Modern PC games offer a wide array of graphics settings that can dramatically impact both the visual fidelity of your game and the performance (i.e., your frame rate). The New Team of Weapons and Tactics has compiled a list of common graphical settings that are often made available in PC games along with a detailed explanations to help players decide which settings they may wish to tweak and why.
Resolution
What It Is: Resolution is the number of pixels displayed on your screen, typically written as width x height (e.g., 1920×1080). The higher the resolution, the more pixels you have, meaning sharper and more detailed images.
- Higher Resolution: Improves visual clarity but can significantly lower performance on older or less powerful hardware.
- Lower Resolution: Boosts performance and frame rate, but images look blurrier or “blockier.”
- Native Resolution: The resolution your monitor or laptop display is designed for. Running the game at your display’s native resolution usually looks best.
Fullscreen / Windowed Modes
What It Is: Tells the game how to occupy your screen. Generally, you have:
- Fullscreen: Game takes over the entire display. Can offer slightly better performance because the PC focuses resources on one program.
- Windowed: Runs in a window, letting you see the desktop or other apps. Easier for multitasking, but might reduce performance.
- Borderless Windowed (Windowed Fullscreen): A hybrid approach that looks fullscreen but still behaves like a window—allows easier tab-out to other applications.
V-Sync (Vertical Sync)
What It Is: Synchronizes the game’s frame rate with your monitor’s refresh rate to reduce screen tearing (where parts of multiple frames appear on screen at once).
- On: Eliminates or reduces tearing but can introduce input lag or lower FPS (especially if your system can’t maintain the monitor’s refresh rate).
- Off: May lead to horizontal tearing if FPS exceeds or doesn’t match your monitor’s refresh rate.
Refresh Rate
What It Is: The number of times your monitor can “refresh” its image per second (measured in Hertz: Hz). Commonly 60Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, or even higher.
- Higher Refresh Rates: Smoother motion and responsiveness, provided your hardware can produce enough FPS to match it.
- Settings in Game: Some games let you choose a refresh rate if your monitor supports multiple (e.g., 60Hz vs. 144Hz). Matching your preferred refresh rate is ideal for smooth gameplay.
Anti-Aliasing
What It Is: Reduces the “jagged edges” that appear on diagonal or curved lines by smoothing or blending pixel edges. Various AA methods exist:
- MSAA (Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing): Higher quality but more GPU-intensive. Often labeled 2x, 4x, 8x, etc.
- FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing): Less intensive on performance, but can make the image appear slightly blurry.
- TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing): Uses information from previous frames for smoother edges. Good balance of quality and performance, can introduce mild ghosting.
Texture Quality
What It Is: Determines the resolution of the game’s surface detail images (textures). Higher-quality textures yield sharper surfaces on characters, walls, weapons, etc.
- Ultra or High: Very detailed surfaces, but can use a lot of video memory (VRAM).
- Medium or Low: Lower VRAM usage and better performance, but detail on surfaces becomes blurrier.
- Video Memory Limit: If your GPU has limited VRAM, using too high a setting can cause stuttering or slowdowns.
Anisotropic Filtering
What It Is: Improves clarity of textures at oblique viewing angles (like looking across a floor or down a road). Typically expressed as 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x.
- Higher Settings (8x, 16x): Far sharper textures at steep angles, minimal performance impact on most modern systems.
- Lower Settings: Less clarity at a distance or at an angle but saves a small amount of GPU resources.
Shadow Quality
What It Is: Controls how detailed and crisp shadows appear. Often includes settings like “Low,” “Medium,” “High,” or “Ultra.”
- Higher (Ultra/High): More realistic, sharper shadows, but can be GPU-intensive.
- Lower (Medium/Low): Fuzzier or blocky shadows, better performance.
- Shadow Distance: Reducing how far out detailed shadows render can dramatically improve FPS.
Ambient Occlusion (AO)
What It Is: Simulates subtle shadowing where surfaces meet or occlude light (like corners of a room). Examples include SSAO, HBAO, HDAO, etc.
- SSAO: Basic, moderate performance cost.
- HBAO / HDAO / GTAO: More advanced, darker contact shadows; heavier on performance.
- Off: Disables extra contact shadows, boosting FPS but making scenes look flatter.
Post-Processing Effects
What It Is: A collective term for effects applied after the initial 3D rendering, such as color grading, film grain, lens flares, or color correction.
- High Post-Processing: Adds cinematic polish, can cost some performance.
- Lower or Off: Fewer visual enhancements but often higher FPS and a cleaner look if you dislike “film” filters.
Lighting & Bloom
What It Is: Bloom creates a glow or “halo” effect around bright light sources. Advanced lighting may include volumetric lighting or global illumination.
- Bloom Enabled: Lights appear more intense and glowy; can be immersive or overdone depending on taste.
- Volumetric Lighting: Adds atmospheric effects like light rays or fog shafts. Visually impressive but GPU-heavy.
Depth of Field (DoF)
What It Is: Simulates the camera focusing on a subject while blurring background or foreground objects. Common in cutscenes or aiming down sights.
