For a demanding gothic action RPG, the fastest path to smoother play is usually: turn ray tracing off, choose a frame-rate target your PC can actually hold, keep native resolution unless the GPU is overloaded, then lower shadows, volumetrics, reflections and view distance one at a time. Cap the frame rate for consistent frame times rather than chasing the highest peak number. These settings apply broadly to games such as Elden Ring and Lies of P, although menu names and available options vary by version.
A stable 60 FPS is a sensible goal on a capable PC, but it is not a universal promise. Your GPU, CPU, RAM, resolution, storage, drivers, patches and the game build all affect the result. Judge success by frame-time consistency in a demanding area, not by an uncapped FPS counter in an empty hallway.
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Start with this settings order
- Disable ray tracing. In Elden Ring, open the title menu or pause menu and choose System → Graphics → Set Ray Tracing Quality → OFF. Bandai Namco specifically warns that ray tracing can be enabled unintentionally and recommends this setting when it harms performance.
- Set a realistic target. Try 60 FPS if your hardware can sustain it. If demanding areas repeatedly dip below that number, use a lower cap that the system can hold instead of leaving the game uncapped.
- Keep your monitor’s native resolution initially. If the GPU is the bottleneck, reduce the game resolution or use its built-in resolution scaler. Capcom says reducing resolution and turning off processes can reduce processing load, and that the chosen resolution should match the PC’s specifications.
- Reduce expensive effects in sequence. Lower shadows first, followed by volumetric lighting or fog, reflections and view distance. Recheck performance after each change.
- Revisit anti-aliasing and sharpening. These can alter edge quality and temporal stability. In Lies of P, the technical documentation describes a trade-off in temporal anti-aliasing: lower sample values can reduce visible jitter but also reduce geometry anti-aliasing quality.
- Verify requirements and drivers. After a game update or a graphics-driver change, recheck the operating environment. Bandai Namco recommends checking requirements and updating graphics drivers when ray tracing causes instability.
Choose the right performance target
A frame-rate target is a limit you can maintain in the places that stress the game most: large outdoor scenes, crowded streets, weather effects, boss arenas and fast traversal. A counter that briefly reaches 90 FPS does not make a 60-FPS target successful if the same system repeatedly falls into the 40s.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesPC Gamer’s 2022 guidance uses 60 FPS as a practical Elden Ring target, while Capcom notes that 60 FPS requires the most processing power. That is guidance, not a guarantee for every PC. If your machine cannot hold 60, a lower, stable cap is generally preferable to large swings. The available evidence does not establish one universal PC cap for every gothic action RPG, so test the cap against your display and your own worst-case scene.
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How to test a target
- Choose a repeatable, demanding route or encounter rather than an empty room.
- Make one graphics change and run the same route again.
- Watch the lowest sustained readings and frame-time graph if your overlay provides one.
- Pick the highest cap that remains stable through traversal and combat.
Quick starting profiles
These are starting points, not fixed presets. Apply the profile closest to your bottleneck, then adjust one costly setting at a time.
| Situation | Resolution | Ray tracing | Effects to lower first | Frame-rate approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU has headroom and image quality is the priority | Native display resolution | Off unless performance testing shows clear headroom | Keep textures and geometry high; tune shadows and volumetrics only if needed | Use a cap your demanding-area test can hold |
| GPU-bound at native resolution | Use the game’s scaler or reduce output resolution modestly | Off | Shadows, volumetrics/fog, reflections, then view distance | Cap below the recurring low point |
| CPU-bound in crowded or open areas | Changing resolution may help little | Off | View distance, crowd or world-detail options if present; avoid expecting texture changes to fix CPU limits | Choose a cap the CPU can sustain during traversal |
| Severe instability after an update | Start at a conservative resolution | Off | Use low or medium effects while checking drivers and requirements | Test for consistency before raising quality |
Ray tracing: the first setting to disable
Ray-traced lighting, shadows or reflections can impose a large GPU workload. If performance is poor, disable it before spending time on small quality adjustments. In Elden Ring, Bandai Namco’s official instruction is to use System → Graphics → Set Ray Tracing Quality → OFF, either from the title menu or in-game.
Ray tracing also changes the hardware tier you need. Bandai Namco’s 2023 figures list 16 GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT, and a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB or Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB for a 1920×1080, low-quality, low-ray-tracing configuration. Its recommended ray-tracing configuration lists an Intel Core i7-10700K or Ryzen 7 3800XT, a GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB or Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB, 1920×1080, high quality and high ray tracing.
