When you launch a game on your PC, you’ll usually see multiple display options available: fullscreen, windowed, and borderless fullscreen. Fullscreen and borderless fullscreen look nearly identical since both stretch the game across your entire display, but under the hood, they work very differently. Whether you’re aiming for competitive performance or just a smooth multitasking experience, understanding the pros and cons of each can help you choose the right one for your setup.
So what is fullscreen mode? It gives your game exclusive control of the display. This means Windows steps aside, dedicating most of your system’s graphics resources to the game itself, which can help you eke out more performance from the most cost-effective AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards. As a result, fullscreen often provides slightly better frame rates, lower input latency, and overall smoother performance. This is why esports professionals and competitive gamers tend to stick with fullscreen. Every millisecond counts in competitive gaming, and fullscreen mode minimizes the small delays caused by desktop rendering. However, fullscreen isn’t great with multitasking. Alt-tabbing out of a game can be slow, and sometimes you may encounter screen flickering or crashes when switching between apps.
What is borderless fullscreen?
Borderless fullscreen is technically a windowed mode that removes borders and stretches the image to fit your monitor. The big advantage comes from convenience. You can quickly Alt-Tab over to another program, drag your mouse to a second monitor, or run apps in the background, such as Discord and OBS, without issue. For streamers, content creators, or casual players who bounce between tasks, this mode is far more flexible.
The downside is that Windows still manages desktop composition in the background, which can lead to slightly higher input latency or marginally lower frame rates compared to fullscreen. Similar to the effect of enabling Windows’ ultimate performance power plan, the gains from settings like fullscreen mode are usually small and often unnoticeable unless you’re pushing for the highest competitive edge.
So, which one should you use? Well, if you’re particularly focused on performance in fast-paced titles like Valorant, CS2, or Fortnite, fullscreen remains the best option for reducing latency and maximizing FPS. On the other hand, if you’re streaming, multitasking, or playing an immersive single-player game like Eternal Strands, which combines all your favorite games, then a few extra milliseconds doesn’t matter; borderless fullscreen provides a more seamless experience. Some enjoy playing games in fullscreen as they find it to be more immersive, while others prefer borderless fullscreen, but it’s up to your own personal preferences as to which will feel better for you.
