When you play a game for a while, especially FPS games, you automatically start to look at the settings, mostly because you need more performance or just want to know what’s behind the settings options.
We’ve already covered various settings options on our blog, and you can find our previous articles on these topics here.
In Valorant, there is the Multithreaded Rendering option in the video settings. But what is it, and how does it affect my system?
Let’s go!
Note: This article was written in English. Translations into other languages may not provide the same linguistic quality. We apologize for grammatical and semantic errors.
What Does Multithreaded Rendering Mean in Gaming?
Some games like Fortnite, CSGO, and even Valorant take advantage of multithreaded rendering.
Multithreaded rendering means the work is divided among several threads, hence the name.
This helps improve a CPU’s performance if it has four or more cores.
I don’t want to go into more details because, on the one hand, it’s not important for the decision if you should use multithreaded rendering or not, and on the other hand, it would end in a computer science lecture. 😀
As mentioned earlier, multithreaded rendering splits the workload across multiple threads. Therefore, this feature requires a multi-core CPU to work.
If you don’t see a multithreaded rendering option in your settings, it’s probably because your processor doesn’t have enough cores to perform the function.
Rendering can be a difficult task for a system’s CPU, and multithreading helps distribute this workload.
Dividing the work among several threads can speed up the rendering process. However, the effect’s significance depends on the number of cores in a CPU and its overall strength. Furthermore, multithreaded rendering can backfire and hinder other functions if the right conditions are not met.
Multithreading requires at least four or more cores to function correctly.
If you are unsure how many cores your processor has, you can easily find out with a few steps.
How Do I Find Out How Many Cores My CPU Has?
If you are now asking yourself, how many cores does your CPU have anyway? Then follow this short guide:
- Open the task manager of your computer
- Click on “More details”
- Select the “Performance” tab
- Choose “CPU”
- Below the diagram, you can see how many cores your CPU has (see picture).
How Do You Activate Multithreaded Rendering in Valorant?
To activate Multithreaded Rendering, you can simply set Multithreaded Rendering to “On” in the video settings of Valorant. If your system can use the option, it is enabled by default.
Does Multithreaded Rendering Affect FPS or Input Lag?
Depending on what kind of system you have, this setting can have a positive or negative effect on a game’s FPS and input lag.
If the CPU is too weak, this can affect performance and cause problems like hitching and low FPS.
According to Riot, the minimum system requirements for multithreaded rendering to have a positive effect on your system are as follows:
- Working memory: 8 GB RAM
- The memory of your graphics card: 2 GB VRAM
- CPU: At least 8 cores (physical or virtual, so many 4-core processors should also suffice)
Multithreaded rendering can also be useful in different ways during a game, depending on what you are doing. In situations where not much is happening, you won’t see an improvement in FPS.
This is because this feature is designed for action-packed and fast-paced games. The more work your system has to do in a given situation, the more multithreaded rendering helps keep your system’s performance constant.
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Final Thoughts – Turning Multithreaded Rendering On or Off in Valorant?
When deciding whether to enable or disable multithreading, you must first determine if your system can enable the feature. If multithreaded rendering is not enabled in your system’s settings, your CPU does not have enough cores to handle it.
If you have four or more cores, enabling multithreaded rendering usually positively affects your FPS when gaming. This feature is especially useful for fast games like first-person shooters, so also for Valorant.
Riot comments:
“The graphics setting can improve CPU performance and graphics quality on powerful devices.”
That even the graphics quality should improve is not entirely conclusive for me, but I’m not a game programmer, so I agree with Riot. 😀
Usually, multithreaded rendering is a no-brainer that should always be enabled to improve your system’s performance during action-packed moments in the game. However, if you have a CPU that is not too strong but still has enough cores to enable multithreaded rendering, you should test it carefully to see if it causes problems.
In most cases, however, multithreaded rendering will benefit your system if you can enable it.
Masakari out – moep, moep.
Former pro gamer Andreas "Masakari" Mamerow has been an active gamer for over 35 years, more than 20 of them in the competitive scene (Esports). In CS 1.5/1.6, PUBG and Valorant, he has led and coached teams at the highest level. Old dogs bite better...
