Recommended Free Tools
The practical targets for The Blood of Dawnwalker are 1080p at 30 FPS on Low, 1080p at 60 FPS on Medium, 1440p at 60 FPS on High, and 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS on Ultra. Those published targets assume Balanced upscaling, so they are not promises of native-resolution performance. Start with Frame Generation disabled, establish a stable base frame rate, then tune shadows, lighting, foliage and detail before making the upscaler more aggressive.
The recommended performance ladder
Use the following ladder as a starting point rather than a guarantee. The requirements reported by PC Gamer for 2026 explicitly assume the game is using Balanced upscaling. Native 1080p, 1440p or 4K rendering is substantially more demanding than the same output resolution reconstructed from a lower internal resolution.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
| Target | Output and preset | Published GPU examples | VRAM | System memory | CPU information | Storage and API | Upscaler and frame generation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-end | 1080p, 30 FPS, Low | NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD RX 580 | 6GB or more | 16GB | Not stated in the published target | 60GB SSD; Windows 10 or later; DirectX 12 | Balanced upscaling; begin with Frame Generation off |
| Mid-range | 1080p, 60 FPS, Medium | NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super, GTX 1070 Ti, AMD RX 5700 or Intel Arc A750 | At least 8GB | 16GB | Not stated in the published target | 60GB SSD; Windows 10 or later; DirectX 12 | Balanced upscaling; begin with Frame Generation off |
| Upper mid-range | 1440p, 60 FPS, High | NVIDIA RTX 4060, AMD RX 7600 XT or Intel Arc B580 | At least 8GB | 16GB | Not stated in the published target; PC Gamer’s RTX 4060 test used a Ryzen 7 7700X | 60GB SSD | Balanced upscaling; Frame Generation optional after the base result is responsive |
| High-end | 2160p (4K), 60 FPS, Ultra | NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or AMD RX 9070 | At least 12GB | 16GB | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i7-12700K class | 60GB SSD; Windows 10 or later; DirectX 12 | Balanced upscaling; native 4K is a separate, harder target |
Every row is a performance class, not a locked-FPS certification. Patch version, graphics driver, upscaler mode, CPU load and the scene being rendered can move results materially. A quiet outdoor route may run faster than a night fight, a settlement or a scene with heavy effects.
Low-end settings: 1080p at 30 FPS on Low
Hardware to aim for
The Low target is built around a GTX 1060 or RX 580 with at least 6GB of VRAM, 16GB of system memory, Windows 10 or later, DirectX 12 and a 60GB SSD. It assumes Balanced upscaling. If your card has less VRAM, texture streaming and traversal may become less consistent even when the average frame rate looks acceptable.
#1 Best Overall
- Dual Fan: Two fans and a huge heatsink ensure a cool and quiet experience for you.
- TORX FAN 4.0: A masterpiece of teamwork, fan blades work in pairs to create unprecedented levels of focused air pressure.
- Reinforcing Backplate: The reinforcing backplate features a flow-through design that provides additional ventilation.
- Zero Frozr: The fans completely stop when temperatures are relatively low, eliminating all noise.
Recommended starting configuration
- Select the Low preset and set the output resolution to 1920×1080.
- Set the upscaler to Balanced. Do not start with Performance mode unless the game cannot hold a consistent 30 FPS.
- Turn Frame Generation off while establishing the baseline.
- Use a 30-FPS cap if your display and driver allow it. A stable frame time is preferable to an uncapped result that repeatedly jumps between the 20s and 30s.
- Walk the same 60–90-second route through an outdoor area, a denser location and a combat encounter. Record the average and the worst-looking dips.
At this tier, consistency matters more than extra foliage or shadow detail. If the frame rate still falls below the target, lower Shadow Quality first, then Light Quality, Foliage Quality and Detail Quality. Reducing those settings generally costs less image quality than immediately moving from Balanced to a more aggressive reconstruction mode.
Mid-range settings: 1080p at 60 FPS on Medium
Hardware to aim for
The published 1080p/60 Medium class includes an RTX 2060 Super, GTX 1070 Ti, RX 5700 or Arc A750, with 16GB of RAM and at least 8GB of VRAM. The target again assumes Balanced upscaling, not native 1080p rendering.
Recommended starting configuration
- Choose the Medium preset at 1920×1080 and select Balanced upscaling.
- Disable Frame Generation for the first test. This gives you a usable measure of the game’s real input response and CPU/GPU headroom.
- Use a repeatable route lasting 60–90 seconds, including movement, camera turns and one demanding encounter.
- If the average is close to 60 but dips feel distracting, lower Shadow Quality first.
- Lower Light Quality, Foliage Quality and Detail Quality in that order only if shadows are no longer enough.
- Try Performance upscaling only after those per-setting changes fail to deliver acceptable frame times.
