How to Optimize Renderer Count in Call of Duty for Higher FPS & Smoother Gameplay

Want to get smoother performance and higher FPS in Warzone, Modern Warfare, or other Call of Duty titles? Adjusting the Renderer Worker Count setting can give your system a noticeable boost, especially if you have a multi-core CPU. This guide walks you through tuning this hidden setting for your specific processor so you can unlock better frame pacing and reduce stutters.

What Is Renderer Worker Count?

The Renderer Worker Count setting controls how many CPU threads the game uses for rendering frames. By default, Call of Duty tries to automatically detect this value - but it often overshoots or undershoots, depending on your CPU architecture.

Setting it manually allows better control over performance. It’s especially useful for reducing microstutters and maximizing 1% lows.

Why Customize Renderer Count?

Here’s what fine-tuning this setting can unlock:

• Smoother frame pacing — fewer stutters and spikes
• Higher average FPS — better CPU thread utilization
• Lower input latency — helpful for competitive play

Before You Adjust Renderer Count

Run through these quick checks:

• ✅ Make sure you know your CPU’s core layout (P-Cores vs E-Cores for Intel 12th/13th/14th Gen)
• ✅ Benchmark your current performance for comparison
• ✅ Update your game and drivers to the latest version

How to Set Renderer Count

This setting isn’t found in the in-game UI. You’ll need to edit your configuration file manually:

Step 1: Locate the Config File

• Each Call of Duty title stores its config files in slightly different locations and formats.
• Here’s where to look:
  • Modern Titles (MWII, MWIII, BO6): Documents\Call of Duty\ - files may appear as s.1.0.cod24.txt0, etc.
  • Older Titles (Cold War, Vanguard, MW19 and earlier): Stored under their full title - e.g., Documents\Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War\players\
• Look for files like:
  • adv_options.ini
  • options.ini
  • config.cfg
  • s.1.0.cod24.txt0 (for BO6 or COD HQ-based titles)
• If you're not sure, open each file in a text editor and search for RendererWorkerCount.

Step 2: Edit the Value

• Find or add the line: RendererWorkerCount = X
• Intel with P-Cores: Set X to your number of P-Cores minus 1
  e.g. 8 P-Cores → RendererWorkerCount = 7
• AMD or CPUs without hybrid cores: Use physical core count or physical cores - 1

Step 3: Save and Lock (Optional)

• Save the file
• Right-click → Properties → Check “Read-only” to prevent overwriting

How to Confirm It’s Working

• Use an FPS monitor (like RivaTuner with MSI Afterburner) to view frame times
• Watch for reduced stutters and higher 1%/0.1% lows during gameplay

Troubleshooting Tips

• Stuttering? Lower the count by 1 or try letting the game auto-detect
• CPU spiking? Consider capping FPS or using V-Sync
• Warzone crashing? Set file back to default and remove read-only

Final Thoughts

Adjusting the renderer count is a simple but powerful optimization - especially for gamers on Intel CPUs with multiple P-Cores. It’s one of the easiest ways to get more from your system without overclocking or hardware tweaks.

Combine this with GPU tuning or RAM optimizations for the ultimate CoD performance setup.

Check out our full performance tweak library for Call of Duty titles on this blog!