How to drastically increase FPS for Rainbow Six: Siege [and how to show them]

Good FPS: something every gamer will ideally strive for in all of their favorite video games. Playing a game at a lower frame rate or even at a lower framerate than average is detrimental to the experience. This rule is especially true when it comes to competitive multiplayer games, such as Rainbow Six: Siege.After all, if the game is barely running at 20 FPS, how in the world are you meant to aim at the opposing team without the ability to have pin-point accuracy? With jittery movement, thanks to such low FPS is bound to be a detrimental experience for any gamer.So, what’s the trick? Well, that’s a simple one: increase your game’s overall FPS. On the flipside, though, increasing overall FPS isn’t necessarily that simple – especially if you’ve not done it previously or you’re unsure on where to begin.Feel free to continue reading if you’re looking for the answer to that question: how do you increase FPS in Rainbow Six: Siege?

How to Increase Overall FPS

First and foremost, we’re going to go through the game’s settings. You’ll be advised on what to change first of all and the settings that are bound to have the best effect on your machine. It may end up affecting the visual fidelity of Rainbow Six: Siege to some degree, but the sacrifice is going to be worth it.

Use the right Monitor

Having the wrong monitor selected is definitely something worth quickly remedying if you have more than one. Using a 60hz monitor when you have access to 144hz monitor for your setup is only going to hurt things in the long run.Use the best one that you have available for a main display.

1. To begin with, you’re going to want to launch Rainbow Six: Siege and wait until the main menu is displayed on your monitor.
2. On the top-right corner of your monitor should be two small cogs in a box. Click on that icon and choose the “options” buttonthat is highlighted.
3. Once you’ve clicked on options, click on the newly-displayed tab that reads “display.” From there we can change the required settings.
4. The very first option is going to be monitor. Navigate using the left and right arrows to choose the monitor you wish to use. For anyone using a one-monitor setup, you can skip this step as it will default to that one monitor.

The best Rainbow Six Siege Settings to boost your FPS

The best resolution options

Moving onto resolution, this is easily one of the biggest settings to change in the options menu to get a significant boost in performance. Below the monitor setting is a choice of resolutions, with the default usually being 1920 x 1080 – also known as 1080P. From here, click on the left arrow until you’re at a lower resolution that you’re happy with and continue.A good setting for individuals that are running the game at 1920 x 1080 is to go down to 1280 x 720. At this resolution the game will run significantly better for you and will be a natural step down from 1080P, as 720P is still considered HD.

Display Mode – Full Screen

When it comes to the best performance in display settings, Full Screen is the setting you’re going to want to go with. It provides the best performance in comparison to Windowed or Borderless Windowed.Borderless Windowed is great if you have multiple-monitors for your set up, but will impact performance. Not only that, it also runs the risk of clicking out of the game-window in the middle of a game. That right there is an experience you really don’t want in any competitive game!

Refresh Rate – Highest

Most standard HD monitors nowadays have a standard refresh rate of around 60hz. Through the use of 144hz monitors, however, you can give yourself a smoother gameplay experience. Do not get that confused with FPS, though. Refresh rates do not in fact affect FPS, so the correct setting is always going to be the highest that your monitor can output.For players with 144hz monitors, pick 144hz in the Refresh Rate part of the options menu. Lowering it will not change the game’s performance, but it will make it feel less smooth than it did before.

Aspect Ratio - Auto

Usually, aspect ratio isn’t a setting that really needs to be altered all that much. In terms of its hit on performance, it is very minimal and is usually not worth tinkering with. Keep this setting on “Auto”, unless for some reason your monitor is squashing the image of the game. In which case, you’re going to want to change your aspect ratio settings to get the desired outcome.Just to reiterate, though, in terms of performance, changing this setting is minimal and can be simply avoided most of the time.

VSync – Off

VSync is one of those settings that pretty much every game has nowadays. A great part of VSync, though is once it’s disabled, it will add quite a boost to your overall performance. An extra special bonus for turning it off is to ensure that there is no input-lag between your mouse & keyboard with the monitor. Turning this setting off can ensure any input-lag stays at its lowest possible rate.

