I currently rock a ~3 year old performance card (Nvidia EVGA GTX 670 2GB). I have it overclocked via some software that makes it run equivalent to a Nvidia 960 @ 2GB, AMD R9 280/ 285.
Graphics quality: "Custom"
V-sync mode:"Off"
(turn on only if you have a high end GPU. Prevents screen tearing, but requires your GPU to render multiple frames at once.)
Frame rate limit: "60fps"
(this is our goal frame rate. Monitors run native 60hz in the US. Anything higher isn't scene just buffered. This will prevent your GPU from wildly jumping fps triggering your GPU to cause tearing, overuse, and variable fan speeds. Use 30fps if you can not reach anything higher)
Shadow quality:"High"
(Shadow cast on world objects. Effects the detail of them as well as what objects will have one. Raising this setting to the Nvidia option gives more depth, but nothing worth the FPS drop)
Shadow resolution: "High"
(detail and definition of world shadows. Lowering looks too jaggy and moosh for the marginal FPS gain)
Spot Shadow count: "High"
(How many shadows that will cast on screen from NPCs and i believe the cars? Lower if you start to lose fps when several characters on screen have shadows)
Spot shadow resolution: "High"
(detail and definition of your NPC shadows and other players. Anything lower and your character shadow looks like smeared poop on a wall for the marginal fps boost.)
Contact Shadows: "All Low"
(Anything higher shows marginal gains)
Post FX AA: "Off"
(Don't recommend as the game does a good job already with jaggies)
Temporal AA: "Supersampling"
(I still need to trial/ error this setting, but this seems to give better FPS. I don't notice a difference between the two options for this category)
Sharpen image: "30-80%"
(This is up to personal preference. I put it low since I don't use any AA options as a trick. This is a Post FX effect and doesn't impact FPS. Helps remove Jaggies on screen if lowered)
Particle detail: "High"
(I compared each option to the smoke coming out of vents. Dropping below high will show some lowering of particle effects. Though, if you have issues during firefights/ walking through smoke. Drop this to low. Medium/ low show no difference in quality.)
Enable wind-affected snow: "Yes"
(Uses physics engine in cpu or GPU depending. I see no drop in FPS when on or off. So leave on for fideltiy)
Volumetric fog: "Medium"
(MAJOR FPS GAINS if set to medium. It's hard to see a difference between the highest setting with this, but CHUGS when set to max. Drop down for little fidelity loss)
Reflection Quality: "Low"
(Shows detail in water reflections and windows. I set this to low for the fps boost since It's not a crazy impact in quality difference unless you REALLY stare at it.)
Local Reflection Quality: "Low"
(Shows the reflection in puddles of objects and props/ npcs. Set it low without any crazy difference in fidelity unless you stare all day)
Sub-surface scattering: "Yes"
(I leave this on when I can. I don't receive an FPS Gain or drop disabling. Bounces the light off skin to make it look peachy :P)
Anisotropic filtering: "16x"
(I don't believe anyone should have this any lower. GPUs for years have no issues with this option maxed)
Parallax mapping: "High"
(I see no difference in my FPS requiring this to be off. Gives great depth to textures. Too good to sacrifice.)
Ambient occlusion: "Low"
(Decent FPS Gains here. NVIDIAs option does give better results, but destroys fps to where the marginal fidelity increase isn't worth it. High/ medium show zero differences to low. Turn this setting off if you have fps troubles even further)
Depth of field: "Off"
(I love this setting in games. Creates great depth with character interactions, but isn't worth the FPS drops . Turning this off will help raise FPS in the menus and augmented menu on your arm)
Object detail: "65%"
(I'm still tinkering with these settings. The sweet spot is just above 50%. I have it at 65% for a good distance ratio where you wont really see any close pop in textures/ mooshy ones.)
Extra streaming distance: "90%"
(FPS gains are marginal with this setting for me. So, I set it where you can see far enough to make the game have some depth and character, but doesn't lose too much. A user did point out this gave huge fps gains when dropped around 10%. So trial and error if need be.)
Chromatic aberration: "Yes"
(Negligible FPS gains if off. Post FX i believe. Gives you the impression you're looking through a lens from a camera giving you a "rainbow effect" around edges)
Lens flare: "Yes"
(Negligible FPS gains if off. Some find them annoying "JJ Abrams" though???)
Vignette effect: "Yes"
(Post FX. No FPS impact. Comes to personal preference)
Let me know if you have questions, or if I'm incorrect about an option that does affect your rig more than mine. I'll correct the list as we go.
Please post in comments if this helped your gains, and how many fps it increased!!!!
Hope this helps someone .
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