely without any issues.

Population Variety: Low

This setting controls the variety of NPCs and their clothes etc in the game. Lower it since it consumes a lot of CPU and GPU power. There is no real benefit to this setting other than the eye candy.

Distance Scaling: Low or Medium

This setting impacts the distance to which objects are rendered in the game. If you have a good CPU put it to high. You can see farther and it helps in some missions. The drawback is it consumes a lot of GPU memory. If you have 4Gb or higher VRAM then put it to high otherwise low or medium is recommended.

Texture quality:  High

This is the main reason why we kept other settings low. Use High settings and test your game. If you get less than 60 fps in GTA V then lower the texture quality in GTA V to normal.

This setting is important since it has the highest impact on graphics quality. Make sure to set it at High if you can.

Shader Quality: Medium or High

Shader quality is the second most important setting in GTA V in terms of graphics settings after texture quality. I recommend using high settings since the game looks really good with high-quality shaders. GTA looks really good in HD after all.

Shadow quality: Normal

This is one of the most graphics-intensive settings in the GTA V. By putting this to normal you can easily save a lot of CPU and GPU computing power that you can use for texture quality and other settings. There is no real benefit of shadows in GTA V.

gta v graphics settings

Reflection Quality: Normal

Reflection quality can be comprised a little in GTA 5 Settings. You can set it to normal. High reflection quality in GTA V makes the cars look really good but at the cost of graphics memory. If you have 4GB or higher memory then set this setting to High.

For everyone else normal is the most recommended setting.

Reflection MSAA: Off

Turn this off. It does not have much impact on graphics but consumes a lot of resources. It is recommended that you turn this setting off to boost FPS in GTA V.

Water Quality: Normal

Water quality has no impact on gameplay. You can set it to normal. You don’t spend much time in the water anyway so save your graphics resources instead.

Particles quality: Normal

Normal quality is good enough for most gamers. Unless you have a 4K panel you won’t notice much difference. Set it to high only if you have a very large screen.

Grass quality: Normal

Grass quality has minor impact on forests and grassland sections of the game. You can set it to normal. There is no really benefit to high-quality grass in GTA v settings.

Soft shadows: Sharp

Shadows as previously mentioned do not have any advantage in-game. You can decrease the quality as much as you want in order to save graphics resources. I recommend using sharp shadows. The shadows in GTA V are ignored by us anyways so I think its a good deal.

Post FX: Normal

It has almost no effect on mid-end devices. Honestly, unless you have a graphics card with over 6GB of VRAM do not bother changing this setting. Normal is more than enough for GTA V.

Motion Blur: off

Turn this off in any game you play, especially in shooter games. This tends to hinder vision and cause lag in many cases. Just disable this setting and have fun enjoying lag-free GTA V gameplay.

In-game depth of field effects: off

The depth of the field setting in GTA V makes certain objects look good when viewed from angles. But you should only use this setting if you have a 6GB graphics card or higher. It’s not worth it if you are already struggling with low fps issues.

Anisotropic filtering: off

It helps remove some edges from objects. If you have a good GPU then enable this setting. otherwise, it will just lower your FPS a lot. Turn it off

Ambient Occlusion: off

Ambient occlusion is a method to approximate how bright light should be shining on any object or surface. Useful only if you have large screen and a good GPU.  Unnecessary graphics effects for those on laptops. Disable this for low and mid-end systems.

Tessellation: off

Same as above. Enable this if you have 4GB or Higher VRAM. Low-end systems and laptops should disable this setting.

Advanced Graphics settings GTA V:

gta online advanced graphics settings

For low-end systems simply disable all the advanced settings. These are meant for high-end systems only.

Long Shadows: Off

It gives you better shadow quality and you can see shadows from further away. Honestly no In-game advantage with long shadows.

High-Resolution Shadows: off

Gives better shadows with higher resolutions. If you need shadows to look better enable this option. Its GPU intensive so be careful on laptops.

High Detail streaming while flying: off

Disable this setting. Unless you plan to be flying for more than half the game there is no benefit to using this option. I personally disable it since it helps get me a few extra FPS.

Extended Distance scaling: off

You can see further with this setting set at max. It basically renders objects at greater distances. If for some reason you need this enable this setting.

Extended Shadows distance: off

Same as above just applies to shadow rendering instead of object rendering. I really don’t see why anyone would us this.

Frame scaling mode: off

Disable it. It consumes a lot of resources if used and the graphics improvement is hardly noticeable. Turn it off as shown in the image above.

Display Settings:

Screen Skill effects: Off

This makes the game look fun but at the cost of graphics. It also hinders vision. If you are on a low-end system for whom every FPS matters then disable this setting. You will get a minor FPS boost in GTA V.

Camera Settings:

First Person Ragdoll: Off

Ragdoll is definitely fun to watch and you can get some great meme-worthy content. But ragdoll is GPU intensive. If you are unable to reach the 60 FPS for GTA Online then disable this setting.


I hope this guide has been informative for you and I thank you for reading. I hope this guide helped you get the best FPS in GTA V and GTA Online. You can also check out the steam launch options for GTA V and GTA Online to give you an even better performance boost. If you have a slow system then use the Gaming optimization guide for PCs and Laptops to make your system faster for gaming. If you know more ways to optimize GTA V performance do let us know in the comment section below. Happy Gaming.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.