Best COD Vanguard Settings – FPS Optimization Guide

Our Best COD Vanguard Settings are targeted at people with low-end computers who are looking to get as much performance as possible for an optimal experience. Most of the maps in Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer have very dark environments. Our guide will help you achieve the most FPS and also high visibility so that you can easily spot enemies in different environments of the game.

Here’s quick summary of the best settings: 

Call of Duty: Vanguard System Requirements

Before we jump into the COD: Vanguard Settings Guide, make sure your System Specifications are on par or above the recommended System Requirements. Also, we recently did Black Ops Cold War Settings, so check that out if you are into the older COD Game.

Call of Duty: Vanguard minimum PC system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update)
• CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300
• RAM: 8GB
• Video Memory: 2GB
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon RX 470
• DirectX: 12
• Storage: 36GB at launch (Multiplayer and Zombies only)

Call of Duty: Vanguard recommended PC system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64-bit (latest update)
• CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
• RAM: 12GB
• Video Memory: 4GB
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
• DirectX: 12
• Storage: 61GB at launch

Call of Duty: Vanguard Ultra 4K PC system requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit (latest update) or Windows 11 64-bit (latest update)
• CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
• RAM: 16GB
• Video Memory: 10GB
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
• DirectX: 12
• Storage: 61GB at launch

Best COD Vanguard Graphics Settings

In this part of the Best Vanguard Settings Guide, we’ll take a closer examination of all the different Graphics Settings Call of Duty: Vanguard provides. We will be comparing the settings to screenshots to provide a better understanding of the functions each setting performs and guide you to pick the best choice for a more efficient experience using Call of Duty: Vanguard.

The section in our COD: Vanguard Best Settings Guide contains the settings for video related to Resolution, Resolution, and other settings for the Screen within the Call of Duty game Vanguard. These settings won’t affect as much performance as Graphics Settings but they can nevertheless improve the overall experience..

Display Mode – Fullscreen

You can choose from 4 different options for this setting. Windowed, Fullscreen, Fullscreen Borderless, and Multi-Monitor. It is recommended to change this setting to Fullscreen because it has less input lag than the other settings. You can change this setting to Fullscreen Borderless if you don’t mind a little bit of input lag and you constantly switch between different tabs on your computer.

Display Resolution – Native Resolution

Display Resolution should be set to Auto or whatever your Monitor’s Native Resolution is.

Refresh Rate – Highest Available

Refresh Rate modifies how many times per second your monitor refreshes the image. The Refresh Rate should be set to the Highest Possible number that your monitor allows.

V-Sync (Game & Menus) – Off

Verticle-Sync is a graphics technology that synchronizes the frame rate of a game with a gaming monitor’s refresh rate. Turning this Call of Duty Vanguard setting on will remove any screen-tearing but it will add a lot of input lag to your game, giving you a disadvantage against other players in multiplayer where reaction times matter a lot. V-Sync also puts an FPS cap in your game, it’s important to have as many framerates as you can in a multiplayer game. Needless to say, it’s best to have this option turned off.

Framerate Limit – Unlimited

The Framerate Limit should be set to unlimited rather than custom so that you can achieve the highest framerate possible on your computer.

Aspect Ratio – Automatic

The aspect ratio setting sets a fixed aspect ratio for the game’s rendering. This COD Vanguard setting should be set to Automatic.

Focus Mode – Personal Preference

The Focus Mod setting puts a black overlay around the game window to hide the rest of the screen when the game is in focus. You can change this Call of Duty Vanguard setting based on your personal preference.

Brightness – Personal Preference

You can set the brightness according to your own personal preference. Personally, I would recommend turning up the brightness a little bit higher than the in-game recommendation as it could increase the visibility of the environments and make it a little bit easier to spot the enemies.

On-Demand Texture Streaming

On-Demand Texture allows you to download high-quality textures as you’re playing the game. I recommend turning this setting off as it could reduce the performance of the game.

Quality Settings

These are the most important settings in Call of Duty: Vanguard as they have the most impact on the performance and the visual quality of the game.

Quality Presets – Custom

Set the quality presets to custom to unlock the graphics setting.

Render Resolution – 100%

Keep the Render Resolution at 100% for a clearer image and good visibility.

