Speed up The Finals with these performance tweaks

The Finals runs better on most PCs when you lower your graphics settings, close background programs, and update your graphics drivers. The game is demanding—it needs a modern GPU and CPU to hit smooth frame rates, especially at higher resolutions. You do not need to buy new hardware; most performance gains come from adjusting in-game settings and cleaning up what is running in the background.

Frame rate drops, stuttering, and lag usually point to one of three problems: your graphics card is working too hard, your CPU is bottlenecked, or Windows is running too many other tasks at once. This guide walks you through the fastest fixes, in order of impact.

Key Takeaways

  • Lower your resolution, texture quality, and shadow detail first—these changes give the biggest frame rate boost with the least visual cost.
  • Close Discord, Chrome, Spotify, and other background apps before launching The Finals; they consume RAM and GPU memory that the game needs.
  • Update your graphics driver through NVIDIA GeForce Experience, AMD Radeon Software, or Intel Arc Control—outdated drivers cause stuttering and crashes.
  • Turn off ray tracing and reduce your frame rate cap to match your monitor's refresh rate; running at 200 fps on a 60 Hz monitor wastes power and generates heat.
  • If you still see frame drops in matches, check your CPU and GPU temperature with a tool like HWiNFO to rule out thermal throttling.

Lower your graphics settings in the right order

Start in The Finals settings menu under Graphics. The settings that hurt frame rate the most are resolution, shadow quality, and texture detail. If you are playing at 1440p or 4K and seeing frame drops, drop to 1080p first—this cuts the workload on your GPU by half or more. You will notice the difference in sharpness, but the game remains playable and looks acceptable at 1080p.

Next, set Shadow Quality to Low or Medium. Shadows are expensive to render and rarely affect gameplay. Set Texture Quality to High instead of Ultra; the visual difference is small but the performance gain is real. Turn off ray tracing entirely unless your GPU is a high-end RTX 4080 or newer—ray tracing cuts frame rates by 30 to 50 percent and The Finals does not need it to look good.

Set your frame rate cap to match your monitor. If you have a 60 Hz monitor, cap the frame rate at 60 fps. If you have a 144 Hz monitor, cap it at 144 fps. Running the game at 200 fps on a 60 Hz display wastes GPU power, generates unnecessary heat, and does not make the game look smoother to your eyes. Leave V-Sync off unless you see screen tearing; V-Sync adds input lag.

Close background programs before you play

Windows runs dozens of programs in the background by default—Discord, Chrome, Spotify, OneDrive, antivirus scans, and Windows Update all consume RAM and GPU memory. The Finals needs that memory. Before you launch the game, close everything you do not need.

Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Click the Processes tab. Look for Discord, Google Chrome, Spotify, Steam, Epic Games Launcher, and any other app you recognize. Right-click each one and select End Task. Do not close Windows processes like svchost or csrss—stick to programs you installed yourself.

Disable Windows notifications while you play. Press Windows+I to open Settings, go to System > Notifications, and toggle off all notification types. Notifications cause brief stutters when they pop up. You can turn them back on after you close the game.

Update your graphics driver

An outdated graphics driver is one of the most common causes of stuttering and crashes in The Finals. Your driver is the software that tells your GPU how to render the game. Manufacturers release new drivers every few weeks to fix bugs and improve performance.

If you have an NVIDIA GPU, open NVIDIA GeForce Experience (search for it in the Windows Start menu). Click the Drivers tab and select Check for Updates. If an update is available, click read and then Install. Restart your PC when prompted.

If you have an AMD GPU, open AMD Radeon Software. Click the Settings gear icon, then System. Select Check for Updates. read and install any available driver, then restart.

If you have an Intel Arc GPU, open Intel Arc Control. Go to Performance and click Check for Updates. Install any available driver and restart your PC.

Check your CPU and GPU temperature

If you still see frame drops after lowering settings and closing background apps, your hardware may be overheating. When a CPU or GPU gets too hot, it throttles—it slows itself down to cool off, which causes frame rate drops and stuttering.

read HWiNFO (it is free). Launch the game and play for a few minutes. While playing, open HWiNFO and look at the temperature readings. Your GPU should stay below 80°C and your CPU below 85°C. If either is hotter, your PC needs better cooling.

If temperatures are high, clean the dust out of your PC case and fans. Dust blocks airflow and traps heat. Use compressed air to blow dust out of the heatsinks and fans. If you have a laptop, use a can of compressed air to clean the vents on the bottom and sides. Let the PC cool down for 30 minutes before you play again.

Adjust Windows power settings

Windows has a power plan that can limit your CPU and GPU performance to save battery life. If you are on a laptop or have your PC set to a power-saving mode, switch to High Performance.

Press Windows+I to open Settings. Go to System > Power and Battery. Under Power Mode, select Best Performance. On a desktop PC, you can also right-click the battery icon in the system tray and select Power Options, then choose High Performance from the list.

If you are on a laptop, plug it in before you play. Laptops throttle performance when running on battery to preserve charge. A plugged-in laptop will perform much better.

Disable fullscreen optimizations if you see stuttering

Windows 10 and 11 have a feature called fullscreen optimizations that sometimes causes stuttering in games. It is usually helpful, but it can conflict with some games.

Right-click The Finals executable file (or the shortcut on your desktop) and select Properties. Click the Compatibility tab. Check the box next to Disable fullscreen optimizations. Click explore, then OK. Launch the game and play for a few minutes to see if stuttering improves.

If you do not see improvement, uncheck the box and explore the change again. This fix works for some players and not others, so test it and revert if it does not help.

Frequently Asked Questions

What PC specs do I need to run The Finals at 60 fps?

At 1080p on Medium settings, you need an NVIDIA RTX 2060 or AMD RX 5700 XT, a Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel i7-9700K, and 16 GB of RAM. At 1440p on High settings, you need an RTX 3070 or RX 6800 XT. These are minimum targets; actual frame rates vary by your exact settings and background programs.

Does lowering my resolution make the game look bad?

1080p looks acceptable on most monitors, especially 24-inch screens. On a 27-inch monitor, 1080p looks softer. If you are on a large monitor, try 1440p instead of 1080p—it is a middle ground that looks sharper than 1080p but runs faster than your native resolution.

Will overclocking my GPU make The Finals run faster?

Overclocking can add 5 to 15 percent more frame rate, but it requires technical knowledge and carries a small risk of hardware damage if done wrong. For most players, lowering settings and closing background apps gives better results with no risk. Only overclock if you are comfortable with the process and have researched your specific GPU.

Why does The Finals run worse after a Windows update?

Windows updates sometimes change power settings or reset your graphics driver to an older version. After a major Windows update, check for a new graphics driver and switch your power plan back to High Performance. Restart your PC after making these changes.

Can I improve performance by changing my monitor refresh rate?

No. Your monitor's refresh rate does not affect how fast your GPU renders the game. It only affects how many frames per second you can see on screen. If your monitor is 60 Hz, capping your frame rate at 60 fps prevents wasted GPU work. If your monitor is 144 Hz, cap the frame rate at 144 fps.