The free-to-play shooter has gone from strength to strength year after year, which has allowed it to become a veritable e-sport in its own right.
Competitive-level Fortnite gameplay requires lightning-quick reactions, quick thinking, and sometimes even the best equipment.
Towards this end, you will want to make sure that you are playing on the best platform for performance.
Most of the world’s best Fortnite players prefer to make use of a gaming PC, a platform that offers total control, and plenty of customizability for the player.
You’re likely reading this now because you also use a PC to play Fortnite.
But the question is, how can PC users optimize the performance of their computers in order to enjoy Fortnite gameplay at higher frame rates, and with much more dependable performance?
Want to know how to optimize your PC for Fortnite?
Then make sure to read on down below, because we have everything you could possibly need to know!
What Are The System Requirements For Fortnite?
In order to understand what it takes to run Fortnite at maximum settings on a PC, it would help to understand what it requires to run Fortnite at even a basic level!
Luckily, the Epic Games website makes it very clear exactly what kind of specs are required from a PC in order to run Fortnite at the lowest settings.
Video Card
In terms of your video card, you will need an Intel HD 4000 video card at a minimum.
This will allow the game to run, but the game will run at an incredibly limited frame rate, of around 30 fps at best.
When in combat, this framerate can dip to as low as 15 fps.
This is incredibly low and would put you at a great disadvantage in combat.
Processor
In terms of your processor, Fortnite requires a Core i2-3225 3.3 GHz processor at a minimum.
Such a processor will allow the game to run, however, it will do so with far worse performance.
With only basic processor requirements, you may notice errors with the in-game graphics, including visual glitches, and low-quality textures.
This, once again, would impact your performance in the game, as it will be more difficult to identify and eliminate your opponents quickly!
Memory
The minimum requirement for memory when playing Fortnite is around 4 GB of RAM.
RAM acts as a temporary memory storage space that the computer can quickly draw upon to temporarily store information that is written by the game.
In turn, this leads to much faster frame rates, and even increased loading times.
Your game will consistently look better with greater RAM, and will also perform at the level that a professional Fortnite player would require.
Operating System
If you are operating your PC using Windows, then you will need to ensure that your computer is running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or above.
Your operating system will have quite a low impact on how well Fortnite runs on your PC, but Windows 7 at a minimum is required in order for the game to run, as it is built to use Unreal Engine 4, which is Epic Games’ proprietary game engine.
Unreal Engine 4 will only work on Windows 7 and above, and when Unreal Engine 5 comes into common use, it will likely only be usable on more up-to-date operating systems.
What Are The Best Specs For Fortnite?
Of course, it is worth mentioning that the best specs for any game will always change with time.
As graphics improve, and higher-spec equipment becomes more accessible, naturally, the best specs will change too. Let’s take a look at some of the best specs for Fortnite.
Video Card
One of the best video cards to use when playing Fortnite is the NVIDIA GTX 1080.
This video card will help to ensure that the game is presented to you smoothly, with very little latency.
This combined with an improved frame rate will allow you to more quickly react to events happening in the game, allowing you to gain a significant advantage over the enemy.
Every movement of your mouse will be quickly rendered on the game screen with a faster video card.
Processor
One of our favorite processors to use with Fortnite is the Intel Core i7-8700.
This is a top-of-the-range processor that allows for in-game objects and graphics to be rendered in high detail at much faster speeds.
This leads to greater graphical fidelity and allows everything in the game to load quickly.
A high-end processor is great for use in Fortnite because it helps to minimize pop-in and allows for greater render distances.
This will mean that you can identify and attack your opponents much quicker, as you will not have to wait for their models to load in.
This can also be particularly advantageous if you enjoy playing as a sniper, as you will be able to target enemies at greater distances.
Memory
Currently, you will want to aim to have a 16 GB RAM or higher.
Having this much RAM allows Fortnite to run incredibly smoothly, as there is a massive amount of temporary memory for the game to draw upon, allowing it to render everything in the game so that you don’t suffer any gameplay-affecting graphical glitches.
Higher RAM also improves the responsiveness of your PC, which in turn allows your actions in-game to be reflected visually much quicker.
This can make or break your gameplay, as it can allow you to make much snappier decisions, and aim at your opponents with greater speed, which can help you to survive heated close encounters with the enemy.
Operating System
The recommended minimum operating system requirements are the 64-bit version of Windows 10.
This operating system allows Unreal Engine 4 to operate at its best, which in turn allows every part of Fortnite to run efficiently.
You can also use Windows 9 to run Unreal Engine 4, however, the latest operating system available for your PC will always be the top recommendation.