Dynamic Resolution – Off

Render resolution is adjusted dynamically to maintain the targeted frame rate. Using this setting isn’t recommended because it could make the game look very bad if you’re experiencing constant frame drops.

Texture Resolution – Medium

The setting for texture resolution allows you to alter the quality and quality of the textures used in the game. The higher the setting higher, the sharper the surfaces will appear. Higher settings can affect the performance of graphics cards with very little VRAM. We suggest keeping this setting at Medium to get an increase of 6% in FPS and good visuals.

Texture Filtering Anisotropic – High

Sets the detail level of surfaces when they are viewed at an angle. You can choose from 4 different options for Texture Filtering: Very Low, Low, Medium, and High. You wouldn’t notice a big change in the performance by changing this Call of Duty Vanguard settings. We recommend leaving Texture Filtering on High as it doesn’t impact the FPS and could make the game look a little bit better.

Particle Quality Level – High

Sets the display threshold of various components within a particle effect. The higher the quality, the more complex and elaborate the particle effects will be. The particle Quality setting doesn’t impact the performance too much so we recommend leaving this on High.

Particle Resolution – Low

The particle REsolution Setting changes the detail level of particle textures. The higher the resolution, the sharper each individual element will be. Unlike Particle Quality Level, this setting does have an impact on performance. Turning Particle Resolution from High to Low will give you a 7% increase in FPS.

Bullet Impacts & Sprays – Off

Bullet Impacts allow you to change the visibility of bullet impact and sprays on different surfaces. Changing this Call of Duty Vanguard setting doesn’t really have an impact on the performance of the game so we recommend keeping it on.

Shader Quality – Low

The shader quality setting controls how accurate the lighting will be. Reducing shader quality can cause the scene to appear dull and flat. There are 2 different options for Shader Quality: Low, and High. There isn’t a huge visual difference between these 2 settings. Keeping this on Low could give you a small FPS boost.

Related: Best Valorant Settings

Tesselation – Off

Tesselation adds subdivisions to objects and surfaces for improved rendering quality. Turning this setting off can give you a minor FPS boost.

Level of Detail Distance Range – Long

The level of detail Distance setting allows you to adjust the level of detail of objects at different ranges. The longer the setting, the further they will be displayed at a higher quality. If you have a decent PC, you should keep this setting on Long as it would improve the visibility of the game. If you need extra FPS, change this setting to Short.

Nearby LOD – Low

The nearby LOD setting allows you to change the level of detail on nearby objects and surfaces. Nearby LOD doesn’t really matter in multiplayer because most of the gunfights will usually occur at medium to long-range distances. It is recommended to keep this setting low for a small FPS boost.

Distant LOD – High

Distant LOD setting controls the level of detail on different objects and surfaces at medium to long-range distances. Keeping the Distant LOD setting on high will increase the visibility of the environment and enemy soldier models too which will make it easier to spot them.

Clutter Draw Distance – Short

Clutter Draw Distance setting allows you to set the distance up to which small ground elements such as ground foliage, rocks, and various decals are visible. This setting does not make a big difference to the visuals of the game, turning it down will give you a 1% increase in FPS.

Similar Game Settings Guides: Best Far Cry 6 Settings  

Volumetric Quality Level – Low

Volumetric Quality Setting allows you to change the quality level of lighting, fog, dust, and clouds. Higher setting is not important for the gameplay, turning this setting down will give you 6% more FPS than the high setting.

Screen-Space Shadows – Off

Increases the detail level of shadows that are currently in view, Screen Space Shadows setting only affects local surfaces such as your weapon and character. As you can see in the screenshot below, turning this setting off removed the shadow that was being cast by the pistol on the character’s hand. Turning this setting off will gave us a 2% increase in performance.

Shadow Map Resolution – Very Low

Shadow Map Resolution setting adjusts the draw distance and shapes accuracy of shadows. The higher the setting, the more accurate the shadows will look. Shadow quality does not really impact the visibility of the game. Lowering the shadow quality gave us an impressive 10% boost in FPS performance. 

Sun Shadow Cascades – Low 

Sun Shadow Cascades control the detail level of sun shadows at long distances. Lowering this setting will give you a 3.5% increase in FPS performance.

