What’s the biggest single FPS win?

Fit Texture Quality to VRAM, set MSAA Off, and lower Extended Distance Scaling. Cap FPS externally.

Fullscreen or Borderless?

Exclusive Fullscreen tends to give smoother frametimes.

Are MSAA/FXAA worth it?

MSAA is costly; keep it Off. FXAA is lightweight and helps edges.

NVIDIA Control Panel tips?

Prefer Maximum Performance, Low Latency On/Ultra, Shader Cache On, and a per-app FPS cap.

AMD Adrenalin equivalents?

Use Radeon Anti-Lag/Chill, Texture Filtering Quality = Performance, Surface Format Optimization On.

Should I change Resolution Scale?

Lowering scale improves FPS; be careful with upscalers to avoid VRAM pressure.

Useful Windows tweaks?

Game Mode On, HAGS Off (test), limit background apps, and clean GPU driver install.

Do graphics mods kill FPS?

Expect a hit; use performance presets or remove heavy texture packs.

Best FiveM Settings for FPS and Graphics

The best FiveM settings are the ones that keep your frame time stable on the servers you actually play. Start with textures at Normal or High, reduce population and distance scaling, keep MSAA off, and test one change at a time. FiveM performance varies heavily with server scripts, streamed maps and player count, so no preset can guarantee a specific FPS gain.

Best FiveM settings: balanced baseline

Setting	Balanced starting point	Why
Screen type	Fullscreen	Provides a consistent starting point for testing
Resolution	Native monitor resolution	Keeps the image sharp; reduce only if GPU-limited
VSync	Off while benchmarking	Avoids hiding the uncapped result; enable later if it improves smoothness
Texture quality	Normal or High	Choose according to available VRAM
Shader quality	Normal or High	Good visual return without using the highest tier
Shadow quality	Normal	Often a useful place to reduce load
Reflection quality	Normal	Limits expensive reflections
Reflection MSAA	Off	Usually not worth the cost
MSAA	Off	Enable only after confirming enough GPU headroom
FXAA	On	Low-cost anti-aliasing starting point
Grass quality	Normal	Helps in dense outdoor scenes
Population density/variety	Low to medium	Reduces CPU and world-simulation pressure
Distance scaling	Low to medium	Reduces distant detail and streaming load
Advanced graphics	Off initially	Establishes a clean baseline

Choose the bottleneck before lowering everything

GPU-limited: lower resolution, MSAA, shadows, reflections and grass.
CPU- or server-limited: lower population and distance scaling, then compare a quiet area with a busy server location.
VRAM-limited: reduce texture quality and extended distance; watch for texture loss or heavy stutter.
Only one server is slow: the cause may be its resources, MLOs, vehicles or scripts rather than your global graphics preset.

How to benchmark FiveM correctly

Restart FiveM and join the same server at a similar player count.
Stand in the same location and use the same weather, vehicle and camera view where possible.
Open F8 and use cl_drawfps true for FPS or cl_drawperf true for a small performance overlay.
Test for several minutes, including movement through a busy area.
Change one setting, repeat the route and keep the better result.

Average FPS alone can hide stutter. Prefer the setting that feels consistent during streaming and busy scenes, even if its peak FPS is slightly lower.

Fix stutter, missing textures or slow loading

Install FiveM and GTA V on an SSD with enough free space.
Close overlays and background applications you do not need.
Update the GPU driver, but avoid changing several driver settings at once.
Use a supported, stable display refresh rate; do not overclock a monitor as an FPS fix.
Clear FiveM cache only when troubleshooting a cache-specific problem—not as scheduled monthly maintenance.
If an MLO breaks only on one server, report the exact location and reproduction steps to that server.

Low-end and high-end presets

Low-end or unstable system

Use 1080p or a lower tested resolution, Normal textures, low shadows, low grass, FXAA on, MSAA off, low population and low distance scaling. Raise textures first if VRAM allows and the image is too soft.

Stronger GPU with stable server performance

Keep native resolution, use High textures and shaders, then raise shadows or reflections one step at a time. Leave advanced distance settings and MSAA until last because they can consume headroom quickly.

Server owners: separate client and resource problems

A graphics preset cannot repair a slow server resource. Use the Cfx profiler and resmon to identify expensive scripts, and see our FiveM server optimization guide. Players looking for a simpler interface can browse FiveM HUD options; map owners should test streamed FiveM MLOs separately.

Official performance references

Use the official Cfx console command documentation for the FPS and performance overlays, and the Cfx profiler guide for resource-level diagnosis.