Backburner Performance Guide: Boost FPS and Fix Stuttering

System Requirements and Baseline Performance

Before diving into advanced tweaks, ensure your PC meets the minimum or recommended requirements for Backburner. This Early Access title from Jankyhand Games is still being optimized, so performance can vary.

For a detailed breakdown of compatible hardware, visit our system requirements guide. If you are new to the game, our beginner guide will help you get started.

Best Graphics Settings for High FPS

To maximize FPS without sacrificing too much visual quality, start with these settings. The game's charming art style is forgiving, allowing for significant performance gains.

• Resolution: Set to your monitor's native resolution. Lowering this is the single biggest FPS booster.
• Display Mode: Fullscreen is recommended over Borderless Windowed for better performance.
• Texture Quality: Medium. This has a low impact on FPS but can save VRAM on older cards.
• Shadow Quality: Low or Medium. Shadows are often the most demanding setting.
• Post-Processing: Disable or set to Low. This includes effects like bloom and motion blur.
• Anti-Aliasing: TAA or FXAA. Disable if you need a few extra frames.
• View Distance: Medium. This controls how far you can see objects in the open world.

How to Fix Stuttering and Frame Drops

Stuttering in Backburner is often related to asset loading in the open world or background processes. Here are the most effective fixes.

Graphics Driver Settings

Ensure your graphics drivers are up to date. For NVIDIA users, open the NVIDIA Control Panel, navigate to "Manage 3D Settings," and set "Power Management Mode" to "Prefer Maximum Performance." For AMD users, use the Radeon Software to set the "Power Saving" mode to "Performance."

In-Game Workarounds

• Disable Steam Overlay: Right-click Backburner in your Steam library, go to Properties, and uncheck "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game."
• Verify Game Files: Corrupted files can cause stuttering. In Steam, right-click the game, go to Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity of game files.
• Lower View Distance: If stuttering occurs when driving quickly, reducing the View Distance setting can help.

Advanced Tweaks for Maximum Performance

For users comfortable editing configuration files, Backburner may have hidden settings. Check the game's installation folder for a settings.ini or config.cfg file. You can often manually cap the frame rate or disable specific graphical features not available in the menu.

1. Locate Config File

   Navigate to your game's installation folder (typically steamapps/common/Backburner) or the %localappdata%/Backburner folder.

2. Backup the File

   Make a copy of the config file before making any changes.

3. Disable V-Sync

   Find the VSync or VerticalSync line and set it to false.

4. Set FPS Cap

   Look for a MaxFPS or FrameRateLimit value and set it to your monitor's refresh rate (e.g., 60 or 144).

Monitor Your Performance

Use tools like MSI Afterburner or the NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay to monitor your FPS, GPU usage, and CPU usage. If your GPU usage is below 90%, you are likely CPU-bound. If your GPU usage is at 99% but FPS is low, your graphics card is the bottleneck.

For more tips on managing your in-game resources, check our resource management guide.

FAQ

Why is my FPS low in towns? Town areas have more NPCs and geometry. Lowering Shadow Quality and View Distance will help the most in these areas.

Will future updates improve performance? Yes, the developer Jankyhand Games is actively optimizing Backburner during Early Access. Check the patch notes for performance-related fixes.