Do not judge this tier from the average alone. A 60-FPS average can still feel uneven if shader compilation, streaming or a CPU-heavy scene produces pronounced 1% lows. A stable 50s presentation is often preferable to a nominal 60 that repeatedly hitches.
1440p High: the most useful upper-mid-range target
Hardware and expected configuration
The 1440p/60 High class centers on an RTX 4060, RX 7600 XT or Arc B580, paired with 16GB of RAM, at least 8GB of VRAM and a 60GB SSD. Balanced upscaling is part of this target. The published requirement should therefore be read as “1440p output reconstructed from a lower internal resolution,” not as a native-1440p guarantee.
Measured RTX 4060 results
PC Gamer’s repeatable test used an RTX 4060 and Ryzen 7 7700X. The following figures are averages and 1% lows from that particular route; they are useful for comparing settings, not for promising identical results on every system.
| Settings in the 1440p loop | Average FPS | 1% low | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| High preset, DLSS Balanced | 50 FPS | 35 FPS | The baseline High presentation can miss a 60-FPS target in demanding moments. |
| High preset, DLSS Performance | 56 FPS | 37 FPS | A more aggressive reconstruction mode raises throughput but does not eliminate low-frame-time events. |
| Shadow Low, Light Medium, Foliage Medium, Detail Medium | 62 FPS | 46 FPS | A targeted mix improves both the average and the 1% low with limited visual loss. |
| High preset, DLSS Balanced, 2× Frame Generation | 73 FPS | 42 FPS | Displayed smoothness rises, but the underlying base performance remains lower than the generated number suggests. |
The custom mix to try first
For an RTX 4060-class system, set Shadow Quality to Low and keep Light, Foliage and Detail Quality at Medium. PC Gamer’s editor-in-chief of hardware, Dave James, reported: “Knocking each of Shadow, Light, Foliage, and Detail Quality down a notch to Medium I managed to hit 57 fps on average during my run, but taking Shadow Quality back to Low finally got me to a 62 fps average.”
Rank #2
- Powered by NVIDIA DLSS3, ultra-efficient Ada Lovelace arch, and full ray tracing
- 4th Generation Tensor Cores: Up to 4x performance with DLSS 3 vs. brute-force rendering
- 3rd Generation RT Cores: Up to 2x ray tracing performance
- OC Mode: 2535 MHz (Boost Clock) / Default Mode: 2505 MHz (Boost Clock)
- Axial-tech fan design features a smaller fan hub that facilitates longer blades and a barrier ring that increases downward air pressure
This combination preserves more of the scene’s lighting and surface detail than dropping every option to Low. Lower shadows can reveal more pop-in, while reducing foliage removes some ground clutter, so inspect a familiar outdoor route before deciding whether the trade-off is acceptable.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The same custom settings averaged 53 FPS during a more demanding night fight. That result is why a 60-FPS average in a light scene should not be treated as a locked 60-FPS guarantee.
4K Ultra: what high-end hardware can realistically target
Published hardware class
The 2160p/60 Ultra row lists an RTX 4070 Ti or RX 9070, at least 12GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, a Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Core i7-12700K class processor, Windows 10 or later, DirectX 12 and a 60GB SSD. These are Balanced-upscaling targets.
Native 4K is a different requirement
Do not read the 4K/60 row as evidence that the listed cards will render every pixel natively at 60 FPS. Balanced upscaling lowers the internal render resolution and reconstructs the selected output. Native 4K removes that performance aid and will be substantially harder, particularly in heavy combat or densely populated areas.
Begin at Ultra with Balanced upscaling and Frame Generation disabled. If the base result is responsive but falls short of 60, reduce Shadow Quality first, followed by Light, Foliage and Detail Quality. Keeping those changes targeted lets you retain the visual character of the Ultra preset without relying on generated frames to conceal a weak base frame rate.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
DLSS, FSR and XeSS: choosing the upscaler
Use the option that matches your GPU
DLSS is the natural first comparison on supported NVIDIA hardware, while FSR is the broad-compatibility choice for AMD hardware and is also available on many other GPUs. XeSS is the corresponding option to test on Intel Arc cards. The available evidence does not establish a universal winner or a complete quality ranking across all three technologies, so compare them at the same output resolution and mode on your own system.
Rank #3
- Powered by NVIDIA DLSS 3, ultra-efficient Ada Lovelace architechture, and full ray tracing
- 4th Generation Tensor Cores: Up to 4x performance with DLSS 3
- 3rd Generation RT Cores: Up to 2x ray tracing performance
- Powered by GeForce RTX 4060
- Integrated with 8GB GDDR6 128-bit memory interface
AMD describes the purpose of FSR on its official game page this way: “Step into the dark fantasy world of The Blood of Dawnwalker with AMD FSR™, helping deliver enhanced performance while maintaining the visual quality of its hand-crafted open world.” That is a design goal, not a guarantee that every scene will look identical between modes.