Cache Sun Shadows – On

Sunlight shadows can be stored in the cache to speed up rendering for future frames. This COD Vanguard setting can be useful for faster rendering but it will use some amount of extra VRAM to function. I recommend keeping this setting on for a better gameplay experience.

Cache Spot Shadows – On

Just like the setting above, this COD Vanguard setting allows the shadows from spotlights to be stored in the cache for faster rendering. Keep this setting on for a better gameplay experience.

Spot Cache Size – Low

Spot Cache Size setting controls the cache size for spotlight shadows. Keep this setting on Low.

Spot Shadow Quality – Low

Spot Shadow Quality setting controls the quality level of shadows that are cast by the spotlights. Keep this on low for extra performance.

Particle Lighting – Low

The particle Lighting Setting allows you to change the quality level of particle effect lighting. Turning this setting off will give you a 1% increase in performance.

Ambient Occlusion – Off

Ambient Occlusion provides contact shadows in the event that two objects or surfaces meet and also when an object blocks light from reaching another game element. The COD Vanguard settings comes with 3 distinct modes available within Call of Duty: Vanguard: Both(Dynamic & Static) Static Only and Dynamic Only and Off. The option to turn the Ambient Occlusion off will result in an increase of 8% in performance. Make sure to set off the GTAO quality down below this level to low too.

Screen Space Reflection – Off

This COD Vanguard setting controls the quality of reflections of in-game graphics when looking at a certain angle on reflective surfaces. This setting does not affect the visibility of the game so you can turn this down to low and gain 4% increase in FPS performance.

Nvidia DLSS – Off

Deep Learning Super Sampling(DLSS) uses AI Super Resolution to provide the highest possible framerate at maximum graphics settings. This option can only be turned on if you have an Nvidia Graphics Card. You don’t really need to turn this option on when playing the multiplayer because it is necessary to keep the graphics settings low for a better gameplay experience.

FidelityFX Super Resolution 1.0 – Off

This option is basically AMD’s version of DLSS made for AMD Graphic Cards. You can use this COD Vanguard setting on Nvidia Graphics Cards too. There are 5 different modes for this setting: Off, Performance, Balanced, Quality, and Ultra Quality. Using this Optimized Call of Duty Vanguard setting will give you a huge boost in FPS performance at the cost of visual quality. I don’t recommend turning this option on because it greatly impacts the visibility of the game.

FidelityFX CAS – On

FidelityFX Cas setting enhances the sharpness of the scene rendering. It is absolutely worth switching this setting on because it does not impact the performance and it also removes the blurriness from the textures of different objects and surfaces. Keep this setting on for a cleaner and sharper-looking image.

Anti-Aliasing – SMAA T2X

Anti-Aliasing is used to remove jagged edges from surfaces. This Vanguard setting has 2 different modes in Vanguard. Filmic SMAA T2X and SMAA T2X. I recommend using simple SMAA T2X as it is far less blurry than the Filmic setting.

Anti-Aliasing Quality – Low

You can lower the quality of the applied Anti-Aliasing for extra performance. Low doesn’t really affect the image quality and provides 3% more FPS.

Depth of Field – Off

Simulates camera lens. Out of focus regions will appear blurry. It is recommended to keep this setting off for a clearer image.

V-RAM Target Usage – Full

It is recommended to put this Vanguard setting on max so that the game can use 100% of your GPU. Only lower the value if you are experiencing stuttering issues with the game.

Nvidia Settings For Call of Duty Vanguard

We’re done exploring the most vital Graphics options in Call of Duty: Vanguard You can get some additional performance from Your Nvidia Graphics Card with changes to the Nvidia Control Panel as well as by upgrading to the GPU driver to the most recent version. Follow the instructions in this article to improve the performance of Call of Duty: Vanguard for your Nvidia Graphics Card.

Download the Latest Game Ready Drivers For Call of Duty: Vanguard

As we move into Call of Duty: Vanguard Nvidia Settings It is strongly suggested that you change your graphics card driver to the latest Game Ready Drivers By Nvidia. You can do it via GeForce Experience or by downloading drivers from the Nvidia website.