Those are publisher figures for Elden Ring, not universal requirements for every gothic action RPG. Treat them as a reference for the additional hardware burden of ray tracing, not as a guarantee of a particular frame rate.
Resolution and the game’s scaler
Resolution has a direct effect on the number of pixels the GPU must process. Keep native resolution when the GPU is comfortable: it preserves the clearest UI and image detail. When the GPU is saturated, first try the game’s internal scaler, if available, because it can reduce render workload while retaining the monitor’s output resolution. If the title has no useful scaler, reduce the output resolution in small steps and retest.
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Capcom’s PC guidance states that “reducing the resolution and turning processes off can help to reduce the processing load.” It also notes that 60 FPS requires the most processing power. Close unnecessary background processes before judging a resolution change, especially when available memory is tight.
Native resolution versus a scaler
| Choice | Benefit | Cost or risk | Use it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native resolution | Sharpest output and text | Highest pixel workload | Your GPU is not the limiting component |
| Internal scaler | Lowers render workload while keeping the display output mode | Can soften fine detail or introduce reconstruction artifacts | You are GPU-bound and the game’s scaler looks acceptable |
| Lower output resolution | Predictable reduction in pixel cost | More visible softness and less desktop-like clarity | The scaler is unavailable or produces unacceptable artifacts |
Which graphics settings to lower first
Shadows
Shadow quality is often one of the most useful first adjustments after ray tracing and resolution. Lower settings reduce shadow-map detail and update cost, while the rest of the scene can remain relatively sharp. Compare a sunlit outdoor area and a torch-lit interior: the more dynamic shadows a scene contains, the more useful this change may be.
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Volumetrics and fog
Volumetric lighting, fog and atmospheric shafts can be expensive in misty streets, forests and catacombs. Lower them when those scenes cause the largest drops. The visual trade-off is reduced depth and fewer light shafts, but geometry and textures can remain unchanged.
Reflections
Reflections can be costly on wet floors, water and polished surfaces. Reduce reflection quality after shadows and volumetrics if those locations trigger the dips. Check several materials before deciding: a setting may matter greatly in one area and hardly at all elsewhere.
View distance and visibility
View distance controls how much distant geometry, foliage or detail remains active. Lowering it can help both rendering workload and, in some scenes, CPU work. The cost is more obvious pop-in or less distant detail. If you are CPU-bound during traversal, view-distance and world-detail controls are more promising than texture quality.
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Anti-aliasing and temporal settings
Anti-aliasing smooths edges but can affect clarity, motion stability and performance. The Lies of P technical documentation describes lower temporal-AA sample values as reducing visible jitter at the expense of lower geometry anti-aliasing quality. Test a moving camera and a character silhouette, not only a static screenshot.
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Sharpening can restore perceived detail after scaling or temporal anti-aliasing, but too much creates halos and shimmering. Adjust it only after selecting resolution and anti-aliasing. A lower scaler resolution paired with excessive sharpening can look harsher rather than clearer.
Textures and VRAM
Texture quality primarily consumes video memory rather than directly reducing every GPU workload. Keep textures high when your graphics card has enough VRAM; lower them when you see texture pop-in, sudden hitching, or instability that coincides with memory pressure. If the GPU is already at full compute load, dropping textures alone may barely change FPS.
Elden Ring: requirements and menu checks
For Elden Ring, first verify that ray tracing is actually off. Bandai Namco notes that it may be enabled unintentionally, and its official path is System → Graphics → Set Ray Tracing Quality → OFF. Recheck this after patches or when a previously smooth installation suddenly becomes unstable.
Publisher reference hardware
| Configuration | CPU | GPU | Memory | Resolution and quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low quality, low ray tracing | Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB or Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB | 16 GB RAM | 1920×1080 |
| Recommended ray tracing | Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB or Radeon RX 6900 XT 16 GB | Not separately stated in the cited configuration | 1920×1080, high quality, high ray tracing |
These figures are from Bandai Namco Entertainment’s 2023 guidance. They describe a specific publisher configuration, not a universal 60-FPS guarantee. A Digital Trends test reported 60 FPS at 1080p medium in 2023; that is one test result under that publication’s conditions and should not be treated as a promise for another PC.
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Lies of P: balancing clarity and temporal stability
Lies of P exposes the same core decisions: resolution, visibility, temporal anti-aliasing and sharpening. Use native resolution when your GPU allows it. If the GPU is saturated, use the title’s scaler or reduce resolution, then tune effects in the order above.
