The best starting point is Vulkan on PC, the highest-quality reconstruction mode your hardware supports, and high texture quality with lighting-heavy effects tuned to your frame-rate target. Use DLSS Quality on a compatible GeForce RTX card, XeSS where the game exposes it, or PSSR on supported PlayStation hardware. Keep textures and Planet Quality high while your VRAM and frame time allow; reduce volumetrics, reflections, shadows and post-processing before sacrificing texture detail.
That is a tuning baseline, not a universal benchmark promise. No Man’s Sky performance changes substantially with resolution, terrain density, weather, settlements, expeditions, headset mode and GPU memory. Apply one change at a time and judge it against your own target frame rate and image-quality tolerance.
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Recommended starting presets
Choose the row closest to your goal, then use the step-by-step method below to refine it. The settings names can vary slightly by platform or update, so treat the table as a practical order of operations rather than a guaranteed preset for every machine.
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| Goal | Reconstruction and anti-aliasing | Textures | Planet Quality | Lighting-heavy effects | Expected trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality-first PC | Native or DLAA-style rendering when frame time has headroom | High or Ultra if VRAM remains comfortable | Ultra | High, then reduce only the setting that causes spikes | Sharpest surfaces and distant vegetation; lowest performance margin |
| Balanced RTX PC | DLSS Quality | High or Ultra | High or Ultra | High volumetrics, medium reflections or shadows if needed | Strong detail with a useful frame-time cushion |
| Balanced non-RTX PC | XeSS when available; otherwise the clearest native option that meets the target | High when VRAM permits | High | Reduce volumetrics, reflections and post-processing before textures | Stable motion with some softer reconstruction or reduced lighting |
| Performance-first PC | DLSS or XeSS Balanced only if Quality misses the target | Medium or High, depending on VRAM | Normal or High | Medium volumetrics, reflections and shadows; low post-processing if necessary | Higher consistency, with less distant detail and softer fine edges |
| Supported PlayStation hardware | PSSR where offered; otherwise the platform’s highest-quality reconstruction mode | Use the console’s available quality preset | High or the highest stable option | Lower volumetrics and reflections first when a mode feels uneven | Platform-specific resolution and frame-rate behavior |
| VR | Use the platform-supported reconstruction mode, starting at its quality setting | High only when headset frame time is stable | High; lower it if vegetation causes repeated timing spikes | Reduce volumetrics, shadows and reflections before texture detail | Stable headset timing takes priority over a sharper still image |
Use the game’s frame-rate target and your display refresh as the deciding test. A setting that looks excellent in an empty cave can fail in a storm, dense forest, settlement or multiplayer hub.
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Set the rendering path and GPU before tuning quality
Use Vulkan on PC
Hello Games replaced OpenGL with Vulkan in its PC rendering path. Vulkan is therefore the documented API to use when the game offers an API choice. It also exposes controls that matter to troubleshooting, including GPU selection and additional V-Sync modes.
- Open No Man’s Sky and enter Options.
- Open Graphics or Video, depending on the current interface label.
- Confirm that the renderer is set to Vulkan rather than an older compatibility option.
- Apply the change and restart if the game requests it.
If you have more than one graphics processor, confirm that the game is using the intended discrete GPU. A laptop can otherwise launch on an integrated adapter and make every quality setting appear impossibly slow.
Verify the active GPU in the operating system
On Windows, check the game process in Task Manager while it is running, or assign the game to the high-performance GPU in Settings → System → Display → Graphics. Laptop vendor control panels can override this choice, so check there as well. On a desktop, connect the monitor to the graphics card rather than the motherboard video output.
Do this check before lowering settings. If the wrong adapter is active, reducing textures or resolution treats the symptom and leaves the underlying configuration broken.
Match the game resolution to the display
Set the output resolution and refresh rate deliberately. Rendering at a higher internal resolution costs considerably more than changing a single post-processing slider, while a mismatched refresh setting can make otherwise adequate frame time feel uneven. For a high-refresh display, choose a frame-rate target the GPU can sustain in demanding scenes rather than the maximum number visible in an empty area.
