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For smoother performance, start at the High preset, set a realistic frame-rate target for your monitor, enable the game’s supported upscaler in Quality mode, and disable ray tracing if the GPU is struggling. If performance is still short, move the upscaler to Balanced, then Performance, and lower shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects one step at a time. Keep textures as high as your graphics memory can stream without hitching, and enable frame generation only after the base rendered frame rate is stable.
The fastest settings sequence
A demanding demo is easiest to tune when you change one class of workload at a time. Use this order so you know which adjustment fixed a problem:
- Choose the output resolution and frame-rate target. Match the demo’s resolution to the monitor and select a target the system can sustain in the busiest scene, not just in a quiet hallway or menu.
- Start from High rather than Ultra. High usually leaves enough headroom to tune expensive options individually. Ultra can consume the available GPU time before you have identified which setting is responsible.
- Enable the supported upscaler in Quality mode. Use DLSS, FSR or XeSS only when the game exposes that option. Compare them at the same output resolution and target frame rate.
- Turn off ray tracing when GPU frame time is high. This is normally the largest single image-quality sacrifice with the largest performance return.
- Keep textures high if streaming is reliable. Textures use video memory more than shader time. Drop Ultra to High when texture streaming causes pauses, delayed detail or hitching.
- Reduce shadows, volumetric effects, reflections and screen-space effects. Lower one setting at a time and retest the same busy scene.
- Add frame generation last. It can make motion look smoother, but generated frames do not replace a stable underlying render rate.
MSI’s 2026 settings guidance identifies output resolution and ray tracing as especially costly, while upscaling and frame generation can buy performance back. The exact best combination still depends on the demo, GPU, CPU, display and target frame rate, none of which are specified here.
Set a target your monitor and system can sustain
Decide the outcome before changing sliders. A 60 Hz display does not require a 144-frame-per-second target, while a high-refresh display may make a 60 FPS lock feel less responsive. Choose a target that the system can hold in the demo’s most demanding repeatable scene. An average counter that briefly reaches the target is not enough if frame-time spikes make the camera hitch.
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Use the monitor’s native output first
Begin at the monitor’s native resolution when image clarity matters. If the GPU cannot sustain the target, use the in-game upscaler before dropping the output resolution. Upscaling preserves the selected output dimensions while rendering the scene internally at a lower resolution, then reconstructing it for display.
Separate GPU and CPU limits
When the GPU is close to full utilization and GPU frame time rises as resolution increases, resolution, ray tracing and shader-heavy effects are the likely constraints. If GPU utilization is low while the CPU is saturated or frame times spike during crowds, physics or world streaming, lowering resolution may do little. In that case, use a sensible frame cap, reduce simulation-heavy options when available, close background workloads and investigate streaming rather than blindly lowering image quality.
Choose DLSS, FSR or XeSS correctly
Use the upscaler the demo supports natively. Intel’s XeSS guidance says a title should expose quality and performance choices and warns against combining XeSS with a competing upscaler or with TAA because of possible incompatibilities. Do not stack multiple reconstruction methods.
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|---|---|---|---|
| DLSS | Renders internally below output resolution and reconstructs the image on supported GeForce RTX hardware. | Quality, then Balanced if the target is missed. | NVIDIA reported up to a 3× performance uplift in a 2020 Fortnite example with ray tracing enabled on GeForce RTX GPUs. That was a maximum reported result for that title and configuration, not a universal gain. |
| FSR | Uses AMD’s reconstruction technology to lower the internal render cost while keeping the selected output resolution. | Quality, then Balanced or Performance if necessary. | Image stability and detail depend on the game’s implementation and the selected internal-resolution mode. |
| XeSS | Reconstructs a lower-resolution render using Intel’s upscaling technology. | Quality, then Balanced, then Performance. | Intel’s 2026 documentation gives 1,920×1,080 output and a 960×540 internal render for XeSS Performance. Do not compare that mode directly with another upscaler running at a different internal resolution. |
Quality, Balanced and Performance
Quality renders internally closest to the output and normally gives the most stable fine detail. Balanced lowers the internal resolution further for a larger GPU-time saving. Performance is the emergency option for a demanding target; it can show softer edges, shimmer and lost fine detail.
Change only the upscaler mode while keeping output resolution, ray-tracing state and other settings constant. Otherwise you cannot tell whether an apparent improvement came from the upscaler or from a second change.
