League of Legends FPS drops can be one of the most frustrating things to deal with when you’re in the middle of a team fight or pushing for that final Nexus.
You’re playing well, your strategy is on point, and suddenly your frame rate tanks. Everything stutters, and before you know it, you’ve either missed a crucial skill shot or got caught in a fight you didn’t even see coming.
In this article, we’ll walk through why FPS drops happen in League of Legends and, more importantly, how to fix them.
What Causes FPS Drops in League of Legends?
FPS, or frames per second, is a measurement of how smoothly your game runs. When your FPS drops, your game feels laggy or choppy. This isn’t the same as high ping, which is related to your internet connection. FPS issues are usually tied to your computer’s performance.
Here are some of the most common reasons League of Legends FPS drops happen:
- Outdated Graphics Drivers: One of the leading causes of performance issues in any game is running outdated or incompatible GPU drivers.
- Background Programs: Other applications hogging your CPU, RAM, or disk usage can cause your game to stutter.
- High In-Game Settings: Pushing League's settings to ultra-high when your PC can't handle it can lead to severe FPS drops.
- Thermal Throttling: If your CPU or GPU overheats, it might lower its performance to prevent damage, which directly affects frame rates.
- Windows Power Settings: Power-saving modes in Windows can throttle your CPU, leading to low FPS during gameplay.
- Hardware Limitations: If your hardware doesn’t meet or barely meets the game’s system requirements, FPS drops are expected, especially in team fights or areas with lots of particle effects.
- Corrupted Game Files: A broken or incomplete installation can result in odd bugs and performance issues.
- Full Hard Drive or Memory: League of Legends may struggle to load assets if your PC is running low on memory or storage.
Now that we know the causes, let’s break down how to fix them.
7 Ways to Fix League of Legends FPS Drops
These are some tried-and-tested methods that many players (and even Riot Games) recommend for improving your frame rate in League of Legends.
1. Update Your Graphics Drivers
This should always be your first step. Outdated or corrupted GPU drivers can cause frame rate drops not only in League but in other games too. Go directly to NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel’s website and download the latest driver version for your graphics card.
2. Close Unnecessary Background Programs
Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and check for apps hogging resources. Browsers, Discord, Steam downloads, or even antivirus scans can cause FPS dips. Close what you don’t need.
3. Use High Performance Mode in Windows
Make sure your PC isn’t running in “Balanced” or “Power Saver” mode:
- Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options
- Select High Performance
Also, check that your GPU is set to use high-performance mode in its respective control panel.
4. Enable Low Spec Mode in the League Client
The League client itself can consume a good chunk of resources. Under Settings > General, check the box for Enable Low Spec Mode and Close Client During Game. This keeps your PC focused solely on gameplay once you enter a match.
Source: esports.net
5. Use NoPing’s Boost FPS Feature
If you're already using NoPing to reduce latency and stabilize your ping (which is awesome for online games), you should definitely take advantage of the Boost FPS feature.
How it helps:
- Closes unnecessary background services
- Frees up RAM and CPU resources
- Optimizes network routes to reduce data congestion (which indirectly helps FPS in online matches)
How to use the Boost FPS feature:
- Sign-up through the website and download NoPing (you can test it for free).
- When you open the software, click on "Boost FPS" in the left side menu.
- On the next screen, you'll see a range of options to customize the feature (there are over 50 settings). You can enable or disable everything and choose between Windows default or user settings. You can also filter the options using the bar on the right.
And that's it! Boost FPS is now activated. Just launch your game and enjoy high FPS!
6. Check for Thermal Throttling
Install a tool like HWMonitor or MSI Afterburner to check your CPU and GPU temperatures. If they’re going above 85–90°C, your hardware may be throttling. Clean your fans, check airflow, and consider using a cooling pad if you're on a laptop.
7. Switch to Fullscreen Mode
Running League in Fullscreen instead of Windowed or Borderless can improve performance. This reduces the overhead your system needs to manage multiple layers of rendering.
League of Legends Game Settings to Fix FPS Drops
Even if your PC isn’t super powerful, League is designed to be pretty forgiving. Still, if you’re experiencing frame drops, tweaking your in-game settings can help a lot.
Here are the recommended settings for smoother performance:
- Resolution: Use your native resolution, but you can drop it a bit if needed.
- Window Mode: Fullscreen (offers the best performance).
- Character Quality: Medium or Low.
- Environment Quality: Low.
- Effects Quality: Low.
- Shadow Quality: Off (this one makes a big difference).
- Anti-Aliasing: Off.
- Frame Rate Cap: Match it to your monitor’s refresh rate (e.g., 60 FPS for a 60Hz monitor).
- Vertical Sync (V-Sync): Off, unless you’re experiencing screen tearing.
These settings won’t just increase FPS. They can make your gameplay more consistent, especially in chaotic team fights or ARAM games where effects go wild.
Minimum and Recommended System Requirements for League of Legends
Before you dive into optimization, it’s worth checking whether your hardware can even handle the game smoothly. League of Legends is not graphically demanding, but old or underpowered systems will struggle, especially if you’re multitasking.
According to Riot Games, here are the current requirements:
Minimum (for 30 FPS at Low Settings):
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 (latest Service Pack)
- Processor: 3 GHz processor (supporting SSE2 instruction set or higher)
- RAM: 2 GB
- Graphics Card: Shader version 2.0 capable GPU
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 12 GB available space
Recommended (for 60+ FPS at High Settings):
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-3300 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200
- RAM: 4 GB or more
- Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 560 or AMD Radeon HD 6950
- DirectX: Version 9.0c or better
- Hard Drive: SSD recommended for faster load times
If your PC is running below the recommended specs, that’s likely the core issue. Upgrading your hardware—or at least switching to an SSD—can make a big difference.
Low Frame Rate Troubleshooting (from Riot Games)
Riot’s official support site offers a step-by-step FPS troubleshooting guide. Here are the most important takeaways from their Low Frame Rate Troubleshooting page:
- Close resource-heavy applications before launching the game.
- Adjust compatibility settings: Right-click the League shortcut, go to Properties > Compatibility, and check Disable fullscreen optimizations and Run as administrator.
- Clean boot your PC to eliminate third-party software conflicts.
- Reinstall DirectX and Visual C++ Redistributables: These are essential for rendering and performance.
- Use Riot’s Hextech Repair Tool to detect and repair corrupted files.
- Update Windows to the latest version, including optional updates.
The guide also includes more advanced steps like editing config files or checking for background malware that could be draining resources. If you've tried everything and still get random FPS drops, it might be worth digging deeper there.
League of Legends FPS drops can seriously mess with your flow, but thankfully, the fixes are usually straightforward. From updating your drivers to tweaking game settings or simply closing background apps, there’s a lot you can do.
Remember: even small changes can make a noticeable difference. Whether you're in a ranked game or just trying to enjoy some chill matches with friends, stable performance is key to having a good time.
Download NoPing now and play League of Legends without lag! Start your free trial!