What Are The Best Graphics Settings For Fortnite When Using Low-End Hardware?
Generally, if you are trying to choose the right settings for any kind of PC system when it comes to Fortnite you will want to aim to prioritize the frame rate.
A higher frame rate will allow you to act much quicker in-game and respond to your enemies in the heat of the moment.
If you are operating Fortnite using a PC with low-end hardware, then you will want to aim for a higher frame rate.
Let’s take a look at some of the settings you should play with.
Display Settings
In terms of the gameplay display, you will want to aim to have the resolution of the game match to the resolution of your screen.
Of course, if your monitor is a 4K monitor, but you are running on lower-end hardware, then you will want to aim to keep the game resolution at around 1920 x 1080p.
This will help to lower the strain on your processor and allow the game to run at a smoother frame rate.
You should also set the frame rate limit to the ‘Unlimited’ setting.
This will allow the game to consistently push for higher frame rates, as you will not be focusing on graphical fidelity with the rest of your settings!
Graphics
Within the in-game settings, you can also choose some settings that allow you to affect how graphics are displayed.
Most settings you will want to place on the ‘Low’ setting, to allow the game to prioritize the frame rate.
You will definitely want to turn off shadows, as rendering shadows puts some significant strain on the game.
Turning them off really lightens the load on the processor, as it will not have to calculate the trajectory of light and then render shadows accordingly.
You will also want to set anti-aliasing to ‘Off’. Luckily, anti-aliasing is not a crucial element of Fortnite, and deactivating it will not affect your gameplay.
Anti-aliasing simply smooths out the pixels on character models and other objects in-game, which helps to create a smoother appearance.
Turning this off significantly reduces the strain on your processor, allowing the frame rate to be improved.
You will also want to set visual effects like textures and effects to ‘Low’.
Doing this will cause some minor changes to the visuals of the game, as the textures on objects in the game will be of a lower resolution, and effects such as explosions and impact graphics will be of a lower resolution when they appear.
Luckily, in the heat of the moment, you are unlikely to notice these changes, and they will allow the game to run more smoothly, giving you an advantage in combat.
We also recommend setting your post-processing to ‘low’.
Post-processing simply makes your game look more realistic, and improves graphical fidelity by applying various visual filters that smooth out the appearance of a game in real-time.
Turning these off really helps to reduce the strain on your processor.
The final thing that you will want to consider is the view distance in the game settings.
Having a shorter viewing distance will improve the frame rate of the game, however, because of the fact that seeing players and objects in the distance can improve your odds in the game, and the other settings will have already improved your frame rate, you can opt to have your viewing distance set to ‘Epic’ if you wish!
What Are The Best Settings In Fortnite For High-End Hardware?
If you are using higher-end hardware for Fortnite, then you can generally opt for much higher visual fidelity options, however, you will still want to make sure that you prioritize the frame rate in order to increase your advantage in combat!
When it comes to visuals, you can aim for greater resolution up to around 2560 x 1440p, as your processor will be better able to handle it.
However, you should ensure that your frame rate limit is set in accordance with the refresh rate of your monitor, having the limit too high can cause screen tearing, which can be incredibly disorienting.
In order to optimize your frame rate in Fortnite, you will want to make sure to keep certain things like shadows, effects, and ray tracing to a minimum or have them turned off entirely.
While a higher-end PC will be able to render these details, they do not provide an advantage to a player when in the heat of combat.
Reducing these visual effects helps to keep the frame rate up, while still keeping the game looking good.
Anti-aliasing and textures should be set to around medium.
This will help the game to look incredible, without causing the frame rate to dip significantly.
If you wish, you can also set your post-processing to medium, as this will further help with the visual fidelity of the game.
However, if you ever notice that the post-processing is affecting your frame rates, you should lower it or deactivate it altogether.
To Wrap Up
As you can see, playing Fortnite even with low-end hardware is incredibly easy, as you will want to target higher frame rates at all times.
With the right graphical settings, you can ensure that the game always runs at the right speed, and without any visual hitches.
This helps to improve your performance in the game, and also means that you will always be able to react to opponents in the game quickly.
Even when operating on high-end hardware, you will want to make sure that your settings are optimized to allow the frame rate to be high.
This will help to make you a better player and will ensure that your reaction times are higher, giving you a significant competitive advantage.
My name is Ashley Newby and I want to put integrity back into esports and get the hype surrounding them paramount once more. During my teenage years, I happened to stumble across a Street Fighter tournament online and I was hooked.
From that day, I have kept up with and watched many tournaments including Valorant, Super Smash Bros, and League of Legends. I even got to compete in my first one earlier this year!