Choose reconstruction and anti-aliasing in the right order
DLSS Quality for compatible RTX cards
DLSS Quality is the first choice for a compatible NVIDIA RTX card when you want to retain detail while gaining performance. It reconstructs a lower internal render to the output resolution, so thin grass, wires and foliage can look different from native rendering even when the overall image is sharp.
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Hello Games states that DLSS can be enabled on compatible RTX graphics cards. Its 2024 Worlds Part I notes also say DLSS 3 can multiply performance by up to four times compared with traditional rendering. That is a developer-stated result under its stated conditions, not a guaranteed gain for every GPU, resolution, scene or frame-generation configuration. Use your own frame-time graph to decide whether the visual trade is worthwhile.
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The Voyagers update added Intel Xe Super Sampling 2 support. Select XeSS when it is available and your hardware benefits from it, beginning with its Quality mode. XeSS can also run on some non-Intel systems, but compatibility and image quality depend on the driver and GPU. If a particular scene shows more shimmer or ghosting than native rendering, compare Quality against native before moving to Balanced.
PSSR on supported PlayStation hardware
The same update added PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution support. On supported PlayStation hardware, PSSR is the appropriate reconstruction option to test first. Console performance modes and output resolutions are platform-defined, so do not assume that a PC preset or a different PlayStation model will behave identically.
When to use native or DLAA-style rendering
Native resolution, or a DLAA-style mode when the game provides one, is the clarity-first choice when you already meet your frame-rate target. It avoids the reconstruction artifacts that are most visible on animated foliage, particles and distant terrain. It is not automatically “better” if it forces repeated frame-time spikes; stable motion usually matters more during flight and traversal.
Quality versus Balanced
Stay on Quality whenever it meets your target. Move to Balanced only when Quality cannot hold that target after sensible reductions to volumetrics, reflections, shadows and post-processing. The lower internal resolution can make fine geometry softer, and the benefit varies by output resolution: Balanced generally has more visible compromises at 1080p than at 4K.
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Textures, Planet Quality and VRAM
Keep textures high until VRAM becomes the limit
Texture quality controls surface detail rather than the cost of calculating every light or reflection. If your graphics card has enough VRAM, High or Ultra preserves rock, ship, suit and terrain detail with relatively little effect on average GPU arithmetic. The practical warning signs of insufficient VRAM are hitching during rapid movement, delayed texture replacement and sudden drops when entering a busy area.
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Hello Games has documented texture streaming and texture-detail work in its Worlds updates. That makes texture reductions a later step for a GPU-limited system: first remove work from lighting and screen-space effects, then lower textures if memory pressure remains.
What Planet Quality changes
Planet Quality mainly affects the amount and distance of planetary vegetation and related surface detail. Origins specifically describes an Ultra setting that improves distant grass and flora detail on PC. Keep it Ultra for exploration screenshots and scenic flying when frame time is plentiful. Lower it to High or Normal when dense vegetation produces traversal spikes or when you need steadier frame pacing.
Planet Quality is not a substitute for texture quality. Lowering it can remove distant plants while leaving close surfaces sharp; lowering textures does the opposite. Decide which loss you notice more before changing both.
Watch memory, not just average FPS
An average-FPS counter can hide a VRAM problem. Monitor frame-time consistency and, if your overlay provides it, dedicated GPU memory usage. Leave a margin rather than running permanently at the card’s limit; the game may need additional memory when loading a new biome, freighter interior or multiplayer scene.
Reduce lighting-heavy effects before texture detail
Volumetric lighting, reflections, shadows and post-processing are sensible first reductions because they add per-pixel or screen-space work across large parts of the image. Lower one category at a time so you can identify which one is responsible for a spike.
Volumetrics
Volumetrics affect fog, light shafts, atmospheric haze and weather. They are especially expensive during storms, in caves with strong light beams and when flying through dense atmosphere. Move from Ultra to High, then to Medium if storms are the scenes that miss your target. The visual change is usually more noticeable in atmosphere than on a clear planet.
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Reflections
Screen-space reflections add moving detail to water, wet ground, glass and metallic surfaces. They can shimmer or disappear when the reflected object leaves the screen, because the technique cannot see behind the camera. If reflections are the cause of a GPU spike, lower them before reducing textures. You retain surface sharpness while accepting simpler or less complete reflections.