Check image stability, not just sharpness
Inspect foliage, thin wires, fences, hair and moving reflections while walking and panning the camera. A mode that looks sharp in a still screenshot can shimmer or crawl in motion. Judge the same scene at the same output resolution and target frame rate, and prefer the mode that maintains stable detail without repeated reconstruction artifacts.
Ray tracing: the first major cut for a struggling GPU
Disable ray tracing first when GPU frame time is high. Ray-traced reflections, shadows and global-illumination effects can add substantial ray and denoising work, as well as video-memory pressure. MSI’s 2026 guidance specifically places ray tracing among the most expensive settings.
NVIDIA’s Control graphics guide recommends a GeForce RTX 2060 or better for ray-traced play and notes that shadows carry both performance and video-memory costs. That recommendation is an anchor for the cited game and era, not a guarantee for every modern demo. A newer title may require more headroom, especially at high output resolution.
When to keep ray tracing
- Keep it enabled when the GPU has clear frame-time headroom after upscaling and the busiest scene remains consistent.
- Use a lower ray-tracing quality level, if the demo offers separate controls, before sacrificing textures that are streaming correctly.
- Disable only the ray-traced effect that causes the largest cost when the game exposes separate reflections, shadows or lighting switches.
When to turn it off
Turn it off when frame time remains too high even in Quality upscaling, when camera movement produces large spikes, or when the demo’s visual benefit is outweighed by an unstable frame rate. A stable rasterized image is usually more convincing than ray-traced effects delivered with repeated hitching.
Textures and video-memory limits
Texture resolution primarily determines how much data must fit in the GPU’s VRAM and how quickly it must be streamed. It often has less direct shader cost than resolution or ray tracing, so keep it high when the card can stream it reliably.
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NVIDIA’s Control guide advises using Texture Resolution Ultra on a modern GPU, then dropping to High if textures take too long to stream. Streaming trouble appears as pauses when entering a new area, surfaces that remain blurry, sudden texture pop-in or a hitch when the camera turns quickly.
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Signs that textures are too high
- Frame rate looks acceptable in a static location but stalls when new areas load.
- GPU memory usage is near capacity and the demo repeatedly swaps texture data.
- Textures arrive late or change from low detail to high detail after you have already passed them.
Lowering textures from Ultra to High can relieve those symptoms without the edge softness caused by lowering output resolution. If the demo offers a texture-streaming budget or cache-size option, change that only after testing the main texture-quality control.
Lower these settings after resolution, upscaling and ray tracing
Once the major GPU costs are addressed, reduce the following options one step at a time. Retest after each change so you can stop as soon as the target is met.
Shadows
Shadow resolution, cascade distance and contact-shadow quality increase draw calls, filtering and memory use. Lowering them can improve GPU frame time with a smaller overall image-quality loss than reducing output resolution. Watch for visibly unstable or overly short shadows after each step.
Volumetric effects
Fog, smoke, clouds and god rays can require expensive per-pixel work, particularly in scenes with many overlapping volumes. Reducing volumetric quality often helps in foggy or smoky areas while leaving solid-surface detail intact.
Reflections
Screen-space reflections and other reflection modes can be costly in scenes with wet floors, glass or large water surfaces. Lower them when those scenes produce the largest frame-time spikes. Screen-space methods can also lose objects that are outside the camera view; that image limitation is separate from the performance trade-off.
Screen-space effects
Ambient occlusion, depth of field, motion blur and related effects add post-processing passes. Lower ambient occlusion or depth-of-field quality if the GPU is still constrained. Disable motion blur if it makes judging camera responsiveness difficult; this changes presentation more than raw frame time on many systems, so test rather than assuming a large gain.
View distance and geometry
View distance and geometry detail can affect both GPU work and CPU submission. Lower them when the CPU is the limiting component or when distant-object density causes spikes. Keep the setting higher if the GPU is the clear bottleneck and the demo’s distant scenery is important to readability.
Frame generation: use it after the base frame rate is stable
AMD defines FSR Frame Generation as technology that “predicts and inserts new frames between rendered ones, delivering smoother and higher frame rate gaming.” The inserted frames increase the number of displayed images, but they are not independently rendered game states.
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Enable frame generation only after the non-generated frame rate is stable in the busiest scene. If the base render rate is erratic, frame generation can make the counter look high while camera response still feels uneven. It can also add latency because the display is showing predicted frames between completed rendered frames.
