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For most PCs, the best route to smoother Star Wars Outlaws performance is to start from Ubisoft’s hardware target, keep the upscaler on Quality, reduce ray-tracing features before lowering output resolution, and test changes on a repeatable outdoor route. Ubisoft’s published targets range from 1080p at 30 FPS on Low to 4K at 60 FPS on Ultra, all with Quality upscaling; those figures are targets rather than guarantees. Medium ray tracing alone cut PCGamesN’s test result from 91.7 FPS to 67.4 FPS, so RT is usually the first major performance lever.
Ubisoft’s official PC targets
Use the nearest official tier as your starting point, not as a promise that every scene will hold the listed frame rate. Ubisoft’s specifications pair each target with a preset, Quality upscaling, 16 GB of dual-channel memory and a 65 GB SSD.
| Target tier | Resolution and frame rate | Preset | Example GPU | Memory and storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1080p at 30 FPS | Low | Ubisoft’s minimum-tier GPU example | 16 GB dual-channel RAM; 65 GB SSD |
| Recommended | 1080p at 60 FPS | High | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti class | 16 GB dual-channel RAM; 65 GB SSD |
| Enthusiast | 1440p at 60 FPS | High | GeForce RTX 4070 class | 16 GB dual-channel RAM; 65 GB SSD |
| Ultra | 4K at 60 FPS | Ultra | GeForce RTX 4080 class | 16 GB dual-channel RAM; 65 GB SSD |
The RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 4070 and RTX 4080 examples are comparison anchors from Ubisoft’s 2024 specifications. CPU model, VRAM, driver version, operating-system load and game patch can move actual results above or below a tier. Open-world traversal and busy settlements are more demanding than a quiet interior, so a single favorable scene is not a reliable performance guarantee.
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Prepare a trustworthy baseline
Optimization works only when you can tell which change helped. The PC release does not include a built-in benchmark tool, so create your own repeatable test before changing settings.
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- Update the game. Install the current game update available for your platform. Patch behavior can alter performance, image quality and feature availability.
- Update the graphics driver. Reboot after installation so the new driver is actually active.
- Use the display’s native resolution. Begin at 1920×1080, 2560×1440 or 3840×2160 as appropriate for your monitor. Let the upscaler, rather than a non-native desktop mode, provide the first performance adjustment.
- Record a demanding route. Travel through the same outdoor stretch, city district or combat encounter for several minutes. Include traversal because streaming new areas can expose CPU, storage and shader-compilation limits that an indoor room hides.
- Log more than the FPS counter. Note average FPS, one-percent-low behavior if your overlay provides it, visible stutter and input latency. A higher average with uneven frame times can feel worse than a lower, stable result.
Change one major setting group at a time, repeat the route and write down the result. This avoids attributing a gain to the wrong option when several controls were changed together.
Choose the nearest starting profile
1080p at 60 FPS
Start with the High preset, Quality upscaling and moderate ray tracing. Ubisoft uses an RTX 3060 Ti-class card as its 1080p/60 High example. If the demanding route falls below your target, reduce ray-traced reflections or direct lighting first, then test object detail and volumetric effects. Keep the output resolution at 1080p while you make those changes so image sharpness remains consistent.
1440p at 60 FPS
Start with High, Quality upscaling and an RTX 4070-class baseline, matching Ubisoft’s enthusiast example. Tune ray-tracing options before moving from Quality to Balanced upscaling. Balanced can recover GPU headroom, but it renders from a lower internal resolution and may soften distant detail or introduce more temporal artifacts.
4K at 60 FPS
Use Ultra, Quality upscaling and an RTX 4080-class baseline as the initial target. If the route is too slow, lower ray-traced effects first, then test Balanced upscaling. Treat lowering the monitor’s output resolution as a later step because it changes the presentation more noticeably than an individual RT setting.
Systems below the recommended tier
A computer near the minimum specification should target 1080p/30 on Low rather than trying to preserve High-quality effects. Use a sustainable frame-rate cap and prioritize consistent frame times. If traversal still stutters after sensible settings changes, the limitation may be CPU throughput, VRAM, memory bandwidth or asset streaming rather than a single graphics option.
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Set the upscaler before fine-tuning quality
Star Wars Outlaws supports NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, Intel XeSS 1.3 and AMD FSR 3.0, including upscaling and frame-generation options. Ubisoft’s hardware targets assume the upscaler is set to Quality, so begin there.
- GeForce RTX: Start with DLSS Quality when the option is available.
