How to Cap Your Frame Rate With RTSS for Smoother Play

Your FPS counter says 140, then 97, then 165, then 118, all within the same minute of walking through a town. The average looks great on paper, yet the game feels choppy, the fans ramp up and down, and the GPU sits at 99 percent drawing power for frames your monitor cannot even show. Uncapped frame rates are the most common reason I see a perfectly capable PC that still feels uneven.

A frame rate cap fixes most of that, and the tool I trust for it is RivaTuner Statistics Server, usually called RTSS. It is free, it works across almost every DirectX, Vulkan and OpenGL game, and it holds a cap more evenly than most in-game limiters. Here is how I set it up, what number to choose, and where the common advice about caps is off.

Why an uncapped frame rate feels worse than its average

Smoothness comes from consistent frame times, not from a high number. At 120 FPS, each frame should arrive about every 8.3 milliseconds. If some frames take 6 ms and others take 14 ms, your eyes see that unevenness as stutter, even when the average is high. An FPS counter that updates once a second hides this completely, which is why I always watch the frame time graph instead; there is more on reading it in how to read an FPS overlay.

Uncapped, the GPU renders as fast as each scene allows. Simple scenes shoot up, busy ones drop, and the swings are what you feel. A cap set slightly below what your system can sustain in demanding scenes removes the peaks. The GPU then has spare headroom in easy moments and frame times stay flat.

There is also a heat and noise benefit. On my test machine, an RTX 4060 Ti with a Ryzen 5 7600, capping a lightweight competitive game at 141 FPS instead of letting it run at 290 dropped GPU power draw from about 155 W to 92 W, and the GPU fan from roughly 1,900 RPM to 1,300. Same game, same visual quality, noticeably quieter room.

Setting up RTSS step by step

RTSS comes bundled with MSI Afterburner, but you can install it on its own from the Guru3D site, which is its official home. Avoid download mirrors that wrap it in their own installer.

1. Install RTSS and launch it. It runs in the system tray. Open the main window from the tray icon.
2. Select the Global profile on the left. Settings here apply to every game unless you create a game-specific profile.
3. Set Framerate limit to your chosen cap. Leave it at 0 to disable. The number section below covers what to pick.
4. Open Setup and check the limiter mode. Async is the default and gives the steadiest frame times. Front edge sync and back edge sync trade a little smoothness for lower latency; I only use them for specific competitive games. If you have an NVIDIA card and a recent RTSS build, the NVIDIA Reflex option is worth trying in games that support Reflex.
5. Turn on Start with Windows so the cap is always active. If RTSS is not running, the cap does nothing.
6. Add per-game profiles with the plus button at the bottom left, pointing at the game's .exe. Use these for games that need a different cap from your global one.
7. Disable any in-game cap for the same game, so two limiters are not fighting. Leave the in-game one only if you deliberately prefer it.

The whole setup takes about five minutes. If you already use MSI Afterburner for monitoring or an undervolt, as covered in our guide to undervolting with Afterburner, RTSS is already on your PC and simply needs configuring.

What number to cap at

The right cap depends on your monitor and whether it has variable refresh rate, meaning G-Sync or FreeSync.

With G-Sync or FreeSync

Cap a few frames below your refresh rate. For a 144 Hz monitor, 141 is the usual figure; for 165 Hz, try 162; for 240 Hz, 236. Staying under the refresh ceiling keeps the game inside the variable refresh range, so you get no tearing without the latency spike that classic V-Sync adds when you hit the limit. Many people pair this with V-Sync enabled in the NVIDIA or AMD control panel and disabled in the game, which catches the occasional frame that overshoots.

Without variable refresh

Pick a number your system holds in the heaviest scenes, not the average. Play for ten minutes through a demanding area with the overlay showing frame rate, note the lowest sustained figure, and cap just below it. On a 60 Hz monitor, a cap of 60 with V-Sync on in the game is still the most comfortable option for single-player games. On a 120 Hz or 144 Hz screen without VRR, a steady 72 or 90 often looks smoother than a jittery 110.

The advice I would not follow

A popular line on forums says competitive players should never cap, because higher FPS always means lower input lag. There is truth in the latency part. At 300 FPS each frame takes about 3.3 ms, at 141 it takes about 7 ms, and in theory the difference reaches your mouse clicks.

In practice, I would not apply that rule to most people. When the GPU sits at 99 percent usage, frames start queuing in the render pipeline, and that queue can add more delay than the higher frame rate saves. A cap that keeps the GPU at 85 to 90 percent often measures lower latency than an uncapped run pinned at full load. That is the same reason NVIDIA Reflex and AMD Anti-Lag exist. If you play at a high level on a 360 Hz monitor with a GPU that genuinely holds 400 FPS, run uncapped and test it. For everyone else, a sensible cap feels better and keeps the system cooler.

I also do not recommend capping through the GPU driver as your only limiter, at least not on older driver versions. I have seen it introduce more frame time variance than RTSS on the same system, though newer drivers have improved. Test both against the frame time graph and keep whichever line is flatter.

Checking that it worked

Enable the RTSS on-screen display with frame time enabled, or use the overlay in Afterburner. A good cap shows a nearly flat frame time line with small blips during loading or heavy effects. If the line still saws up and down, your cap is too high for that game; lower it by 10 and test again.

Watch for two problems. Some games with anti-cheat block the overlay, in which case the cap often still works but you cannot see it; the in-game counter will confirm. And a few older titles tie game speed to frame rate, so a cap below 60 can make them run slow. Give those a per-game profile at 60.

Tonight, cap your most-played game at three below your refresh rate, play for twenty minutes, and listen to the fans. More settings like this are in our software guides.

FAQ

Does capping FPS reduce input lag?

It can, when it stops the GPU sitting at full load. A cap that leaves 10 to 15 percent headroom often lowers latency compared to an uncapped, maxed-out GPU.

What should I cap FPS at for a 144 Hz monitor?

Around 141 with G-Sync or FreeSync. Without variable refresh, cap at a figure your PC holds in heavy scenes.

Is RTSS safe to use with online games?

It is widely used and generally fine, but a few anti-cheat systems block its overlay. The frame limiter usually keeps working.

Should I use the in-game limiter or RTSS?

Try both and compare frame time graphs. Some in-game limiters are excellent; RTSS is the more consistent fallback.