Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most popular and highly detailed open world games ever created. However, its high graphical fidelity means it can be quite demanding on hardware. If you’re trying to play GTA 5 on a low end or old PC with no dedicated graphics card, you’re likely experiencing lag, stuttering, and low FPS.
But don’t worry – with some tweaking of the graphics settings and a few useful optimizations, you can significantly improve performance and playability. This comprehensive guide covers various tips and tricks to fix lag and boost your FPS in GTA 5 on low end systems.
Key Takeaways:
- Lower all Graphics Settings, especially Population Density and Distance Scaling
- Disable MSAA, Reflections, Post FX for a major FPS boost
- Set a Frame Rate Cap to reduce stuttering and lag spikes
- Tweak Advanced Graphics for optimal VRAM usage
- Clean out background processes and disable unneeded services
- Try using Razer Cortex for game optimization and boost
- Update Graphics and Chipset drivers for compatibility fixes
- Upgrade to 8GB RAM if possible for smoother performance
Follow these steps correctly and you’ll be cruising the streets of Los Santos in no time while maintaining a stable 30+ FPS.
Lower All Graphics Settings
This may seem obvious, but lowering all the Graphics options is key to improving performance on a low end PC. Here are the most demanding settings to lower first:
Population Density and Variety: Lowering the number of civilians, cars, and activities occurring in the world significantly reduces load. Set to 10-20% of maximum.
Distance Scaling: Lowering draw distance reduces the need to render distant objects. Set to 20-40% .
Texture Quality: Lower resolution of environment textures. Set to Normal or even Low if needed.
Shading Quality: Controls lighting complexity. Set to High for boost.
Reflection Quality: Lower resolutions of screen space reflections. Set to Low or off completely.
Water Quality: Controls water effects and ripple complexity. Set to Normal/Low.
Particles Quality: Lower particle effect resolutions. Normal or High is ideal.
Grass Quality: Limits foliage density. Set to High for FPS boost.
Post FX: Disabling gives major boost but loses visual effects.
MSAA: Big performance cost for marginal anti-aliasing improvements. Disable completely.
TXAA: Smooths edges better than MSAA but costs FPS too. Disable.
Vsync: Caps frame rate to monitor refresh rate. Disable to unlock FPS.
Pause Game On Focus Loss: Disabling prevents stutters when alt-tabbing.
By lowering these demanding settings first, you can achieve a solid 20-30 FPS boost or more. Continue tweaking from there.
Set a Frame Rate Cap
Capping your frame rate 1-2 notches below your average FPS can significantly reduce stuttering and lag spikes during gameplay.
Use a cap of 30 FPS if your system struggles to maintain 45-60 FPS consistently. This also prevents wasteful rendering above your monitor’s refresh rate.
You can cap frame rate globally with utilities like RTSS, or in-game with GTA’s built-in Frame Limiter option. Set this to a stable number like 30 to smooth out performance.
Disable Post FX and Reflections
Post FX like Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Ambient Occlusion and other effects can drag down FPS severely without contributing much visually. Disable Post FX entirely.
Reflections are also very taxing. Setting Reflection Quality to Low or disabling Screen Space Reflections boosts FPS.
Consider lowering Water Quality as well – the ripples and reflections become unnoticeable after Normal settings.
Optimize Advanced Graphics
GTA has additional options in Advanced Graphics to fine tune performance.
Distance Scaling Levels: Increase to push draw distance out and reduce pop-in.
Texture Filtering – Anisotropic: Lowest setting enhances clarity without FPS hit.
Shader Quality: Very High increases effects at a high FPS cost. High setting is ideal.
Shadow Quality: High or Very High still looks great and saves FPS over Ultra.
Reflection MSAA, Reflection Quality: Disable or set to Lowest for major gains.
Water Quality: Normal still looks good. Avoid High/Very High.
Particle Quality: Normal/High is a good balance.
Tessellation: Disabling reduces ground/object detail slightly but boosts FPS.
Long Shadows: Off boosts speed and doesn’t affect visuals much.
