Summary
- Upscaling technologies like DLSS and FSR can improve gaming performance without significant loss of visual quality.
- Adjusting lighting settings can provide a performance boost and have a significant impact on visual quality, particularly in games with ray-tracing.
- Volumetric settings, including lighting, fog, and clouds, can be taxing on hardware and should be optimized for better frame rates. Use a frame rate counter to monitor performance during gameplay.
Game optimization is a more relevant topic now than it ever has been since we're seeing more demanding PC games that can bring even the best graphics cards down to their knees. I wish there was an easier way to optimize games on the PC than painstakingly tweaking settings to see what sticks, but that's not the case. Each game is a little different, meaning they react to changes and run differently on many PCs, making it a struggle to know what to start.
Nvidia's GeForce Experience game optimizer is the closest thing I've seen to a one-click game optimizer, but it's not without flaws. That leaves us with manual optimization to get the best performance, which is what I prefer. I've spent a lot of time digging through game settings over the years and have narrowed the process to a few settings that I tweak before any others when optimizing PC performance.
4 Use upscaling technologies
DLSS and FSR have changed gaming for the better
You are likely to find either Nvidia's DLSS or AMD's FSR (or both in some cases) upscaling tech in most modern games, and I can't recommend them enough. Yes, there is an argument to be made about the loss of visual fidelity while rendering the game at a relatively lower resolution and upscaling it, but I haven't had any issues using either of them. I say that because I start with the 'Quality' upscaling mode before making further adjustments, but usually stick with either 'Quality' or 'Balanced' modes for the best results. You can also use features like Frame Generation or AMD's Fluid Motion Frames for a smoother experience.
I've had more luck optimizing and getting better results with Nvidia's DLSS than AMD's FSR, but they're both in very good shape in 2023 and will help you get better performance in games. The upscale is often the first setting I tweak to determine if I can achieve the desired results before messing with anything else. It's a great way to see instant performance gains without compromising on other visual aspects. Yes, there is a bit of an image quality trade-off, but it's often negligible and is worth it for the performance gains. So, if the game you're looking to optimize supports DLSS or FSR, take advantage of it and save the hassle of tweaking other settings to achieve the desired results.
3 Adjust the lighting
Applies to both games with or without ray-tracing
Before you jump into other graphics settings like volumetrics and post-processing, I recommend turning to the lighting settings. A collection of these settings, including lighting, shadows, ambient occlusion, etc., tends to be among the most taxing on hardware. But because these settings also have the most impact on the visual quality, I suggest tweaking them before the others for a good performance boost.
Tweaking the lighting settings is particularly important with games that use ray-tracing or path-tracing to add more scene realism. Ray-tracing implementations tend to be even more taxing on the hardware, so I only recommend using them with an accompanying upscaling setting for the best results. I find it tempting to enable ray-tracing whenever possible, but even a relatively high-end GPU like my RTX 4070 Ti often struggles to maintain good frame rates, forcing me to turn them off or use them only in combination with DLSS.
2 Don't ignore volumetric settings
These can be very taxing on the hardware
Don't make the same mistake as I did and ignore the volumetric settings, as they can be equally taxing on your hardware. Volumetric settings, in case you are wondering, include volumetric lighting, fog, and cloud, which can severely tank your game's frame rates. These are definitely among the first settings you should optimize before jumping into a game. Both volumetric fog and cloud don't have as much of an impact as volumetric lighting, so you can save a lot of performance by flicking them all the way down without seeing a huge impact on visuals.
Below are two screenshots highlighting the difference in a scene from Alan Wake 2 when viewed with and without volumetric lighting and fog. You miss out on some detailing, but the scene without the settings is also rendered more smoothly for a better in-game experience.
1 Use a frame rate counter
Better than eye-balling how smoothly a game runs
Consider this a bonus tip, but I believe it's equally important to ensure correct optimization. I always make it a point to enable a persistent frame rate counter in the top-right corner of the screen while playing a new game, and I highly recommend you do it too. A frame rate counter doesn't have to be constantly monitored, but using it — at least for the initial duration of the game — will help you quickly identify the in-game locations and scenes that are demanding on the graphics card and determine how much of an impact they have on performance.
A persistent counter helps me occasionally keep tabs on game performance to ensure everything is fine. I even have a detailed performance overview in some cases, but I usually disable both once I know no adjustments have to be made. I find having a dedicated frame rate counter more reassuring than eye-balling the fps or just feeling how smoothly a game runs. Most games have a frame rate counter these days, but you can also use the one that's built into Nvidia GeForce Experience or AMD Adrenaline software.
Final thoughts
Optimizing a game is an iterative process that takes lots of time and effort to get right. Just make sure you're tuning the right settings to hit the desired frame rate without compromising the visuals too much. Use that as a starting point, and enjoy the game before making further adjustments. You can always go back and tweak the settings as you progress and unlock new locations and visuals, so don't spend too much time on the initial optimization.