- Radeon: Start with FSR 3 Quality.
- Intel Arc: Start with XeSS Quality.
Compare motion clarity, thin geometry, foliage and distant signage while moving through the test route. Do not judge an upscaler from a static screenshot alone; temporal reconstruction can look acceptable while stationary and break up during camera pans. Move to Balanced only after reducing expensive effects has failed to meet the target, and recheck both image stability and frame pacing.
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Upscaling lowers the internal render resolution while preserving the selected output resolution. It cannot remove a CPU bottleneck, storage hitch or shader-compilation pause, and a lower internal resolution does not make a weak processor faster.
Use ray tracing as the first major performance lever
Ray tracing can consume substantial GPU time in this game. PCGamesN reported 91.7 FPS average for its non-ray-traced profile and 67.4 FPS average with medium ray tracing on its own test system. Those are test-system measurements, not universal results; your GPU, CPU, driver and patch can produce different numbers.
When the GPU is saturated, lower ray-traced options in this order:
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- Ray-traced reflections: Reflections in wet surfaces, windows and polished materials can be costly. Lower this setting and retest scenes containing reflective surfaces.
- Ray-traced diffuse reflections: This affects indirect reflected light. Reduce it when image quality remains acceptable but RT lighting is consuming too much budget.
- Ray-traced shadows: Lowering shadow quality can recover performance in scenes with many light sources and long view distances.
- RTX direct lighting: Reduce this when the overall RT lighting load is the limiting factor, especially in dense settlements or interiors with multiple lights.
Do not assume every RT option costs the same amount on every GPU. Toggle one group, run the same route and keep the setting only if the frame-time improvement is visible. If the GPU is not near full utilization, lowering RT will not fix a CPU-bound scene.
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After ray tracing and upscaling are set, test the options that affect scene complexity and atmospheric effects. The available evidence does not establish a universal FPS percentage for each control, so treat the following as candidates to measure rather than guaranteed gains.
Object detail and view distance
Lower object detail when traversal through open areas or cities causes sustained drops while GPU utilization is high. Watch for changes in geometry pop-in and distant environmental detail. If the drop occurs only when entering a new area and GPU utilization is low, object detail may not be the root cause; investigate CPU and streaming behavior instead.
Volumetric effects
Fog, dust, smoke and other volumetrics can be expensive in scenes with heavy atmosphere or many lights. Reduce volumetric quality when those effects coincide with the slowest portions of your route. Check dark interiors and bright outdoor scenes because the visual trade-off is not uniform.
Shadows and reflections without RT
If RT has already been reduced and the GPU remains the bottleneck, test conventional shadow and reflection quality. Make one change, repeat the route and compare frame-time consistency, not only the peak FPS.
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Preset changes
A preset is a useful starting point, not an optimization strategy. Dropping from Ultra to High changes several controls simultaneously and makes it difficult to know which compromise mattered. Use a preset to establish a baseline, then customize the costly groups individually.
Frame generation: useful, but not a substitute for a strong base rate
Frame generation inserts AI-created frames between traditionally rendered frames. It can raise the displayed counter, but it does not make the underlying simulation or input response equivalent to rendering every frame natively. Evaluate latency and frame pacing as well as the headline FPS.
Ubisoft’s Title Update 1.5.1, released on 6 February 2025, added RTX 50-series support and DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation. Ubisoft describes the feature as generating up to three frames for each traditionally rendered frame on GeForce RTX 50-series hardware. Availability of other frame-generation modes depends on the GPU and the selected game settings.
- First establish a stable rendered base rate with upscaling and RT tuned.
- Enable the frame-generation mode supported by your GPU and game version.
- Repeat the same route and watch for uneven pacing, ghosting or added input delay.
- Keep it enabled only when the result feels smoother in actual play, not merely faster in an overlay.
Cap FPS for consistency
The PC version supports uncapped frame rates, but uncapped output can oscillate between a high peak and a much lower outdoor rate. Set a cap your system can hold in the worst section of the route. A stable 60 FPS cap, for example, is preferable to fluctuating between 75 and 45 FPS if your display and latency priorities allow it. Re-test the cap after major patches or driver changes because the sustainable rate can move.
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GPU-limited behavior
- GPU utilization stays near full load during the slow scene.
- Lowering resolution, upscaling quality or RT produces a measurable gain.
- Reducing CPU-heavy settings does little.
Lower RT, then move the upscaler from Quality to Balanced if necessary. Preserve output resolution until those options are exhausted.