Balanced versus Performance
Balanced should be the starting point for all four published resolution targets. Switch to Performance only after lowering the costly individual settings and confirming that the base frame rate is still insufficient. The RTX 4060 comparison above shows why: Performance mode improved the average in the tested 1440p loop, but its 1% low remained well below a perfectly smooth 60.
Inspect fine foliage, hair, distant geometry and moving shadows when comparing modes. A mode that raises the counter but introduces shimmer or ghosting may be a poor trade for your display distance and refresh rate.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFrame Generation: add it after the base result is stable
Frame Generation interpolates additional displayed frames from rendered frames. It can make camera movement appear smoother, but it does not remove a CPU bottleneck, reduce shader-compilation stutter or turn a sluggish base frame rate into equivalent native performance.
“The interpolated frames of either FSR or DLSS Frame Gen cannot really be called extra performance; they are simply smoothing out your experience to make a lower frame rate feel far more comfortable.” — Dave James, PC Gamer Editor-in-Chief, Hardware
- Test with Frame Generation disabled and make sure controls feel responsive.
- Confirm that the base frame rate is reasonably stable in your repeatable route.
- Enable the game’s Frame Generation option and repeat the same route.
- Check for added latency, image artifacts around fast-moving objects and uneven frame pacing.
- Keep it enabled only when the smoother presentation is worth those trade-offs for your display and game style.
Frame Generation is most useful when the rendered frame rate is already healthy. It is a presentation enhancement, not a substitute for choosing the right preset, upscaler and per-setting mix.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A one-change-at-a-time tuning procedure
- Update the baseline. Note the game patch, graphics driver, output resolution, preset, upscaler and mode. These variables make comparisons meaningful.
- Disable Frame Generation. This exposes the real base frame rate and makes CPU or shader problems easier to identify.
- Pick a repeatable route. Use the same 60–90-second path, camera direction and encounter whenever possible. Include a demanding scene rather than testing only in an empty area.
- Measure both average FPS and 1% lows. The average describes throughput; the 1% low reveals the roughest recurring part of the run.
- Lower Shadow Quality. This is the first setting to change because the RTX 4060 test gained meaningful performance with limited overall image loss.
- Lower Light, Foliage and Detail Quality. Keep them at Medium when possible. Foliage reduction costs ground clutter, and Low shadows can increase pop-in.
- Compare upscaler modes. Test Balanced before Performance, keeping every other setting fixed.
- Test Frame Generation last. Repeat the route and judge responsiveness and frame pacing, not just the displayed FPS number.
Diagnosing stutter, dips and inconsistent results
Different patches can behave differently
Settings guides summarizing the game’s official hotfix notes report Frame Generation and VSync fixes for FSR in Hotfix 1.0.4, followed by shader-compilation improvements in Hotfix 1.0.5. Those changes can alter the experience between installations, but they do not guarantee that every form of stutter is resolved.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Separate GPU limits from CPU limits
If lowering resolution or switching from Balanced to Performance barely changes the worst dips, the limit may be CPU-side, streaming-related or caused by shader compilation rather than raw GPU throughput. Frame Generation cannot remove that bottleneck. Watch whether GPU utilization falls during the hitch and whether the same location triggers it repeatedly.
Use the same test conditions
Compare one setting at a time, keep the route and weather or time-of-day conditions as consistent as the game allows, and record the patch and driver version. A night fight, crowded settlement or effects-heavy encounter can be materially slower than a simple traversal segment.
How to decide whether your PC can hold 60 FPS
Match your hardware to the closest published tier, select Balanced upscaling, and use the workflow above. Treat 60 FPS as achieved only when the demanding part of your route stays acceptably close to the target and the 1% low does not produce distracting stalls. The published averages are evidence for a class of settings, not a universal lock across every scene, patch or driver.
- For older cards around the GTX 1060 or RX 580 class, target 1080p/30 Low.
- For RTX 2060 Super, GTX 1070 Ti, RX 5700 or Arc A750-class hardware, start at 1080p/60 Medium.
- For RTX 4060, RX 7600 XT or Arc B580-class hardware, start at 1440p/60 High with Balanced upscaling and use the targeted custom mix if needed.
- For RTX 4070 Ti or RX 9070-class hardware with a modern high-end CPU, start at 4K/60 Ultra with Balanced upscaling, then validate demanding scenes.
If your system falls between tiers, preserve frame-time stability by lowering the four costly quality groups before sacrificing output resolution. If it falls below the Low tier, a consistent 30-FPS cap at 1080p with more aggressive upscaling may be preferable to an unstable higher target, but the published requirements do not establish a guaranteed result for that configuration.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