1. Open GeForce Experience > Click on Check For Updates > Make Sure Version 497.29 or higher is installed

Nvidia Control Panel Settings For Call of Duty: Vanguard

1. First, Open the Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > Add Call of Duty: Vanguard.exe
   

   

2. Go to Add > Browse
   

   

3. Now add Call of Duty: Vanguard from the Installation directory of the game.
   

4. Make the changes below.
5. Set Image Sharpening – Sharpen 0.50
6. Select Application Controlled for Anisotropic Filtering.
7. On antialiasing Gamma Correction.
8. Turn on Low Latency Mode.
9. Set Power Management Mode to Prefer Maximum Performance.
10. Set Preferred Refresh Rate to Highest Available.
11. Enable Shader Cache.
12. Turn on Texture Filtering – Anisotropic Sample Optimization.
13. Allow Texture Filtering – Negative LOD Bias.
14. Set Texture Filtering Quality to High Performance.
15. Turn on Texture Filtering Trilinear Optimization.
16. Select Auto Under Threaded Optimization.

17. After making these changes, head over to the Change Resolution Tab, and to the following steps.
18. Select the native resolution and the max refresh rate that your monitor has to offer.
19. Under step 3 on the page, Enable the “Use NVIDIA color settings” option. Then match the settings with the picture below.

After this, head over to Adjust Desktop Size and Position, and make the following changes.

1. Scaling Mode: Aspect Ratio.
2. Perform Scaling on the Desktop.
3. Resolution: Current.
4. Refresh Rate: Highest available.

Windows 10 Optimizations For COD Vanguard

We are now done with the very important best COD Vanguard settings You should begin to notice an improvement in the performance in your sport. If you are still struggling to get playing FPS on your computer, and you’d like to get the highest performance possible on your computer, Here are a few Windows 10 Optimizations to ensure that your PC is operating to its very best at COD Vanguard. After you’ve completed these adjustments, you’ll be able to be prepared for a major increase in FPS performance in-game. These settings can help you remove unnecessary background apps that will allow games to make use of your GPU in a proper way as well as remove unwanted overlays and much more.

Enable Ultimate Performance

Windows 10 normally runs at an extremely balanced and optimal power plan. This puts limits on the power of your computer, which is in default. It is possible to fix this by switching the power plan of your PC From Balanced to Ultimate Performance. This will cause your CPU to operate at a higher rate and allow you to make use of all the power that your computer can do. For you to enable Ultimate Performance mode, follow these steps:

1. Open Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell With Administrator Privileges and paste the code given below.
   

   

2. powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02 -d5df -448d-aa00 -03f14749eb61

   

3. Once done, you will be able to see the Ultimate Performance mentioned in the code.
4. Afterward, go to start > Edit Power Plan > Power Options.
   

   

5. Then checkmark Ultimate Performance and you are done.

Set Graphics Card Priority To High For COD Vanguard

On Windows 10, There is the Graphics Settings menu that allows you to modify the GPU priority of different applications. You can include COD Vanguard into the set of programs and set its graphic preference to high. This will ensure that the game is using the entire GPU and provide you with an amazing performance increase. To achieve this you must follow these steps:

1. Under Start type and open Graphics Settings.
   

   

2. Then, click on Browse and add Call of Duty: Vanguard.exe
   

   

   

3. Then set its graphics preference to High Performance.
   

   

4. Click on save once you are finished.

Disable Hardware Acceleration And Enhance Pointer Precision

The ability to disable Hardware Acceleration within the various programs running in the Windows Background can significantly enhance the efficiency of the computer. It is a Call of Duty Vanguard setting that enhances the performance of applications by transferring certain tasks related to the computing of the application to specialized hardware components in the system, such as those of the GPU or RAM. This could adversely affect how your computer during gameplay while these programs run in the background.

Hardware Acceleration isn’t an official Windows feature, but it’s utilized in many commonly used third-party applications, such as Discord, Google Chrome, Opera, and many more. The removal of this feature won’t affect the purpose of the application and only helps you conserve resources. This feature, called Enhance Pointer precision feature is a similar feature, however unlike Hardware Acceleration which is typically used in third-party software This is an exclusive Windows 10 feature that requires to be disabled.