- On (High/Ultra): Adds cinematic focus shifts but can be distracting in fast-paced gameplay.
- Off or Low: Removes the blur effect, providing a sharper, all-encompassing view—often preferred for competitive play.
Motion Blur
What It Is: Simulates the blur effect when objects or the camera move quickly.
- On: Adds a sense of speed or cinematic style; some find it disorienting.
- Off: Clearer picture while moving, often favored by competitive gamers.
Field of View (FOV)
What It Is: Determines the width of your in-game viewpoint in degrees. A high FOV (like 100–120) shows more of the environment, whereas lower FOV (60–70) zooms in more.
- Higher FOV: Increases peripheral vision (good for awareness), can cause “fish-eye” distortion at very high values.
- Lower FOV: Less distortion, small performance boost, but narrows your overall view.
Screen Space Reflections (SSR)
What It Is: Reflective effects on wet surfaces, water, metal, or glass using on-screen imagery. If something is off-screen, it won’t reflect accurately.
- High SSR: Realistic reflections, moderate to high performance cost.
- Off / Low: Surfaces look less reflective but significantly improves performance on lower-end systems.
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
What It Is: Allows for a greater range of brightness and color depth if you have an HDR-capable monitor or TV.
- Compatible Display Required: You must use an HDR-ready display via a supported connection (e.g., DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0+).
- Enhanced Colors & Brightness: Whites can be brighter, blacks deeper, with minimal performance impact.
Gamma / Brightness
What It Is: Adjusts overall brightness levels and color balance to ensure you can see detail in dark areas without washing out the image.
- Higher Gamma: Makes dark areas more visible but can wash out colors.
- Lower Gamma: Preserves richer dark tones but may make some areas too dark to see.
Upscaling & AI Rendering Technologies
Modern GPUs and game engines often include advanced features that can improve performance by rendering the game at a lower resolution and then upscaling it to your monitor’s native resolution. Some of these technologies use artificial intelligence or machine learning to enhance clarity. Below are the most common upscaling methods:
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AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR):
FSR is AMD’s upscaling technique designed to boost frame rates while minimizing the loss in visual quality. The game is rendered at a lower resolution internally, then FSR reconstructs or sharpens the final image.- Pros: Typically easy to implement, supports a wide range of GPUs (not just AMD).
- Cons: May not look as sharp as some AI-based solutions at extreme upscale ratios.
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“FSLR” or Other Experimental Techniques:
There are newer or experimental upscaling technologies sometimes referenced as “FSLR” or “Frame Super Resolution.” These aim to provide similar benefits to FSR—sometimes focusing on foveated rendering or more advanced reconstruction steps.- Pros: Potential for better performance at high resolutions, often in early or experimental stages.
- Cons: May be less polished or widely supported than mainstream FSR/DLSS solutions.
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Intel XeSS:
Intel’s AI-driven upscaling method, similar in concept to DLSS or FSR. It uses machine learning to produce detailed images from lower-resolution renders.- Pros: Designed for Intel GPUs but can also run on non-Intel hardware in fallback modes.
- Cons: May require game-specific support and driver updates; performance and quality vary.
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NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) 3, 4, etc.:
DLSS uses specialized Tensor Cores on NVIDIA RTX GPUs for AI-based upscaling. DLSS 3 introduced “Frame Generation,” creating extra frames for smoother motion. DLSS 4 (if officially confirmed or future versions) would likely further refine image quality and performance.- Pros: Often the highest image quality among upscaling methods, especially at higher “Quality” modes. DLSS 3’s frame generation can dramatically boost perceived FPS.
- Cons: Limited to RTX GPUs that support it, and frame generation may introduce slight input lag or artifacts if the game or hardware can’t handle it smoothly.
Upscaling Tips:
- Balance Mode vs. Quality vs. Performance: Many upscaling methods let you choose a preset (Quality, Balanced, Performance, Ultra Performance). Higher “Quality” modes render at a resolution closer to native, meaning crisper visuals but smaller FPS gains. “Performance” modes maximize FPS but can look softer.
- GPU Compatibility: Check whether your GPU supports these features. For example, DLSS requires an NVIDIA RTX card, while FSR works on a wider range of GPUs.
- In-Game or Driver Settings: Some upscaling options might be toggled in-game, while others may appear in your GPU’s control panel (e.g., AMD Software, NVIDIA Control Panel).
- Test and Compare: If your game supports multiple upscaling methods (e.g., FSR vs. DLSS vs. XeSS), try them all to see which yields the best combination of performance and visual clarity for your setup.
General Tips
Balancing image quality and performance is key. Here are some final pointers:
- Prioritize Performance vs. Visuals: If you have a powerful GPU, max out settings. Otherwise, reduce the most intensive options first (shadows, resolution, anti-aliasing).
- Benchmark: Many games have built-in tests to show you FPS impacts when you change settings.
- Update Drivers: Keep graphics drivers current for best stability and performance.
- Consider CPU & RAM: Some settings (like draw distance or AI updates) can stress your CPU more than your GPU.
- Check VRAM Usage: Game menus often show VRAM usage. Keep it under your GPU’s limit to avoid stuttering.