Your goal is to maximize visual fidelity while optimizing VRAM usage as much as possible. The Advanced Options help fine tune this balance.
Clean Out Background Processes
Many programs running in the background can consume CPU and RAM that games need. Use Task Manager to clean out unnecessary processes.
Disable any offerings like Adobe CC, Dropbox, OneDrive, RGB lighting services, and peripheral suites like Logitech Gaming Software if possible.
Also check for malware, viruses, bloatware, and other unwanted programs dragging down performance. A clean Windows install can work wonders.
Disable Unneeded Services
Disabling Windows services and features you don’t use frees up valuable resources for gaming. Some options to disable:
- Superfetch, BITS, Windows Search Indexing for RAM gains
- Homegroup services if not used
- Diagnostic policy service
- Printing services, fax services, XPS services
- Windows Defender, Firewall for a slight boost if antivirus installed
Use the Services app or MSCONFIG utility to fine tune options. Just take care not to disable vital services.
Use Razer Cortex For Optimization
Razer Cortex is a free software that automatically optimizes your system for gaming by stopping unnecessary processes, boosting game performance and freeing up RAM.
The Boost feature prioritizes CPU and GPU resources for the game launched through Cortex. This can provide a quick FPS boost.
Cortex also has customizable optimization settings and performance benchmarking tools to help maximize game performance.
Update Your Graphics Drivers
Outdated or incompatible graphics drivers can cause lag, crashing, and graphics glitches in games.
Make sure Intel, NVIDIA or AMD drivers are updated to the latest stable version from official websites, and that your BIOS is also up to date.
Chipset and motherboard drivers also play a role in overall system stability and performance. Keep these updated too.
Upgrade RAM
Increasing system RAM allows assets and textures to load faster, reducing lag and stuttering. Upgrade to 8GB if your system has 4GB or less currently.
Make sure RAM is running at its rated speed in BIOS settings, and try overclocking RAM speed for extra performance.
Faster DDR4 RAM kits around 3000MHz+ also benefit Intel CPUs and integrated graphics performance.
Unpark CPU Cores
Sometimes CPU cores can be improperly parked, limiting full utilization. Utilities like QuickCPU can check and unpark cores, boosting performance.
Clean Install GTA 5
If despite optimizations GTA runs poorly, try deleting the game with Revo Uninstaller then doing a clean re-install of the latest patched version.
This eliminates accumulated junk files, mods, save bloat and other issues slowing things down.
FAQ
What graphics settings impact FPS the most in GTA 5?
Population Density, Distance Scaling, MSAA, Reflections, Grass, and Post FX have the biggest FPS costs. Lower or disable these first.
How can I stop lag spikes and stuttering in GTA 5?
Using a frame rate cap just below your average FPS smoothens out performance and reduces sporadic lag spikes. Keep Population Density low as well.
Will more RAM help performance in GTA 5?
Yes, upgrading system RAM to 8GB+ allows the game to load textures and assets faster, reducing lag and stuttering, especially during fast driving/flying.
Should I keep Vsync on in GTA 5?
Vsync caps frame rate to your monitor’s refresh rate. This reduces screen tearing, but can limit FPS below optimal rates. Keep it off to maximize frame rates.
Will upgrading my graphics drivers help with GTA 5 lag?
Yes, keeping your Intel, NVIDIA or AMD graphics drivers updated improves compatibility and resolves lag issues caused by suboptimal drivers.
Conclusion
The key to improving GTA 5 performance on a low end PC lies in reducing graphical load through optimized quality settings. Combine this with software techniques like cleaning processes, disabling services, utilizing Razer Cortex and upgrading drivers, and you can achieve very playable frame rates between 30-60 FPS.
Some trial and error will be needed to find the right balance of visual quality and optimal FPS for your specific system hardware. But use this guide as a great starting point to eliminate lag issues and cruise through Los Santos without disruptive stuttering or frame drops.
Let us know if you have any other useful tips or tricks for improving GTA 5 performance on low end PCs!