1. Open Discord > Settings > Advanced > Disable “Hardware Acceleration.”
   

   

2. In Opera > Open Settings > Advanced > Browser > Under System > Disable “Use hardware acceleration when available.
   

   

3. Search for Mouse Settings > Additional Mouse Options > Pointer Options > Uncheck Enhance Pointer Precision.

Disable All Unnecessary Applications Running In The Background

If you’re experiencing slow frame rates, and irritating problems with stuttering on COD: Vanguard. This may be due to unneeded applications or Windows Services running in the background that eat up a huge chunk of memory. To eliminate these background apps and experience the best performance from COD Vanguard, make sure to always shut down all unwanted background programs from the Tray on your system Tray and task Manager.

In addition to the background application In addition, you should also eliminate all unneeded Windows Services that consume a large portion of your PC’s memory. To accomplish this, follow the following steps.

1. In the Start Menu, Search for Windows Run Application.
   

   

2. Type and Enter “msconfig”.
   

   

3. Go to the services tab and checkmark “hide all Microsoft Services.” This will remove the important ones from the list. Afterward, uncheck all services you feel are irrelevant.
   

   

   

4. After you are done with services, Head to the Startup tab in Task Manager, and disable all the irrelevant applications.

Turn Off Unnecessary Animations

Windows 10 has a lot of unnecessary animations that could potentially hurt the overall performance of your PC. The difference might not be that noticeable on High-end PCs, but it could certainly make a difference when you’re working with a Low-end PC. We will show you how to disable these unnecessary animations and get a little bit of a performance boost on your PC.

1. In the Start Menu > Type and Open View Advanced System Settings.
   

   

2. Head over to the Advanced tab > Settings > Checkmark Custom and only select the options shown in the screenshot below. Once done, don’t forget to hit apply, and ok.

Clear Temp Folder

Sometimes when you delete a program from your computer. It doesn’t entirely remove everything related to the software and leaves a lot of temporary files and folders in your Windows drive. With the passage of time, these files take a lot of space in your computer and slow down your computer. Follow these steps to clean any temporary files to reclaim disk storage space and also boost PC performance.

1. Under Start > Type Run > write and enter %temp%
   

   

   

2. Inside the folder, Press CTRL + A on keyboard > Press Shift + Delete on your keyboard.

Xbox Game Bar

In order to improve PC speed, you can turn off the Xbox Game Bar and other Windows notifications. We’ll finish up with some of these Windows 10 optimizations. Windows 10 by default has Xbox Game Bar activated, which significantly reduces the performance of your computer by running continuously in the background. It may also begin screen recording if you press the incorrect button. We’re going to show you how to turn off the Xbox Game Bar and task center notifications that can have a small negative effect on the performance of your PC. Follow the procedures below to achieve this.

1. In the Start Menu, type and open Game bar shortcuts.
   

   

2. Disable everything in the Game Bar Tab and Captures Tab.
   

   

   

3. Afterward, open Focus Assist Settings and Disable them accordingly.

COD Vanguard Benchmarks On Optimized Settings

After applying all of the best COD Vanguard graphics settings and other optimizations in the Article above, We ran a final benchmark to see how much of a performance and FPS boost we gained and compared the visual quality of the game’s Ultra setting and eXputer’s optimized COD: Vanguard settings. We gained 70+ more FPS than the game’s highest settings with enhanced visibility.

Related: Best Deathloop Settings

The final benchmarks were done on the following specifications.

• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor.
• 16.0 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 Memory.
• MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX.
• GEFORCE RTX 3070 8GB.
• COD: Vanguard was Installed on HDD.

Settings Takeaway

After following our COD Vanguard Best Settings guide and applying all the necessary Windows 10 and Nvidia Optimizations, you should be noticing a huge increase in FPS performance. We spent a lot of time testing each individual setting to see which ones gave us maximum performance and the most visibility at the same time. Hopefully, this guide will help you improve your overall gameplay experience.

If you are still struggling to get decent FPS in COD: Vanguard, here are some key tips.

• Ensure Windows 10 is updated to the latest version.
• Compare your PC specifications with the required ones.
• In case of random crashes, I would recommend checking your hardware temperatures.
• Carefully overclock your hardware components if possible.
• Enable Game Mode in Windows Settings to get a slight FPS boost.

While you are here, also check out Fortnite Settings.