This thread is an update to what Celestic posted a few years ago. Kudos!
What is Input Lag?
Fundamentally, input lag is the time between the moment an input is made, and what appears on your screen. High input lag is bad, while low input lag is good.
This is not to be confused with network latency (ping). Input lag is more to do with how quickly the game responds to your mouse and keyboard inputs.
Input Lag & Frames Per Second (FPS)
- Higher FPS = Lower input lag
Higher FPS gives your system a chance to “retrieve” the latest information from the game, making inputs more responsive. However, higher FPS does not always equal a better experience; frame fluctuations make the game feel clunky and choppy. We will achieve a compromise between input lag and smoothness:
Open: how to properly cap your FPS (takes 5 minutes)
G-SYNC USERS: Skip this part! Instead, cap your FPS to 3 frames below your monitor’s refresh rate. I know it sounds silly!
- Uncap your frames (in the video settings) and hop in the practice range. Take note of the lowest FPS you get while running around/shooting/whatever. My lows are around 300, so I’ll use that as an example
- Figure out your monitor’s refresh rate. It’s probably 60, 144, 165, or 240. You likely know it already, but here’s[how to check your refresh rate:
https://www.pocket-lint.com/how-to-check-your-monitor-s-refresh-rate/ - Back in the video settings, cap your frames to a multiple or divisor of your refresh rate - pick the highest one that is below your lowest FPS
- So, choose from:
- For 60hz monitors, pick from 30, 60, 120, 240, etc.
- For 144hz monitors, pick from 36, 72, 144, 288, 432 etc.
- For 165hz monitors, pick from 165, 330, 495 etc.
- For 240hz monitors, pick from 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, 720 etc.
- For example:
- My monitor is 144hz, and my lowest FPS is 300. So I should pick a 288 frame cap, because it’s the highest one I can pick without my FPS dipping below 288
“Measuring” Input Lag in Overwatch
Enter the Practice Range and press CTRL+SHIFT+N, which will bring numbers in the top-right corner of your screen. The farthest number to the right is the SIM number (which is seen as: number ms). Basically, a lower SIM number means lower input lag. Ideally, you want to have a SIM number of 10 ms or lower. Under 5 ms would be great, but not possible on all systems.
This isn’t a perfect measurement, but it’s better than nothing! Find it here: https://i.imgur.com/l60W728.jpg
Recommended Settings for Reducing Input Lag (in-game)
- Totally optional: Disable G-SYNC, FreeSync, etc. - you’ll lose a tiny bit of lag, but it may not be worth the loss of G-SYNC.
- Play on Steam.
- The Steam version runs noticeably smoother than the Battle.net version.
- You can keep your progression, just link your Steam to your Bnet.
- Set render scale to a maximum of 100%, or lower for more FPS.
- Lowering the render scale can provide an advantage:
- Enemy outlines will be thicker.
- You’ll get more FPS.
- Lowering the render scale can provide an advantage:
- Always enable fullscreen.
- Disable full-screen optimizations: Locate: overwatch.exe > right click > properties > compatibility > check “disable fullscreen optimizations.” (this one is important)
- Read more here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/6sdn4s/if_you_play_overwatch_on_windows_10_consider/
- For baseline settings: set your graphic preset as low as you can without hating how it looks.
- Disable V-sync.
- Cap your framerate as specified above. Otherwise, if you don’t care about smoothness, you can run the maxmimum 600 FPS cap.
- Disable dynamic render scale!!!
- Set shadow details to low.
- Enable reduce buffering.
- Disable triple buffering.
- Disable ambient occlusion.
- Disable local reflections.
- Disable dynamic reflections.
- Enable NVIDIA Reflex On + Boost (if available).
Other Settings/Changes for Reducing Input Lag
- Disable Xbox Game Bar in Windows settings.
- Disable Discord overlay.
Click: Give OW high priority
For Overwatch to be automatically given high priority each time it is launched, do the following:
-
Open a Notepad (type Notepad in the Windows search bar, click on “Notepad”).
-
Copy and Paste the following into the Notepad:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Overwatch.exe\PerfOptions]
“CpuPriorityClass”=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\Battle.net.exe\PerfOptions]
“CpuPriorityClass”=dword:00000005
- Save the Notepad as a .reg.
Overwatch will now automatically launch as high priority.
NVIDIA Control Panel Settings
These are the settings for optimal latency / FPS. They might degrade how your game looks. Feel free to change them if you want your game to still look pretty!
- Open NVIDIA Control Panel (type it in the Windows search bar).
- Select “Adjust image settings with preview”.
- Select “Use the advanced 3D image settings”.
- Select “Manage 3D settings”.
- Apply the following settings (either globally, or head to Program Settings and find OW):
- Image:
https://i.imgur.com/BG3RVJv.png
- Image:
- Apply the following settings (either globally, or head to Program Settings and find OW):
Other Stuff That Will Make OW Feel Good
Not input lag stuff, but will make your game feel better/smoother/more responsive.
- Options > Gameplay > General > Miscellaneous > Enable High Precision Mouse Input > set to ON
- Allows you to shoot in between frames.
- Options > Controls > General > Controller > Advanced > Aim Smoothing > set to 0.
- I know it sounds crazy, but there was a bug where this console setting was spilling over to PC and affecting mouse aim. It makes your aim feel floaty and weird. Turn it off!
- Options > Accessibility > General > Motion > Camera Shake, HUD Shake, Reduce Menu Movement > set to Reduced, Off, On, respectively.
- Limits how much your stuff moves around ingame, so you can focus on shooting.
Advanced Settings
Click: Debloat your GPU driver
- Debloat your graphics driver (this guide assumes NVIDIA):
- (Kinda optional but not really) Remove your current driver, in safe mode, with DDU
https://www.guru3d.com/download/display-driver-uninstaller-download/(follow the instructions carefully and do not cut corners, for the safety of your device). - Build a debloated driver using NVCleanstall
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-nvcleanstall/.- It does a pretty good job of telling you what’s what, but you can go with this for a minimal (and safe) setup, for PCs (not laptops):
- PhysX
- HD Audio via HDMI
- Microsoft Visual C 2017 Runtimes
- USB-C Driver (if your card has a USB-C plugged into it)
- And here’s one if you want GeForce Experience too:
- All of the above
- Virtual Audio (only if you want ShadowPlay)
- NV Container
- GeForce Experience
- ShadowPlay (if you want it)
- Driver Update, Driver Update Notification
- Virtual Host Controller
- NodeJS
- NV Backend
- Process Monitor and Shield Streaming Service (optional features for ShadowPlay)
- On the next screen, select:
- Disable Multiplane Overlay
- Disable Ansel (used for screenshots, keep it if you want it)
- Show Expert Tweaks
- Disable Driver Telemetry
- Enable Message Signaled Interrupts
- Do NOT mess with the policy or priority.
- Disable HDCP
- It does a pretty good job of telling you what’s what, but you can go with this for a minimal (and safe) setup, for PCs (not laptops):
- Install in safe mode, after DDU.
- (Kinda optional but not really) Remove your current driver, in safe mode, with DDU
Click: Command Prompt
Run the following in Command Prompt (run as admin):
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
powercfg /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 d4e98f31-5ffe-4ce1-be31-1b38b384c009 0
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 0
Credits & Sources
- Celestic#11672
- Calypto
- amitxv
- Sturmschar
- BlurBusters
- Latency & Gaming
Note
The purpose of this post is to assist all types of Overwatch players in understanding how to reduce input lag in Overwatch. As such, please suggest any changes to the post, such as if there are inaccuracies, mistakes, etc. Thanks! 