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CPU-limited behavior
- GPU utilization falls below full load while FPS remains low.
- Busy cities, traversal and crowds are slower than quiet interiors.
- Lowering resolution or RT has little effect.
Test object detail and other scene-complexity settings, close background workloads and use a sustainable cap. A faster GPU will not solve a processor limit.
Streaming, memory or shader stutter
- Short freezes occur when entering new areas even though average FPS looks acceptable.
- The issue is more obvious on a hard drive or nearly full storage device.
- Frame-time spikes remain after lowering image quality.
Install the game on an SSD with at least the specified 65 GB available, leave additional free space for the operating system and updates, and allow shader compilation or first-run processing to complete. Verify that 16 GB of dual-channel memory is installed as Ubisoft specifies; background applications can reduce the amount available to the game.
Image-quality problems after upscaling
- Foliage shimmers or fine wires break up during movement.
- Distant text becomes unstable when the camera pans.
- Balanced looks noticeably softer than Quality.
Return to Quality, compare the three supported upscalers available for your GPU, and lower RT or volumetrics instead of immediately reducing internal resolution. Different reconstruction methods can behave differently with the same scene.
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- Write down your GPU, CPU, VRAM, system memory, monitor resolution and current driver.
- Select the closest Ubisoft tier and its associated preset.
- Set the display to native resolution and the GPU-appropriate upscaler to Quality.
- Choose a moderate RT level, or disable RT for a clean baseline comparison.
- Run the same demanding outdoor or city route and record average FPS, frame-time behavior and visual issues.
- Change ray-traced reflections, diffuse reflections, shadows or direct lighting one at a time.
- If needed, test object detail and volumetrics individually.
- Try Balanced upscaling only after the preceding steps, then repeat the image-quality check.
- Enable supported frame generation and evaluate latency and pacing, not just the counter.
- Apply a cap below the lowest sustained rate in your route and verify that gameplay remains smooth.
Practical starting profiles
| Goal | Initial settings | First changes when FPS is low | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p/60 | High preset; Quality upscaler; moderate RT | RT reflections or direct lighting, then object detail or volumetrics | City traversal and reflective surfaces |
| 1440p/60 | High preset; Quality upscaler; RTX 4070-class baseline | RT options first; Balanced upscaling only after testing | Image softness and one-percent lows |
| 4K/60 | Ultra preset; Quality upscaler; RTX 4080-class baseline | RT options, then Balanced upscaling; output-resolution reduction last | GPU utilization and frame-time stability |
| 1080p/30 on lower-tier hardware | Low preset; Quality upscaler; RT minimized or disabled | Object detail and volumetrics, then a lower cap if required | Traversal stutter and CPU utilization |
Hardware and storage decisions
Ubisoft lists a 65 GB SSD requirement for every PC tier. An SSD is therefore a prerequisite, not an optional enhancement, and the motherboard must support the drive’s interface. Keep more free space than the stated requirement so updates and shader caches do not compete with the installation.
The official GPU anchors—RTX 3060 Ti for 1080p/60 High, RTX 4070 for 1440p/60 High and RTX 4080 for 4K/60 Ultra—help identify when settings changes have reached their practical limit. If your card is materially below the anchor for your target, use a lower resolution or frame-rate goal rather than expecting Ultra settings and Quality upscaling to deliver the same result. Conversely, a card above an anchor does not guarantee a fixed rate if the CPU, memory configuration, driver or patch is limiting performance.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trusting one indoor test: Open-world streaming and city scenes can be substantially heavier.
- Changing everything at once: You lose the ability to identify the setting that helped.
- Chasing the FPS counter with frame generation: A higher displayed number can hide a weak rendered base rate or added latency.
- Lowering output resolution first: RT and upscaling changes often recover performance with less visible degradation.
- Assuming a preset is universal: Ubisoft’s targets are reference conditions, not guarantees for every CPU, driver or patch.
- Ignoring patch level: Features such as DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation require the relevant game update and compatible hardware.
Bottom line
Start at the Ubisoft tier closest to your hardware, use the GPU-appropriate upscaler on Quality, and test a demanding route. Reduce ray-traced reflections, diffuse reflections, shadows and direct lighting before sacrificing output resolution; then test object detail and volumetrics. Add frame generation only after the rendered base rate is stable, cap FPS to the worst sustained section and retest after updates. This method produces a steadier result than relying on a preset or a single benchmark number.
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