shroud blasts players who prefer max graphics over performance

Fariha Bhatti Published 09/08/2021

Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek doesn’t think you should prioritize graphics over performance, no matter how great your gaming rig might be.

It’s exciting to boost your video settings to the max after updating to a better GPU. Viewing your surroundings in high definition might make the game appear more refined. Still, shroud says that performance should always be the priority.

In a recent stream, the former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional player shroud blasted those who enhance graphic settings at the cost of stable frames per second. Many would argue that it’s okay to roll with optimal graphic settings on custom rigs with the latest hardware, but not tweaking your settings to bolster performance will only lead to a “bad time,” shroud claimed.

“If you’re not putting stuff on low that is unnecessary like this shit, post-processing? You don’t want this on ultra. I don’t think you guys realize the performance difference. No matter the machine you have, if you’re not tweaking your graphic settings in any video game, you’re doing it wrong,” shroud said.

Should you prioritize graphics or performance in gaming?

Casual players might settle for choppy gameplay for the sake of the best graphics and visuals, but if you’re playing to win, you may want to make some changes to enhance performance. Even on a high-speed rig, your game experience might be affected by FPS spikes that may impact your performance. shroud mentioned that he’s using a GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card and a Ryzen 9 5950X processor worth $3,000, yet he still tones down the graphics to squeeze maximum performance out of his beastly machine.

In advanced competitive titles like Valorant, CSGO, and Apex Legends, minor FPS difference can make a massive difference. It’s part of the reason why so many professional players opt for low settings despite playing on fancy machines. The smallest frame disparity can lead to significant setbacks in games requiring quick reaction times. For example, your PC may load up new frames slower than the enemy, putting you at great risk in a competitive match.

shroud’s high-tech PC can certainly handle optimal graphics, but the former pro sticks to moderate settings in all titles. The sole purpose here is to achieve higher and more stable frame rates, which start dropping when there’s more graphical information per frame than your GPU can manage. It can be avoided by lowering heavier graphic effects such as anti-aliasing, shadow detail, and texture quality.

For casual players, these details might not be high on their list of priorities. But tweaking a few settings may substantially improve your gameplay.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

View full profile