The new space RPG Starfield is graphically beautiful, but also a demanding game. We show you the best graphics settings for a smooth gaming experience and high FPS.
Bethesda’s first role-playing title in space is on everyone’s lips. The game developer delivers a graphically very appealing game as usual. However, performance can be very low, especially on older graphics cards. We provide you with an overview of all graphics settings and go into detail on the most important points.
The display options for more FPS and performance at a glance
With the following settings, you can achieve optimal performance in Bethesda’s new title. You can play smoothly and have enough graphical details for an atmospheric experience in the game.
Where can you find the display options? You can access this menu via the main menu → there click on settings → select display here:
- Fullscreen without borders: On
- Window size: Resolution of your selected monitor
- Select monitor: Only relevant if you are playing on different monitors
- Dynamic screen resolution: On
- Scaling of render resolution: 75%
- Graphics preset: Custom
- Shadow quality: Medium
- Indirect lighting: Medium
- Reflections: Low
- Particle quality: Low
- Volumetric lighting: Medium
- Population density: Low
- Motion blur: Off
- GTAO quality (Global Illumination): Medium
- Grass quality: Medium
- Contact shadows: Medium
- VSync: Off
- Upscaling: FSR2
- Sharpening: Standard
- VRS: On
- Film grain intensity: Off
- Depth of field: Off
The most important settings in detail
Scaling of render resolution
Why not 100% resolution as standard? The preset value is 75%. Bethesda assumes that you activate Upscaling FSR2, so that AMD’s counterpart to Nvidia’s DLSS upscales the game without losing graphical details. Also check this tip from our colleague Benedikt Schlotmann, to avoid unnecessary performance loss.
Whether and when Bethesda integrates DLSS into Starfield is unclear at this time.
Shadow quality, volumetric lighting, GTAO quality, and contact shadows
These four settings have a particularly noticeable impact on your graphics performance in the game. Reduce the quality if you are not satisfied with the achieved FPS.
Population density
Many details on the screen challenge your hardware. The processor, in particular, is pushed to its limits in a densely populated game world. Set the value to low for better performance.
Motion blur
What is motion blur? The effect for a greater sense of speed. When moving quickly, the view blurs. The option is not popular with everyone. If in doubt, disable it and enjoy more performance.
VRS
The render technique relieves the calculation of shader units by your graphics card at the cost of slightly lower graphic quality. Therefore, turn on VRS for more FPS.
Why can the results be different? With these settings, you can noticeably improve performance in the game. Of course, it depends on your hardware. So feel free to try other quality levels to find a suitable gaming experience for you.
A final tip
Usually, Nvidia and AMD deliver updated graphics card drivers shortly before the release of new AAA titles. These bring not only the usual bug fixes but also quality and especially performance optimizations for current titles. Therefore, it is advisable to regularly update your graphics driver to the latest version.
Starfield: Adjusting FOV – Changing the field of view without mods
