Is Apex Legends CPU or GPU bound at high frame rates?

Apex Legends becomes increasingly CPU-bound as you push past 144 FPS, particularly in hot-drop scenarios where 60 players simultaneously render near each other at match start. The game uses Respawn's Source Engine derivative, which has legacy single-threaded bottlenecks similar to CS2. A CPU at the recommended score threshold handles 144 FPS targets in most scenarios, but consistent 160–180+ FPS in 20-player final circles requires a CPU meaningfully above the recommended tier. A high-frequency memory kit (DDR4-3600 or DDR5-6000) also meaningfully improves CPU-bound frame rates in Apex, as the engine benefits from memory bandwidth.

What graphics settings should I lower for better competitive performance in Apex Legends?

For competitive Apex Legends, Model Detail and Texture Streaming Budget are the two most impactful settings to reduce. Setting Model Detail to Low reduces the triangle count of distant enemies, which paradoxically can make them slightly easier to spot against terrain. Texture Streaming Budget at Low halves VRAM draw, improving 1% low frame rates on cards with less than 8 GB VRAM. Ambient Occlusion should be disabled, and Sun Shadow Coverage/Detail set to Low. Anti-Aliasing at TSAA is preferred over None for cleaner long-range target tracking despite the slight blur. Adaptive Supersampling (down-sampling) hurts competitive performance and should be disabled.

Can I Run Apex Legends on GTX 1660 Super?

Apex Legends FPS Benchmark and Performance Analysis

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1660 SuperGame: Apex LegendsUpdated: Mar 30, 2026

Apex Legends is playable on NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super. Expect around 137 FPS at 1080p high, with strong high-refresh potential. If you're planning to play Apex Legends on NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super, this page gives a practical FPS estimate at 1080p high, plus what to expect at 1440p.

Apex Legends FPS Benchmarks on GTX 1660 Super

Resolution	Settings Preset	Avg FPS	1% Low FPS	Verdict
1080p	Competitive (Low)	171 FPS	114 FPS	Excellent
1080p	High	137 FPS	91 FPS	Very Good
1440p	High	93 FPS	59 FPS	Good
1440p	Ultra	70 FPS	44 FPS	Playable
4K	High	48 FPS	29 FPS	Playable

Benchmarks are estimated by our performance engine. Actual results may vary.

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Best Settings for Apex Legends on GTX 1660 Super

310+FPS1080p Competitive

Display Mode: Fullscreen
Resolution: 1920×1080
V-Sync: Disabled
Texture Quality: High
Shadow Quality: High
Anti-Aliasing: TAA
Effects Quality: High
Post-Processing: Medium
Ambient Occlusion: Enabled

Performance Analysis

Our projection for Apex Legends on NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super is about 137 FPS at 1080p high. At 1440p, that typically translates to around 93 FPS with similar quality targets. This places the card in the entry tier for this title, with a high refresh experience profile. NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super delivers high-refresh class performance in Apex Legends, especially with a competitive or high preset.

Apex Legends delivers blistering movement and squad-based combat across massive maps, demanding solid framerates to track fast-paced encounters. To meet the minimum system demands, your PC should have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 / AMD Radeon HD 7790. For optimal performance and smooth rendering, it’s recommended to play with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290.

NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super supports DLSS 3 Super Resolution. Enabling DLSS Quality mode in Apex Legends can recover 20–35% frame rate with minimal visual difference, which is especially useful if you're targeting 60+ FPS at 1440p.

Lower shadows and volumetrics one step before reducing texture quality.
Keep ray tracing disabled for stable FPS.
1080p: High/Ultra settings with low-latency mode enabled
1440p: High settings, use Quality upscaling only if needed

To summarize: expect a high refresh experience pairing NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super with Apex Legends, with meaningful gains available through the settings guide above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Apex Legends CPU or GPU bound at high frame rates?: Apex Legends becomes increasingly CPU-bound as you push past 144 FPS, particularly in hot-drop scenarios where 60 players simultaneously render near each other at match start. The game uses Respawn's Source Engine derivative, which has legacy single-threaded bottlenecks similar to CS2. A CPU at the recommended score threshold handles 144 FPS targets in most scenarios, but consistent 160–180+ FPS in 20-player final circles requires a CPU meaningfully above the recommended tier. A high-frequency memory kit (DDR4-3600 or DDR5-6000) also meaningfully improves CPU-bound frame rates in Apex, as the engine benefits from memory bandwidth.
What graphics settings should I lower for better competitive performance in Apex Legends?: For competitive Apex Legends, Model Detail and Texture Streaming Budget are the two most impactful settings to reduce. Setting Model Detail to Low reduces the triangle count of distant enemies, which paradoxically can make them slightly easier to spot against terrain. Texture Streaming Budget at Low halves VRAM draw, improving 1% low frame rates on cards with less than 8 GB VRAM. Ambient Occlusion should be disabled, and Sun Shadow Coverage/Detail set to Low. Anti-Aliasing at TSAA is preferred over None for cleaner long-range target tracking despite the slight blur. Adaptive Supersampling (down-sampling) hurts competitive performance and should be disabled.