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What frame generation can and cannot fix
- Can help: perceived motion smoothness and displayed frame rate when the underlying render cadence is already consistent.
- Cannot fix: CPU stalls, shader-compilation pauses, texture-streaming hitches, a severely GPU-bound base render or a game simulation that updates slowly.
- May expose: ghosting, UI artifacts or incorrect motion around particles and fast camera movement, depending on the implementation.
Compare the same scene with frame generation off and on, using frame-time graphs and subjective input response rather than the displayed FPS number alone.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A repeatable testing method for the demo
Use a repeatable route through the busiest area you can access. A quiet starting room can hide the setting that fails during combat, a weather effect or a large streaming transition.
- Restart the demo or reload the same save so shader and streaming conditions are comparable.
- Use the same output resolution, upscaler mode, ray-tracing state and frame-rate cap for each run.
- Walk or drive the same route, perform the same camera pans and trigger the same visual effects.
- Record average FPS, 1% lows and a frame-time graph when the overlay provides them.
- Repeat after each individual setting change and note visible artifacts alongside the numbers.
Average FPS describes the overall mean but can hide short stalls. 1% lows and frame-time consistency reveal whether the experience remains smooth during the worst portion of the route. There is no universal benchmark threshold that guarantees a good result for every demo; use the target you selected for your monitor and judge whether the lows remain acceptable in the scenes you actually play.
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Shader-compilation stutter
If the first visit to an area or effect stutters and later passes improve, the demo may be compiling shaders or building a cache. Allow any in-game shader-preparation step to finish, avoid changing graphics APIs during testing and retest after a restart. Lowering texture quality will not necessarily solve a compilation pause.
Texture-streaming stutter
Hitches that coincide with entering new areas, turning rapidly or seeing blurry surfaces point toward streaming pressure. Lower Texture Resolution from Ultra to High and retest the same route. Keep the output resolution and upscaler unchanged so the result is attributable to texture streaming.
CPU-bound spikes
If GPU utilization falls during a hitch while the CPU is busy, lower resolution or ray tracing may not help. Reduce view distance, crowd or simulation settings when available, cap the frame rate below the point where the CPU saturates and close unnecessary background processes.
GPU-bound spikes
If the GPU remains fully utilized and GPU frame time rises in effects-heavy scenes, use the sequence in this article: Quality upscaling, ray tracing off, then shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects. Check the busiest scene after every change.
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Toggle frame generation off to establish the base cadence. If the perceived hitching or ghosting disappears, keep the base settings and decide whether the smoother displayed motion is worth the artifacts and added latency for your game type.
Practical starting profiles
| Situation | Starting configuration | Next adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| GPU is heavily loaded at native resolution | High preset, supported upscaler in Quality, ray tracing off | Move the upscaler to Balanced, then Performance, before lowering several secondary settings. |
| Ray tracing causes large frame-time spikes | High preset, upscaler in Quality, ray tracing disabled | Test a lower ray-tracing mode only if the busiest scene remains stable. |
| Textures pop in or area transitions hitch | Keep output and upscaler unchanged; set textures from Ultra to High | Retest the same streaming route before changing other image-quality options. |
| Average FPS is high but motion is uneven | Disable frame generation temporarily and inspect 1% lows and frame time | Address shader, CPU or streaming spikes before re-enabling generated frames. |
| CPU is the limiting component | Keep a reasonable output resolution and reduce view distance or simulation-heavy options | Use a frame cap that prevents CPU saturation and retest crowded scenes. |
When a hardware upgrade is the right answer
Software tuning cannot create unlimited GPU time or VRAM. If the demo still misses the target with ray tracing disabled, the supported upscaler in Performance mode and secondary effects reduced, the remaining gap may require faster hardware or a lower output target.
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 recommendation for ray-traced play in its Control guide provides a concrete baseline for that title, but it should not be treated as a universal minimum for current demos. Compare your card’s available VRAM, sustained GPU frame time and the demo’s published requirements before buying anything. A faster GPU helps GPU-bound resolution and ray-tracing workloads; it will not automatically fix CPU stalls or poorly paced streaming.
One final tuning pass
After every major change, return to the same demanding scene and verify three things separately: the frame-rate target is met, frame times remain consistent and the image still contains the detail you care about. Save the resulting settings as a custom preset so a driver update, demo patch or resolution change does not force you to repeat the entire process.
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