Best PC settings for Starfield: High FPS, graphics, more
BethesdaStarfield has an FPS cap on consoles but the PC version allows you to tweak the graphics, display, sound, and other settings to get the best experience possible. Here are the best PC settings for Starfield ensuring high FPS, stunning visuals, no lag, and more.
Starfield not only has a massive campaign and side quests, but also lets you explore thousands of procedurally generated planets and build ships with the utmost detailing. Although a Bethesda RPG being a major time sink is no surprise, it is important to consider the high system requirements if you’re on a PC.
Generating all the planets and holding the massive in-game universe together is a task for any device, but unlike consoles, there are no limitations on PC and you can change the settings to customize the experience.
On that note, here are the best PC settings for Starfield that can help you get high FPS, amazing graphics, and a lot more.
- Starfield PC system requirements
- Best Starfield PC settings for high FPS
- Best Starfield PC settings for graphics
- How do Starfield display settings impact your FPS?
- How to update graphics drivers
Starfield PC system requirements
To play Starfield on PC, your system must meet the following requirements:
| MINIMUM | RECOMMENDED | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 version 21H1 (10.0.19043) | Windows 10/11 with updates |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Intel Core i7-6800K | AMD Ryzen 5 3600X / Intel i5-10600K |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon RX 5700 / NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti | AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 |
| DirectX | Version 12 | Version 12 |
| Storage | 125 GB available space (SSD required) | 125 GB available space (SSD required) |
As noted before, Starfield requires an SSD to run properly. Another thing to note is that you may require a CPU that’s more powerful than the ones listed here.
Best Starfield PC settings for high FPS
Here are the best-optimized graphics settings to run Starfield smoothly on your PC with 60 FPS and above:
- Dynamic Resolution: On
- Render Resolution: 75%
- Graphics Preset: Custom
- Shadow Quality: Medium
- Indirect Lighting: Medium
- Reflections: Low
- Particle Quality: Low
- Volumetric Lighting: Medium
- Crowd Density: Low
- Motion Blur: Off
- GTAO Quality: Medium
- Grass Quality: Medium
- Contact Shadows: Medium
- VSync: Off
- Upscaling: FSR 2
- Enable VRS: On
- Depth of Field: Off
Starfield is not intended to be played at native resolution, so you should set Render Resolution to less than 100%. Bethesda expects you to turn FSR 2 on while playing, and it does a decent job of upscaling without making the game look too bland. This is also why the highest graphics preset also sets Render Resolution to 75%.
For most games, you might be used to seeing four presets for FSR, such as Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced, and Performance. Starfield’s graphics settings, however, give you a slider with percentage values. Although DLSS support wasn’t an option for Starfield during the launch, it was made available through the 1.8.86 update released on Nov 20, 2023.
BethesdaThe most performance-intensive graphics settings in Starfield are Shadow Quality, Volumetric Lighting, GTAO Quality, and Contact Shadows. Turn these down if you’re not happy with the framerate you’re getting. Motion Blur also has an impact on performance, so disable it if you don’t like the effect.
Two more significant settings are Crowd Density and Enable VRS. The former option is quite obvious; it makes the game world more populated, and it’s taxing on your CPU. VRS, on the other hand, which stands for Variable Rate Shading, can improve performance on some PCs.
Best Starfield PC settings for graphics
Here’s how your graphics settings should look if you want the best graphics but with decent performance:
- Dynamic Resolution: On
- Render Resolution: 75%
- Graphics Preset: Custom
- Shadow Quality: Medium
- Indirect Lighting: High
- Reflections: Medium
- Particle Quality: High
- Volumetric Lighting: Medium
- Crowd Density: High
- Motion Blur: Off
- GTAO Quality: High
- Grass Quality: Ultra
- Contact Shadows: Medium
- VSync: Off
- Upscaling: FSR2
- Enable VRS: On
- Depth of Field: On
If your PC is able to handle the game quite well with the optimized graphics preset given above, you can try taking it up a notch. Options like Crowd Density and Contact Shadows add to the immersion, so you might want to increase it. The former can be quite CPU-intensive, while the latter doesn’t take up a chunk of your performance.
BethesdaHow do Starfield display settings impact your FPS?
We’ve listed all the major display settings, along with their function, in Starfield and how they impact your game’s performance in the table below.
| Display Setting | What it does | Impact on FPS |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic Resolution | Changes the game’s resolution as per requirement without affecting the HUD. Graphically demanding scenes will run at a lower resolution, and regular scenes will run at a higher resolution. | Significant boost when enabled. |
| Render Resolution | Forces the game to run at a lower resolution, getting upscaled by the game to the monitor’s resolution without affecting the HUD. | Significant boost when kept under 70%. |
| Shadow Quality | Affects the smoothness, clarity, and accuracy of shadows. | Lowering from Ultra to Low can give up to a 20% boost. |
| Indirect Lighting | Changes how the lighting around various objects in the game. | Can be left on Ultra or High. No change in FPS. |
| Reflections | Similar to Shadow Quality, this affects everything around reflections from various objects. | Negligible impact on FPS. |
| Particle Quality | Affects the quality of particles like snowflakes, sand, and dust floating in the air. | Negligible impact on FPS. |
| Volumetric Lighting | Affects the lighting around various objects, giving them a 3D or volumetric look. | Slight boost (around 5-6 FPS) when set to Low. |
| GTAO quality | Refers to ambient occlusion, affecting the soft shadows on various objects. | Negligible impact on FPS. |
| Upscaling | Similar to Render Resolution, but looks a lot better. | Significant boost when set to FSR 2. |
| Enable VRS | Refers to variable rate shading, adding more details around shadows as per requirement. | Slight boost when enabled. |
While lowering some of the display settings will give you a dramatic boost in FPS, it should only be done if you’re desperate for an increase in the game’s performance. Doing so will affect your game’s realistic graphics and can lower the level of immersion.
How to update graphics drivers
You should ensure that your graphics drivers are up-to-date before playing Starfield on PC. Here’s how you can do it:
For NVIDIA Graphic card users
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card on your PC, you can use the NVIDIA GeForce Experience app to update your drivers. You can download GeForce Experience from NVIDIA.com.
- Find the GeForce icon in the right-hand corner of your taskbar. Right-click and select NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
- Click on the Drivers tab.
- Select Check for updates. If an update is available, click on Quick Install.
- Wait for the installation process to complete.
For AMD Graphic card users
If you have an AMD graphics card on your PC, you can use the Radeon Settings app to update your drivers.
- Right-click on your desktop and select AMD Radeon Settings.
- Click on the Home Icon.
- Select New Updates on the bottom left and click on Check for update.
- Wait for the installation process to complete.
That covers everything to know about the best graphics setting in Starfield. If you wish to learn more about the game, check these out:
Best places to sell items in Starfield | Starfield ending explained | Where to sell Contraband in Starfield | All Starfield character creation options | Is Starfield on Xbox Game Pass for PC & console? | Starfield Outposts explained | Does Starfield have New Game Plus? | How to customize ships in Starfield