Does borderless fullscreen reduce FPS? An Expert Gamer‘s Insight
As an avid gamer and content creator always seeking the optimal graphics configurations for new title releases, one question I see debated heatedly among the community is "does borderless fullscreen reduce fps compared to exclusive fullscreen?"
The short answer is no, borderless mode does not inherently lower FPS capabilities. However, there are some subtle performance impacts depending on your exact hardware and settings that are worth delving into.
Fullscreen vs Borderless: Key Technical Differences
Fullscreen and borderless (windowed fullscreen) modes handle GPU resource allocation differently when it comes to desktop compositing and vsync:
1. System Overhead
Borderless forces vsync and and Aero compositing effects on, whereas fullscreen bypasses them. This adds a tiny amount of GPU overhead:
- Vsync matches frame rate to your monitor‘s refresh rate, reducing screen tearing but adding input lag.
- Aero compositing enables Windows‘ desktop transparency effects.
As a result, competitive esports gamers chase every last frame, so often use exclusive fullscreen to strip away these potential bottlenecks.
However, for most gamers this small reduction is not a perceptible loss of performance in real gameplay.
2. Load Behavior When Alt-Tabbed
In borderless window mode, your GPU keeps fully rendering frames even when alt-tabbed away from the game. Fullscreen will often pause rendering when not the foreground app.
So when frequently tabbing between game and other apps, borderless windows can increase FPS over fullscreen where background rendering stalls each time you tab away.
| Mode | FPS Impact |
|---|---|
| Borderless | Adds small system overhead, but renders continuously even when alt-tabbed |
| Fullscreen | No overhead, but can pause rendering when alt-tabbed |
When Borderless Can Reduce FPS
The main case where borderless can more significantly reduce your FPS vs fullscreen is when your overall system is already heavily strained near its limits in a demanding section of gameplay.
For example, if your frame rate is fluctuating in the low-mid 40s FPS range in a graphically intensive scene. Those extra composition cycles can drop you a couple additional frames into stuttering territory.
Whereas if you have headroom with a steady 80+ FPS, a few frame loss is imperceptible both visually and for system latency.
My Expert Recommendation
So in closing, while exclusive fullscreen has the ultimate performance headroom, I typically recommend most gamers start with borderless windowed mode.
The FPS differences are often marginal, and retaining rendering when alt-tabbed is useful for content creation, streaming, or productivity app multitasking while waiting in queues.
Framerate caps also reduce GPU strain and keep rates aligned with your monitor‘s refresh ceiling.
But as always, hands-on testing tailored to your exact setup gives the definitive result! Let the benchmarking commence!