Shadows
Shadow quality affects resolution, filtering and the distance at which shadows remain visible. Lowering it can help in scenes with many objects, trees or base pieces. Inspect a settlement or forest rather than a bare planet when comparing levels; those locations reveal shadow-cost differences quickly.
Post-processing
Post-processing includes effects such as motion blur, depth of field, bloom and other image treatments, depending on the current build. Disable motion blur if it makes camera movement look smeared. Reduce the remaining post-processing options when you need a final small performance gain, but compare screenshots at native output because some changes affect perceived sharpness more than measured frame time.
V-Sync, frame pacing and latency
V-Sync should match the way you use the display. Vulkan exposes adaptive and triple-buffered choices in addition to ordinary synchronization. A fixed V-Sync mode can eliminate tearing but may add latency or cause a large step down when the GPU misses the refresh interval. Adaptive behavior can keep motion smoother when frame rate fluctuates, while uncapped output may minimize latency at the cost of tearing.
A practical choice
- Use ordinary V-Sync when tearing is distracting and your system can remain near the display refresh.
- Try adaptive V-Sync when the frame rate regularly crosses the refresh rate and you want to avoid abrupt pacing changes.
- Try triple buffering when supported and you prefer smoother delivery over the lowest possible latency.
- Use an external frame-rate cap slightly below the display refresh only if the game’s own pacing is inconsistent with an uncapped limit.
Judge these options by frame-time behavior, not by the highest instantaneous FPS number.
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- Choose a target. Pick the frame rate or headset refresh you actually want to sustain. Record the target and output resolution.
- Establish a repeatable scene. Test on the same planet, weather state and location. Include one demanding scene such as a forest, settlement, storm or busy space station.
- Confirm Vulkan and GPU selection. Do this before changing image-quality controls.
- Set reconstruction to Quality. Use DLSS Quality, XeSS Quality or PSSR where supported. Use native or DLAA-style rendering if you already have ample headroom.
- Set textures to High or Ultra. Watch for streaming hitching or VRAM saturation before lowering them.
- Set Planet Quality to High or Ultra. Choose Ultra for distant flora detail; choose High when vegetation causes timing spikes.
- Lower volumetrics. Compare High and Medium in a storm or foggy area.
- Lower reflections, then shadows. Use a wet surface and a dense settlement or forest to make the difference visible.
- Trim post-processing. Disable motion blur first if clarity during movement matters, then reduce other effects only as needed.
- Change reconstruction mode only after these checks. Move from Quality to Balanced when the target still cannot be sustained. Re-test fine foliage, wires and terrain edges for shimmer or ghosting.
- Check frame pacing. Walk, fly and turn rapidly. A stable frame-time graph and consistent input response are more useful than a brief peak FPS reading.
- Save the working preset. Record the settings and scene so a future game update or driver change can be compared against the same baseline.
Presets by common hardware situations
1080p gaming PC with limited GPU headroom
Start with Quality reconstruction if available, High textures, High Planet Quality, and Medium volumetrics, reflections and shadows. At 1080p, Balanced reconstruction can look visibly softer, so reduce lighting-heavy effects first. If the GPU still misses the target, lower Planet Quality before textures unless the problem is clearly VRAM-related.
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RTX PC targeting a high-refresh display
Use DLSS Quality, High or Ultra textures and High Planet Quality. Keep volumetrics at High, then lower reflections or shadows if busy scenes miss the refresh target. Test any frame-generation option separately from the base render; the developer’s “up to 4X” DLSS3 statement is not a promise that every system will see that result, and generated frames do not remove the need for a responsive base frame rate.
4K or ultrawide display
Begin with DLSS Quality, XeSS Quality or PSSR where supported. Native rendering can be expensive at these output sizes, while Quality reconstruction often retains enough fine detail to avoid the softness of Balanced. Keep textures high if VRAM allows, and use volumetrics and reflections as the first performance levers.
Integrated graphics or low-memory GPU
Use the intended high-performance adapter if one exists. Choose the clearest reconstruction mode that meets the target, then set textures to the highest level that does not cause streaming hitching. Medium Planet Quality and reduced volumetrics, reflections and shadows are reasonable starting points. Lower the output resolution only after these changes if the GPU remains saturated.
