Best Settings for Your Hardware
Choose a game and your hardware to get estimated graphics settings, resolution guidance, upscaling options, and bottleneck checks. Reviewed game guides include source-backed tuning notes.
GameOptimizer is a free tool that tells you exactly which graphics settings to use for the games you actually play, based on the hardware you actually own. Pick your GPU (RTX 4060 to RTX 5090, RX 7600 to RX 7900 XTX, Intel Arc, and dozens more), pick your CPU, choose your game, and we'll recommend a balanced set of settings — resolution, preset, DLSS/FSR, ray tracing, textures, shadows — tuned to deliver smooth framerates without giving up unnecessary visual quality.
The calculator includes a broad selection of PC games. Around 50 of them—including Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, Counter-Strike 2, and Red Dead Redemption 2—also have source-backed editorial guidance covering the settings and bottlenecks that matter most.
Beyond settings, GameOptimizer flags likely CPU, GPU, VRAM, and RAM bottlenecksand explains which settings to adjust first. You can also use the GPU Finder to compare estimated hardware tiers for a chosen game, resolution, and target framerate.
Curious how the recommendations are calculated? Read our How It Works methodology page or learn more about us.
Understanding VRAM Limits in 1440p Gaming
Why an 8 GB card can look fast in averages but hitch in real play, and how to tune 1440p without throwing away image quality.
ReadDLSS vs. Native Rendering: Performance and Image Quality
DLSS Quality can beat weak native anti-aliasing, but it is not automatically best. Here is what changes by resolution, motion, and target FPS.
ReadHow to Reduce System Latency in Competitive Shooters
High FPS helps, but latency is a chain. Tune the game, render queue, display, mouse, and background load without unstable placebo tweaks.
ReadHow to Optimize Any PC Game: A Step-by-Step Workflow
One workflow that works for every game: pick a target, find the bottleneck, tune in order, verify in a demanding scene.
ReadThe recommendation is calculated from the same hardware and game profiles used across GameOptimizer. It is not a random preset or an AI-written answer.
Each GPU and CPU receives a relative performance tier derived from public benchmark hierarchies and cross-checked performance patterns. The selected game contributes its own demand profile, base performance reference, competitive target, supported upscalers, ray-tracing behavior, and known engine constraints. The calculator combines those inputs with RAM capacity and resolution.
A large gap between the CPU and GPU tiers can indicate that one part will wait on the other. Resolution changes that balance: lower resolutions and very high frame-rate targets expose CPU limits, while 1440p, 4K, ray tracing, and heavier effects put more work on the GPU. The tool then adjusts the preset, textures, shadows, upscaling mode, and ray tracing to seek the best visual result near the target frame rate.
Results are estimates, not measurements from a physical copy of every possible PC. Drivers, cooling, game patches, background applications, and the scene being rendered can change real performance. Read the full testing and estimation methodology for the calculation rules and limitations.
Average FPS does not explain every poor experience. Use these symptoms to identify the constraint before replacing hardware or dropping image quality unnecessarily.
01
Watch frame time rather than average FPS. Short spikes often come from shader compilation, background overlays, a full system-memory pool, thermal throttling, or assets streaming from slow storage. Update the graphics driver, close unnecessary overlays, verify temperatures, and test the same route twice before lowering every graphics option. If the second run is smoother, shader compilation was probably the cause.
02
A VRAM limit usually appears as sudden hitching, delayed textures, or performance that collapses after entering a new area. Lower texture quality one step, disable high-resolution texture packs, reduce ray-traced effects, and keep an upscaler on Quality mode. Lowering shadows alone rarely fixes a memory-capacity problem.
03
A stable 60 FPS can feel better than an average of 90 FPS that repeatedly drops. Use a sensible frame cap a few frames below the monitor limit, enable G-Sync or FreeSync where supported, and compare V-Sync on and off. Test in a demanding repeatable scene and prioritize the 1% low result over the highest number you briefly see.
Performance: Medium to high GPU cost; long shadow distance can also burden the CPU.
Best starting point: High usually preserves the important contact shadows. Move to Medium first when a busy outdoor area misses your target.
Performance: Very high GPU cost, with additional VRAM use and possible CPU overhead.
Best starting point: Start with reflections only. Full global illumination or path tracing belongs on faster hardware with upscaling enabled.
Performance: Raises FPS by rendering below the output resolution and reconstructing the final image.
Best starting point: Quality mode is the best first choice at 1440p or 4K. Balanced is useful when Quality still misses the target; Performance is best reserved for 4K or unusually heavy ray tracing.
Performance: Often a substantial GPU cost in scenes with clouds, smoke, or light shafts.
Best starting point: Medium commonly retains the atmosphere while removing expensive samples that are difficult to notice during normal play.