Pay particular attention to temporal anti-aliasing samples and sharpening. Lower temporal-AA sample values can reduce visible jitter, according to the game’s technical documentation, but they also lower geometry anti-aliasing quality. If reduced samples make edges too rough, raise the sample setting again and recover performance through shadows, volumetrics or reflections instead.
Console documentation for Lies of P identifies 30, 40 and 60 FPS targets. Those figures describe console modes and do not establish one mandatory cap for the PC version. On PC, select the highest cap your own demanding-area test can hold.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Frame caps and frame-time stability
An uncapped game can produce a high average while repeatedly crossing between frame-rate levels. That variation feels like uneven camera motion even when the average looks good. Set a cap that leaves enough headroom for combat effects and traversal. For example, if a scene oscillates between 58 and 75 FPS, a cap near the stable lower range may feel smoother than leaving it uncapped; the exact value must come from your measurements.
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Match the cap to what your display and system can sustain, but do not assume that a 60 Hz monitor, a 120 Hz monitor or a console-style mode dictates one correct PC value. The available guidance establishes a 60-FPS target for Elden Ring and 30/40/60 console targets for Lies of P, not a universal PC limit.
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Diagnose the bottleneck before lowering everything
Signs of a GPU limit
- GPU utilization remains near its ceiling while lowering resolution improves FPS.
- Ray tracing, shadows or volumetrics cause large changes when toggled.
- Reducing view distance alone has little effect.
Prioritize ray tracing, resolution or scaling, shadows, volumetrics and reflections.
Signs of a CPU limit
- Frame rate falls in crowded or traversal-heavy areas while GPU utilization is not consistently full.
- Lowering resolution produces little improvement.
- View distance or world-detail changes affect performance more than texture changes.
Prioritize view distance and available world-detail options, close background processes, and use a cap the CPU can sustain.
Signs of VRAM or memory pressure
- Hitches coincide with entering new areas or loading high-detail assets.
- Textures flicker, pop in or settings revert unexpectedly.
- Lowering texture quality helps more than lowering anti-aliasing.
Reduce texture quality, close background applications and confirm that the system meets the game’s memory requirements.
When settings do not solve the stutter
Graphics tuning can reduce GPU load and improve frame-rate consistency, but it cannot eliminate every type of hitch. Shader compilation, CPU scheduling, storage behavior, background processes, drivers, patches and game-engine traversal can require separate diagnosis. Do not assume that a single low setting will fix all stutter.
Checks worth doing
- Confirm the game’s published operating requirements for your resolution and quality target.
- Update the graphics driver when the publisher recommends it, especially after a ray-tracing-related crash or instability.
- Disable ray tracing and retest before changing many other settings.
- Close unnecessary processes and repeat the same demanding-area test.
- Compare a newly loaded area with a route you have already traversed; if only first-time traversal hitches, shader or asset loading may be involved.
- Check whether a recent patch changed performance before assuming your hardware has failed.
If stutter remains after these checks, record whether it appears during shader compilation, area traversal, combat effects or sustained GPU load. That symptom pattern points to a different investigation than simply lowering image quality.
A repeatable tuning procedure
- Record a baseline. Note resolution, ray-tracing state, graphics preset, average FPS and the worst sustained behavior in a demanding location.
- Disable ray tracing. Apply the exact menu path in Elden Ring, or the equivalent option in your game.
- Choose the target and cap. Start with 60 FPS if the hardware is capable; otherwise select a lower value that survives the test route.
- Resolve GPU overload. Keep native resolution if possible. If GPU utilization is the limit, use the scaler or reduce resolution.
- Lower one effect. Use shadows first, then volumetrics/fog, reflections and view distance. Test after every change.
- Fine-tune temporal options. Adjust anti-aliasing and sharpening together so that reduced jitter does not become distracting shimmer or blur.
- Protect VRAM quality. Keep textures high when memory permits; lower them only when memory pressure or asset streaming is the problem.
- Recheck after updates. Verify requirements, drivers and ray-tracing state whenever a patch changes behavior.
What “best” means for this genre
The best setting is not the one with the highest screenshot quality or the largest uncapped FPS number. It is the combination that keeps camera motion, traversal and combat effects consistent at your chosen resolution. For most capable PCs, that means ray tracing off, native 1080p or native monitor resolution when possible, moderate shadows and volumetrics, carefully tested reflections and view distance, and a frame cap based on the worst area you actually play.
Use the settings menu as a controlled experiment: change one expensive option, repeat the same route, and keep the change only if it improves the frame-time behavior without an unacceptable image-quality cost.
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