What are the most impactful graphics settings in GTA V for performance?

GTA V's Extended Distance Scaling and Extended Shadow Distance sliders are the two settings with the highest performance impact in the open world. Setting both to minimum from maximum can recover 25–35 FPS on mid-range hardware with minimal visual change at street level. Grass Quality and Soft Shadows are the next most expensive. The game has an Advanced Graphics section with MSAA, Reflection MSAA, and High-Resolution Shadows — all three should be disabled on hardware near the minimum spec. Importantly, GTA V's benchmark mode (accessible from the graphics settings screen) provides accurate in-game performance data across different presets.

Is GTA V still worth optimizing in 2025, and does it support modern upscaling?

GTA V remains one of the most-played PC games globally despite launching in 2015, largely due to GTA Online's active player base and an enormous modding community. The base game does not support DLSS, FSR, or XeSS natively — it predates these technologies. However, community mods such as QuantV, NaturalVision Evolved, and others add DLSS/FSR support alongside visual overhauls. The Enhanced Edition (PS5/Xbox Series X) features introduced in 2022 are not present in the PC version. For pure performance, GTA V responds well to driver-level upscaling via NVIDIA Image Scaling (NIS) in the GeForce control panel even without native game support.

Can I Run Grand Theft Auto V on RTX 4090?

Grand Theft Auto V FPS Benchmark and Performance Analysis

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090Game: Grand Theft Auto VUpdated: Mar 30, 2026

For most players, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a solid match for Grand Theft Auto V. Expect around 139 FPS at 1080p high, with strong high-refresh potential. If you're planning to play Grand Theft Auto V on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, this page gives a practical FPS estimate at 1080p high, plus what to expect at 1440p.

Grand Theft Auto V FPS Benchmarks on RTX 4090

Resolution	Settings Preset	Avg FPS	1% Low FPS	Verdict
1080p	Competitive (Low)	174 FPS	116 FPS	Excellent
1080p	High	139 FPS	92 FPS	Very Good
1440p	High	103 FPS	65 FPS	Good
1440p	Ultra	77 FPS	49 FPS	Good
4K	High	64 FPS	38 FPS	Playable

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

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Best Settings for Grand Theft Auto V on RTX 4090

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 Grand Theft Auto V on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is about 139 FPS at 1080p high. At 1440p, that typically translates to around 103 FPS with similar quality targets. This places the card in the enthusiast tier for this title, with a high refresh experience profile. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers high-refresh class performance in Grand Theft Auto V, especially with a competitive or high preset.

Grand Theft Auto V continues to endure as a legendary sandbox experience, offering a hugely populated map full of complex driving physics and civilian AI. To meet the minimum system demands, your PC should have a NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB. For optimal performance and smooth rendering, it’s recommended to play with a NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 supports DLSS 3 with Frame Generation in compatible titles. In games like Grand Theft Auto V that support it, Frame Generation can push perceived frame rates well beyond the base estimate above — particularly useful at 1440p where the GPU is more heavily loaded.

Lower shadows and volumetrics one step before reducing texture quality.
Ray tracing can be enabled with quality upscaling for a good visual/performance balance.
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 GeForce RTX 4090 with Grand Theft Auto V, with meaningful gains available through the settings guide above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most impactful graphics settings in GTA V for performance?: GTA V's Extended Distance Scaling and Extended Shadow Distance sliders are the two settings with the highest performance impact in the open world. Setting both to minimum from maximum can recover 25–35 FPS on mid-range hardware with minimal visual change at street level. Grass Quality and Soft Shadows are the next most expensive. The game has an Advanced Graphics section with MSAA, Reflection MSAA, and High-Resolution Shadows — all three should be disabled on hardware near the minimum spec. Importantly, GTA V's benchmark mode (accessible from the graphics settings screen) provides accurate in-game performance data across different presets.
Is GTA V still worth optimizing in 2025, and does it support modern upscaling?: GTA V remains one of the most-played PC games globally despite launching in 2015, largely due to GTA Online's active player base and an enormous modding community. The base game does not support DLSS, FSR, or XeSS natively — it predates these technologies. However, community mods such as QuantV, NaturalVision Evolved, and others add DLSS/FSR support alongside visual overhauls. The Enhanced Edition (PS5/Xbox Series X) features introduced in 2022 are not present in the PC version. For pure performance, GTA V responds well to driver-level upscaling via NVIDIA Image Scaling (NIS) in the GeForce control panel even without native game support.