How to increase FPS in Dota 2 – the most complete guide

The most obvious thing is to lower the graphics settings as much as possible

There is no need to explain anything here, since it is an axiom: the lower the graphics settings, the higher the FPS. For the maximum values, uncheck all the checkboxes in the advanced settings, set the quality of textures and effects to minimum, and the quality of shadows to “Off”. It makes sense to reduce the screen processing quality only to 70% – at lower values ​​the picture will be very grainy, which will not affect the frame rate in any way. The “Maximum frames per second” slider can be set to maximum, but the main thing is not to set the value lower than what your PC can display.

Depending on the graphics card model, the increase in frame rate can also lead to the selection of the correct rendering API. In most cases DirectX 11 will perform best, but on older PCs or some GPU models Vulkan, OpenGL, or even DirectX 10 or 9 will work better. Just try different options and pick the one with the highest FPS. AMD’s new FidelityFX Super Resolution technology is absolutely useless in our case – it only works with anti-aliasing. We disable it in any case, since without it the FPS will be higher than with it and Super Resolution.

If you have already done this, but the frame rate still does not suit you, then there are a few more operations that may work.

Windows setup

The maximum possible FPS can be obtained only on completely clean Windows. If you haven’t reinstalled the system for a long time, then this operation may well raise your FPS. In addition, you need to remove all unnecessary programs from the startup (“Task Manager” → “Startup”) or manually close them before starting Dota 2.

On Windows 10, disabling the Xbox Game Bar (“Start” → “Settings” → “Games” → “Xbox Game Bar”) and activating the game mode (“Start” → “Settings” → “Games” → “Game mode”). The first setting turns off the Xbox bar in the game – it is needed to record clips and other functions we don’t need. The second activates the built-in function of Windows 10, which sets the highest priority for games – this may not help everyone, but it certainly will not be superfluous. In addition, setting the maximum system speed (“My Computer” → “Properties” → “Advanced system settings” → “Advanced” → “Performance” → “Ensuring maximum performance”) can also raise the FPS. The only checkbox to leave is Screen Font Smoothing. It is unlikely to affect FPS in Dota 2, but it will save your eyesight when using the system. You can also turn off the transparency of the system interface (right-click on the desktop → “Personalization” → “Colors” → “Disable transparency effect”) and activate the maximum performance mode (“Start” → “Settings” → “System” → “Power and sleep mode “→” Advanced power settings “→ select” High performance “).

Graphics card settings

These parameters will only help those users who have fairly old video cards installed. The fact is that CS: GO mostly uses processor resources, not GPU, so if you have updated your video card in the last two or three years (even if your choice fell on the weakest cards from the AMD and NVIDIA lines), then from the described below the steps you will not get a tangible result.

For NVIDIA graphics card owners:

Right click on the desktop → NVIDIA Control Panel. Next, select the item “Adjust image settings” in the “3D parameters” tab and select Dota 2 in the “Software settings” menu and set it to maximum performance, disable all types of anti-aliasing.

For AMD graphics card owners:

Right click on the desktop → Radeon Settings. In the “Video Card” tab in all available GPUs, set the following parameters:

Set launch parameters for Dota 2

The launch options menu can be found by right-clicking on the game in Steam, then selecting Properties and in the General tab, clicking on Set Launch Options. There, after a space, enter the following parameters:

• -console (activates the console);
• -high (starts the game with high priority);
• -novid (disables the movie at startup);
• -map dota (loading the game at startup will take longer, but the map will be loaded at this stage, and not before the start of the match);
• + dota_embers 0 (removes animation in the main menu);
• -noaafonts (removes font anti-aliasing – experienced gamers don’t need to read anything in the game, so it’s okay if the letters are angular).

Disable menu background

This option has become useful after the release of the latest patches – major innovations like heroes and events are now displayed in the menu as animated backgrounds. Disabling them gives a significant increase in FPS. To do this, you need to go to the folder with installed Dota 2 (right-click on the game in Steam, then “Properties” → “Local files” → “Browse”). Then a Windows window will open, where you need to follow the path “game” → “dota” → “maps” → “scenes” → “dashboard_background”. The only file with a complex name located there needs to be either renamed or moved somewhere else. To then return the background, if necessary, roll back the changes (return the standard file name or move it back).

Edit config file

A slight increase in FPS can also result from a change in the autoexec.cfg file, which stores the settings loaded by default. We cannot change many of the options in the game menu or using the launch parameters, and therefore this will have to be done through the configuration file. As in the case of disabling the background, we find the folder with Dota 2 (right-click on the game in Steam, then “Properties” → “Local files” → “Browse”), then go along the path “game” → “dota” → ” cfg “. If autoexec.cfg is not there, we create it ourselves (right-click on an empty space “Create” → “Text document”), when we save, select the file type “All files”, and in the “File name” field we write “autoexec.cfg “. The parameters listed below need to be added to this file – they disable various animations, complex shadows, and also reapply the graphics settings that we set in the Dota 2 menu.

What if all else fails?

Alas, time cannot be turned back. Dota 2 really began to demand more PC resources, and this trend will not go away – the game will continue to “grow heavier” and further. Therefore, if you still have not received the frame rate you need with all the above manipulations, then the only way out is to buy a new PC. The required minimum, which will last for several years, is an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor, as well as 8 GB of RAM. At the same time, the video card does not play a key role – even integrated solutions from Intel and AMD are suitable for playable 60 FPS.