Widescreen Letterbox – Off:

Widescreen letterboxing is a setting that is actually quite surprising. When the setting is enabled it can provide your gameplay with widescreen black-bars at the top and bottom of the screen, similar to widescreen films. Ideally, this is a setting that should be kept off, as it limits just how much is displayed on the screen and is not a great setting for a competitive shooter.On the flip side, however – when enabled, the GPU doesn’t have to render as many pixels on the screen. This results in a clear performance increase for the average PC, all at the sacrifice of some visually unappealing bars at the top and bottom of the screen.You really have to decide if that letterboxing is an effect you’re okay with, though for the added performance boost. Typically, it’s certainly a setting keeping on off if you can afford to do so.

Field of View – 60

FOV – or field of view – is a setting that should be mandatory for FPS games and allows the player to tailor their FOV to how they like to play. The higher the FOV, the further out the camera pans, this results in a less “zoomed-in” look on the display. Increasing this setting will make your weapon appear smaller, but in-turn will allow you to see more of the world on your display and allow you to notice more than you would at a lower FOV.The default FOV is 60 and can be increased or decreased to whatever your personal preference is. Increasing this setting however means your hardware has to render even more, due to the increase of information it receives at a higher FOV. For someone that’s comfortable staying at 60 FOV, you’re not going to see a performance hit. Any increases to that number, though and you’re going to feel a noticeable difference.

Optimal Graphical Settings

After you’re done changing the display settings, click on the “Graphics” tab, right next to the “Display” tab in the options menu. There are a lot of different settings, all with their own ways of affecting the game’s overall FPS depending on each of them.To keep things nice and simple, there is an Overall Quality slider that can be played around with to change all of the graphics settings to a pre-set. Starting off on the lowest setting for the Overall Quality slider and working your way up to higher pre-sets is a great way to see how your PC responds to the pre-sets. To tailor things more specifically to you as the player, though, it’s recommended to change each graphics setting individually to make the most out of the hardware.A great feature of Rainbow Six: Siege’s options menu is its impact on the GPU’s VRAM. At the bottom of the options, menu is a bar that says “Video Memory” and how much maximum VRAM the game is using with those settings. For instance, if the GPU’s VRAM is no more than 3GB’s, you can tailor the settings to be below that. Any number over that threshold, though is going to seriously tank your machine, so be aware of that if you want to increase FPS in Rainbow Six: Siege.

Texture Quality – High (If Possible)

Texture quality is going to be the first option that you come across after the overall quality section. When it comes to texture quality, it’s fairly simple: the higher setting that is used the higher visual fidelity for pretty much every aspect of the game. At higher settings, objects off in the distance become more clear and refined. Whereas at lower settings, objects won’t be nearly as crisp or defined and can be hard to differentiate from one another at times.Depending on what setting is chosen, it’s going to affect how much VRAM the game needs to use:

• Ultra – 6 GB
• Very High – 4GB
• High – 3GB
• Medium – 2GB
• Low – 1GB

As you can see, just being on Ultra is going to use 6GB’s and that’s not even including all of the other settings on this list. Where you can afford it, keep this particular setting higher where possible. Being able to see targets at a higher fidelity is key in this game, but you’re going to want a steady FPS to enjoy that.

Texture Filtering – Anisotropic 4X

Through the use of texture filtering, the game can enhance image quality and reduce blurring on textures that are displayed at oblique (strange) angles. Texture filtering can be turned off or turned on at 2X, 4X, 8X, and 16X the rate; with the highest possible rate being the slowest.A good compromise for this setting is straight down the middle with Anisotropic 4X. This will give you enough of a benefit from the effect, without it being a huge drain on the PC’s resources.

LOD Quality – Low

Shockingly enough, LOD quality can affect FPS by around 2% for each setting, which is a lot when you consider how much the PC needs to render. A quick and easy fix for this is to set it down onto low and forget about it.

Shading Quality - Low

Shading quality isn’t going to do much, except make objects look a little better in terms of their shading with each setting. With this not being a core part of the gameplay, just set it to low and move onto the next setting.

Shadow Quality – Low

Each bracket for shadow quality is around 3% for the performance drain and is again not key for the overall gameplay. All it’s going to do is make shadows look detailed or blocky, depending on how high or low you set it – it’s a setting worth keeping on low. After all, you won’t be aiming to shoot an opponent’s shadow at the end of the day.

Reflection Quality – Low

Reflection quality will unsurprisingly affect just how detailed reflections look. Keep this setting on low, as the added fidelity once again is not going to help gameplay or your FPS.

Ambient Occlusion - Off

What does ambient occlusion do? In short, it renders soft shadows for nearby surfaces. Similar to the actual shadow quality settings, this doesn’t need to be turned on and can be switched off with ease.