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VR changes the priority: a stable headset frame time is more important than a sharper still image. Hello Games’ official notes discuss DLSS and volumetric support in VR, but they do not publish one universal VR preset. Headset resolution, refresh rate, reprojection method and PC hardware all change the result.
Recommended VR order
- Set the headset refresh rate and render scale in the platform software, then choose a target that the GPU can sustain.
- Use the supported reconstruction option at Quality first.
- Keep textures High if VRAM remains stable, because blurry surface detail is especially noticeable in a headset.
- Reduce volumetrics, shadows and reflections before lowering textures.
- Lower Planet Quality if forests or dense flora produce repeated frame-time spikes.
- Test cockpit, planetary walking, flight and a busy settlement separately; one VR scene does not represent all workloads.
If reprojection or motion smoothing activates constantly, lower GPU-heavy effects or render scale until the headset timing is stable. Do not judge VR performance from a monitor mirror window alone.
Troubleshooting common symptoms
| Symptom | Likely cause | First action |
|---|---|---|
| Very low performance on every preset | Wrong GPU, incompatible API path or a power-management limit | Confirm Vulkan, the active GPU, power mode and display connection before reducing quality |
| Short freezes while entering new areas | VRAM pressure or texture streaming | Lower textures one step and leave memory headroom; compare the same route again |
| Storms are much slower than clear weather | Volumetric lighting and weather effects | Lower volumetrics before textures |
| Settlements or forests cause spikes | Shadows, Planet Quality, reflections or object density | Lower shadows or Planet Quality, then test reflections |
| Foliage shimmers or looks smeared | Reconstruction mode, temporal history or insufficient internal resolution | Compare Quality against native; use Balanced only if the frame-time gain is necessary |
| Water and wet ground look unstable | Screen-space reflection limits | Lower reflections and inspect whether motion becomes more consistent |
| Image tears during camera movement | V-Sync or frame-rate mismatch | Try ordinary or adaptive V-Sync and re-check frame pacing |
| VR feels uncomfortable despite a high FPS counter | Uneven headset timing or reprojection | Measure headset frame time and lower volumetrics, shadows or render scale |
How to compare image quality fairly
Take screenshots or short captures from the same position, weather and camera angle. Compare thin branches, grass at the horizon, ship decals, rocks, text on cockpit instruments and reflections on water. These reveal different failure modes: shimmer points to temporal reconstruction, softness points to too-low internal resolution, and missing reflections point to screen-space limits.
Do not compare a clear-weather screenshot with a storm screenshot and call the difference a preset result. No Man’s Sky changes its workload with biome, weather, time of day, base construction and multiplayer activity. A useful comparison records the scene, output resolution, reconstruction mode, frame-rate target and whether V-Sync was enabled.
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What the official performance evidence does—and does not—show
Hello Games’ update notes document the move to Vulkan, RTX DLSS support, DLSS 3, XeSS 2 and PSSR, along with rendering systems such as volumetric lighting, screen-space reflections and texture streaming. They do not provide an independent cross-hardware benchmark table covering every graphics slider. Consequently, the settings above are prioritization rules: they identify which controls usually preserve surface detail and which usually reduce expensive lighting work, but they cannot guarantee a specific FPS increase on your machine.
Final setup checklist
- Vulkan is active on PC.
- The intended discrete or high-performance GPU is selected.
- Output resolution and refresh rate match your display plan.
- DLSS Quality, XeSS Quality or PSSR is selected when compatible.
- Native or DLAA-style rendering is reserved for systems with spare frame-time headroom.
- Textures remain High or Ultra unless VRAM or streaming problems appear.
- Planet Quality is High or Ultra when distant flora matters; lower it for stability in dense biomes.
- Volumetrics, reflections, shadows and post-processing are the first reductions when performance is short.
- V-Sync is chosen for the desired balance of tearing, latency and pacing.
- Every change is tested in a demanding, repeatable scene rather than an empty area.
The practical answer is to preserve the parts you notice up close—textures and, when desired, distant flora—and spend your performance budget on reconstruction quality and stable lighting. Start with Quality reconstruction, then remove volumetric, reflection, shadow and post-processing cost one control at a time until the game holds your target in the places where you actually play.
Quick Recap
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