In this comprehensive guide, I will take you through the best PC Graphics settings you can change for Starfield, which can improve your experience and hopefully boost the Performance and FPS of the game.
Starfield: Best PC Graphics Settings FPS
There are many options and settings when it comes to Starfield, and each one can affect the game in a certain way.
But before you can get started with the best settings for Starfield, first make sure you are meeting the minimum system requirements for it:
Minimum System Requirements for Starfield
- Operating System: Windows 10 version 22H2 (10.0.19045)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
- Direct X: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 125 GB Available Space
- Additional Notes: SSD Required
Recommended System Requirements for Starfield
- Operating System: Windows 10/11 with updates
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
- Direct X: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 125 GB Available Space
- Additional Notes: SSD Required
Best In-game Graphics Settings for Starfield
A game like Starfield was expected to have a lot of options when it came to display, and to no surprise, the game appropriately delivered. The game has enough settings to help you tweak it properly.
Here are the best graphics settings on PC for Starfield:
Borderless Full Screen
ON – Since I alt-tab a lot, this was helping me do it seamlessly. If you keep it OFF, you must designate a specific resolution to the game. If you are struggling with FPS, you can make this 720p.
Dynamic Resolution
ON – This helped me in graphically intense environments to lower the render scale, maintaining the FPS. If you are on a high-end system, you can keep this setting OFF.
Render Resolution Scale
Locked at 100% – If you run Borderless Fullscreen, this option will lock to 100%, which is fine for me. Anything below 100% makes the game feel very blurry and clumsy.
Shadow Quality
LOW – Shadows take up a lot of resources, and it was the same for Starfield as well. Setting this to Low took off some load from my GPU and CPU, giving me 5-6FPS more.
Indirect Lighting
LOW – Keeping this low got me the most FPS. As far as I tested it, cranking it up to High was dropping my FPS by about 6FPS. Hence, LOW was the best setting for me here.
Reflections
Medium – Reflections are simply the lighting you see on different surfaces of the game that come from a reflective source. This was GPU intensive for me, so I kept a good balance of Medium here.
Particle Quality
LOW – This was not affecting my framerates that much, but I made this to LOW to be on the safe side. Remember that LOW and Medium had little to no difference for me, so this one is optional.
Volumetric Lighting
LOW – This impacted my FPS when I kept this High. Say around 2-3FPS less. So, I figured that keeping this to LOW would be the best course of action.
Crowd Density
LOW – This will affect your framerates if you keep this setting to High and will take down the performance. The more crowd it renders, the more resource-intensive the game gets. Keep this to a low for the best experience.
Motion Blur
OFF – I wouldn’t say I like Motion Blur in such games as it makes the environment blurry. If not implemented correctly, this effect will hinder your experience and take up FPS. Keep this OFF for a better experience.
GTAO Quality
High – This is the other name for ambient occlusion. This does not affect Starfield’s performance much so you can keep this Medium or, in my case, High.
Grass Quality
Medium – This can be performance-hindering in certain situations since rendering grasses is quite resource-intensive. Keep this to either Medium or Low for those with a medium-end system.
Contact Shadows
OFF is similar to other shadow settings, dropping the frames by a small margin. Since I wanted to optimize Starfield as much as possible, I kept this OFF.
Vsync
OFF – If you are facing screen tearing issues or fluctuations in Framerates, capping the FPS using Vsync is a good option. I did not face such problems; hence, I kept this OFF.
Upscaling
OFF – FSR 2 stabilized my framerates, but I could not push the FPS too much. CAS was okay for me, but I discovered that keeping this OFF gave me a few extra frames, improving my performance in Starfield.
Sharpening
61% – This one is optional, so there is nothing extra to add here. Just keep enough sharpness so that you can differentiate objects and persons.
Enable VRS
OFF – Variable Rate Shading lowered my Framerates by around 3-4 FPS. I kept this disabled for the best experience for my system. Dynamic Rendering and this option go hand in hand, and since dynamic Rendering is OFF for me, there is no point in using this.
Film Grain Intensity
0 – You can use the maximum amount if you like grainy effects on the game. I prefer a cleaner look, so I keep it to a minimum. For a much grainier feel, I think you can make it 1.
My System Specs Used To Test Starfield Settings
I will list the hardware I used to test Starfield’s best settings. You can cross reference it with your specs to make sure you are not missing out on any vital information when you wish to apply these changes:
- GPU – RTX 3060Ti FE – This gave me the feel of a medium-end rig, and I struggled in some parts to keep up the 60FPS mark.
- CPU – Ryzen 5 5600x – Ryzen has taken a backseat recently to the latest games that are coming out on the PC. It is no different in this one since it struggled slightly to keep the FPS stable.
- RAM – 32GB DDR4 @3000MHz – RAM was fine for me, and 32gigs did great for a demanding game like Starfield
- Storage – NVMe. M.2 SSD – 1TB – SSD is a must-have to run the latest games in 2023 and beyond. Hence, M.2 is a good choice here.
- Windows Version – Windows 11 64Bit – I recently upgraded to Windows 11 from W10, and it is doing well. There have been no crashes or Startup issues so far for Starfield.
- Monitor – Odyssey G7 2K – If you are using a 1080p monitor, you can expect more FPS, but since I wanted to test with a 2K monitor (240Hz), it struggled with the RTX 3060Ti.
More Tips To Increase Performance and FPS
There are some more tweaks and changes in general Windows and NVIDIA Settings that can fetch you more framerates and performance. These will hopefully reduce some lagging issues for Starfield:
- Turn ON Performance Mode in the NVIDIA Control Panel
- Disable the XBOX Gamebar and HDR Mode if you are using it
- Disable Antivirus or add an exception for Starfield in the antivirus
- Disable unwanted applications from starting up from the Task Manager
- Disable unwanted features of Windows from its settings menu.
If you want more framerates and performance on Starfield by making changes inside the game, you can turn off Windowed Fullscreen mode and enable upscaling. Enable the core render options and Lower the Medium settings I listed above. Here are my results from the following testing:
| Average FPS Recorded | 65-68 |
| GPU Temperature | 78 Degrees |
| RAM Usage | 13GB |
With the knowledge of these data and the changes you need to make, I hope you will be able to run Starfield just fine. I will admit that the game is quite heavy, even for a medium test rig, and running this game in maxed settings becomes next to impossible.
That is all the information I had to share in this guide on the Best graphics settings for Starfield for PC. Leave your comments in the section below, and I will try my best to answer or discuss them. For more of such guides, keep an eye on our Starfield Page.
Thanks for dropping by!
Last Updated on January 12, 2024
A computer science graduate by qualification, Zoid loves to keep himself updated with the latest gaming content related to PC, Android, and other platforms as well. Likes to keep his diet and health in check from time to time!