Lens Effect – Off

Turn this one off straight away. In terms of performance it only takes a small FPS hit, but the effect as a whole is a detriment to you as a player. The added bloom and lens flare effects just end up making objects and people harder to see.

Zoom-In Depth of Field – Off

Just like the last setting, just turn it off. It makes the surrounding area of your gun slightly blurry when you zoom-in. Turning this off will increase performance and allow you to see the surrounding environment with more detail.

Anti-Aliasing – FXAA

Anti-Aliasing is great for smoothing out jagged lines and visual distortions, but can really take a hit for your PC. Change the setting to FXAA, as it’s designed to be less intensive for your hardware and is designed for older pieces of hardware anyway, making it even more efficient for overall performance.

Upgrade Your Hardware

What to look for in a GPU for R6

Easily one of the most important pieces of hardware in your PC is the graphics card. Upgrading this to something more modern, even if it’s considered pre-owned is going to be one of the best ways to increase your overall FPS. Do a little research before purchasing and once the new GPU is installed, you’re going to see a much more significant FPS boost in the long-run.Plus, by improving your hardware, you’re able to enable some of the settings that had been previously lowered – if you so choose.

What to look for in a CPU for R6

Just like replacing your graphics card, a brand-new and modern CPU is going to see your FPS performance increase exponentially. An old CPU could be all that’s holding your PC back from getting that unequivocal boost to your Rainbow Six: Siege games.Make sure to once again do the necessary research beforehand to ensure you’re getting the best bang for your buck on any future upgrades!

4 different ways to display your FPS in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege

FPS can sometimes be a tricky thing to see any improvements for. After all, if you’re already at a steady 60 FPS, going up to 65 or 70 FPS isn’t always a noticeable change. This is why it’s recommended you try one of these 3 separate methods to display just how much FPS you’re getting at any one time.

How to display FPS in R6S with Steam FPS Counter:

Steam has its own personal FPS counter that not a lot of people know about. Thankfully, it’s very easy to set-up and won’t take more than a few moments to get it up and working.

1. Launch Steam and head into the settings menu, which can be found in the top-left corner by clicking the “Steam” button .
2. From there, click onto the in-game settings tab, which is the third one from the top.
3. In there, you’ll see a FPS counter setting. Click on it and choose which corner you’d like to see the counter when you next load up a game.

How to display FPS in R6S with NVidia GeForce Experience

For those that have an NVidia GeForce enabled card, another option for you is NVidia GeForce Experience. It isn’t too difficult to get set-up and can be easily turned on or off at your discretion.

1. Download and install NVidia GeForce Experience from the NVidia website.
2. Launch NVidia GeForce Experience and log-into your newly created account.
3. At the top of the program is a “cog icon”, click on that to open the settings menu and from there enable the “In-Game Overlay.”
4. Press Alt+Z and let the overlay open. From there, click on the new “cog icon” for the options menus.
5. Click on “HUD Layout” and then the “FPS” setting. Now, just pick your desired corner and the FPS counter will show up on-screen whenever you load the game.

How to display FPS in R6S with MSI Afterburner

Typically used for overclocking a variety of MSI’s GPU’s, MSI Afterburner is a great free option for an FPS counter. Not only does it track frame rate, but it can also track the heat of your CPU, how much memory is being used and so many extras. You don’t even need to have an MSI graphics card to use the software!

1. Go onto the MSI Afterburner website, download and run the set-up file.
2. Once complete, launch the software and click on the “cog icon”.
3. Click onto the “Monitoring” tab and scroll down the list until you spot “frame rate.”
4. Click on the tick and then ensure that the “Show-in On Screen Display” is checked and enabled.
5. Move onto the “On-Screen Display” tab and change the “Toggle On-Screen Display” hotkey to anything you’d like. The next time you press that key while running a game, its FPS will now be on full display and any other settings you choose to enable.

Verdict

At the end of it all, a stable frame rate is a necessary component of any competitive shooter or video game. No matter how good you are, without a stable frame rate you’re bound to have a frustrating, un-enjoyable time and is going to end up costing you more games than you might realise.By following the previous steps listed in this guide, you’re bound to get that much-needed increase of FPS in Rainbow Six: Siege; all without too much of a graphical hit. Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of seeing just how much FPS these new changes have encouraged from all of your current hardware.