Valorant: Best GameUserSettings.ini for 500Hz Monitors

The GameUserSettings.ini file stores your hardware-level rendering preferences. For ultra-high refresh rates, we must ensure the engine isn’t adding artificial “smoothing” or “buffering” that can occur with modern Windows 11 API overrides.

File Path & Setup

1. Navigate to: %LocalAppData%\VALORANT\Saved\Config\[RandomID]\Windows\GameUserSettings.ini
2. Open with: Notepad or Notepad++.
3. Pro Tip: If you have multiple folders with Random IDs, find the one with the most recent “Date Modified” to ensure you are editing your active profile.

Optimized “500Hz Elite” Configuration Table

Parameter	Recommended Value	Technical Purpose
bRawInputBuffer	True	Critical. Bypasses Windows OS mouse processing for 8K polling compatibility.
bNvidiaReflexEnabled	True	Redlines the GPU to minimize the render queue.
FrameRateLimit.MaxFPSAlways	0.000000	Uncaps FPS to ensure frame delivery exceeds 500Hz.
ResolutionSizeX/Y	Native	Standard 1920×1080 is usually best for the highest CPU-bound FPS.
GraphicsQuality	0 (Low)	Minimizes draw calls ($D_{calls}$) to maximize CPU throughput.

[/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameUserSettings]
bRawInputBuffer=True
bNvidiaReflexEnabled=True
bNvidiaReflexBoostEnabled=True
FrameRateLimit.MaxFPSAlways=0.000000
FrameRateLimit.MaxFPSBackground=30.000000
FrameRateLimit.MaxFPSMenu=144.000000
bUseVSync=False
FullscreenMode=0
LastConfirmedFullscreenMode=0

[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=100.000000
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=0
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
sg.ShadowQuality=0
sg.PostProcessQuality=0
sg.TextureQuality=0
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.FoliageQuality=0
sg.ShadingQuality=0

HowTo: Engineering the 500Hz Competitive Edge

Follow these GameEngineer.net technical steps to ensure your hardware maintains its sub-2ms lead:

1. NVIDIA Reflex “On + Boost”: In the .ini, ensure bNvidiaReflexBoostEnabled=True. This keeps your GPU clock speeds at their maximum frequency even in CPU-bound scenarios (common in Valorant), preventing the “clock-down” latency penalty when switching from a quiet area to a heavy gunfight.
2. Raw Input Buffer (8K Polling): 500Hz monitors are best paired with 4000Hz or 8000Hz polling rate mice. By forcing bRawInputBuffer=True, you allow Valorant to process these high-frequency inputs directly. If this is off, you may experience “micro-stuttering” as Windows struggles to handle 8,000 reports per second on a 500Hz visual plane.
3. Fullscreen Mode ($Mode=0$): Never use “Windowed Fullscreen” on a 500Hz panel. In 2026, even with Windows 11 optimizations, Exclusive Fullscreen ($Mode=0$) provides the most direct path to the display’s “Front Buffer,” saving approximately $1.5\text{ms}$ of compositor latency.
4. The FPS Cap Logic: While MaxFPSAlways=0 (uncapped) provides the lowest input latency, if your FPS fluctuates wildly (e.g., jumping between 550 and 900), it can cause “Jitter.” If the movement feels “inconsistent,” cap your FPS at a stable value like 600.000000 using the .ini to ensure perfectly even frame-pacing ($P_{frame}$).
5. Multi-Threaded Rendering: Ensure this is ON in the in-game UI. Valorant’s engine is heavily dependent on single-core speed; offloading the render thread to a secondary core is mandatory to hit the 500+ FPS threshold.

Technical Explanation: The 2ms Refresh Window

At 500Hz, your monitor updates every 2ms. If your Total System Latency (Click-to-Photon) is higher than $10\text{ms}$, you are effectively playing several frames behind the real-time state of the server.

By disabling all sg. (Scalability Groups) settings and forcing bNvidiaReflexBoostEnabled, we reduce the Render Queue to zero. This ensures that the frame your GPU just finished is the exact one your monitor displays in its next 2ms window. In a tactical shooter like Valorant, this is the difference between seeing a “Jett Dash” smoothly or seeing her “teleport” across your screen because your frames were queued behind post-processing effects.