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For smoother performance, start at the High preset, match output resolution and a realistic frame-rate target to your monitor, then tune in this order: enable the game’s supported upscaler in Quality mode, disable ray tracing if GPU frame time is high, keep textures as high as your VRAM can stream, and reduce shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects one step at a time. Add frame generation only after the underlying rendered frame rate is stable. Test the busiest repeatable scene and judge frame-time consistency or 1% lows, not the average FPS alone.
Because no specific demo, graphics card, processor, display resolution or target frame rate was supplied, the sequence below is a general method rather than a tested preset for one title.
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Use this tuning order first
Changing every option at once makes it impossible to know what helped, and it can leave you with a high average FPS but distracting hitching. Work through the largest performance levers in a fixed order, recording the result in the same scene after each meaningful change.
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| Order | Change | What it mainly affects | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set output resolution and a frame-rate target appropriate for the monitor | GPU frame time, image detail and, indirectly, CPU scheduling | Whether the target is realistic for the display and hardware |
| 2 | Start from High rather than Ultra | Several GPU-heavy effects at once | A repeatable baseline before individual tuning |
| 3 | Enable the supported upscaler in Quality mode | Native rendering workload and image stability | Upscaling artifacts, shimmer and achieved frame time |
| 4 | Disable ray tracing when GPU frame time is high | GPU frame time and video-memory use | Large gains versus the visual value you lose |
| 5 | Set textures to the highest level that streams reliably | VRAM use and texture-streaming hitches | Late-loading, blurry or delayed textures |
| 6 | Lower shadows, volumetric effects, reflections and screen-space effects one step at a time | GPU frame time and image stability | Which single option gives a measurable improvement |
| 7 | Add frame generation only after the base render rate is stable | Displayed smoothness, not the original render workload | Latency, artifacts and consistency of the underlying frames |
This order follows the practical finding that output resolution and ray tracing usually cost the most, while upscaling and frame generation can buy performance back. MSI summarizes the trade-off as: “Upping the Resolution and Ray Tracing cost the most; upscaling and frame generation buy performance back.”
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Establish a useful baseline
Choose the output resolution and target
Set the game to the monitor’s intended output resolution first. A 4K display, a 1440p display and a 1080p display impose very different workloads, so a frame-rate number without its resolution is not a meaningful target. Pick a target that fits the panel’s refresh rate and that the hardware can sustain in the demo’s hardest scene, rather than chasing the highest number shown in an empty corridor.
Use the same target throughout testing. If you compare one upscaler at 60 FPS and another at 90 FPS, you are measuring different workloads and may mistake a target change for an image-quality or performance difference. Record output resolution, target frame rate, preset, upscaler mode and ray-tracing state for each run.
Begin with High, not Ultra
Apply the High preset as your starting point. Ultra often spends a disproportionate amount of GPU time and VRAM on effects that are difficult to notice during movement. High gives you a stable reference while preserving room to raise a texture setting later if streaming remains reliable. Do not use the preset as the final answer; use it to establish a known combination before changing one expensive option at a time.
Measure the right scene
Find the demo’s busiest repeatable location: a crowded combat encounter, a view with long draw distances, heavy smoke or a scene with many reflective and shadowed surfaces. Use the same route and camera movement for every pass. The average FPS can look excellent while short stalls make controls feel uneven, so inspect frame-time consistency or 1% lows as well as the average.
There is no universal 1% low threshold established for every game or display. Your practical pass condition is that the frame-time graph remains coherent during the repeatable stress scene and that camera movement does not produce obvious hitching. If the average is high but the graph contains large spikes, solve the spikes before adding visual effects.
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR or XeSS?
Use the upscaler the game officially supports, beginning with its Quality mode. An upscaler renders internally below the selected output resolution and reconstructs the final image, reducing the work done by the GPU. Quality generally offers the best balance; if the target is still missed, move to Balanced, then Performance. Compare modes at the same output resolution and frame-rate target, and do not judge one technology in Quality against another in Performance.
How to choose among the three
| Option | Best first test | What is established | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLSS | Quality, then Balanced if needed | It is an NVIDIA reconstruction option available only where the title exposes it. NVIDIA reported up to 3× performance in Fortnite with ray tracing enabled on GeForce RTX GPUs in 2020. | The 3× figure is a reported maximum for that game and condition, not a promise for this demo or every RTX card. |
| FSR | Quality, then Balanced | AMD describes FSR Frame Generation as predicting and inserting new frames between rendered ones to deliver smoother and higher displayed frame rates. | Frame generation affects displayed frames; it does not remove the need for a stable underlying render rate. |
| XeSS | Quality, then Balanced or Performance | Intel’s guide requires the game to expose quality/performance choices. At 1920×1080 output, XeSS Performance renders internally at 960×540 before upscaling, according to Intel’s 2026 support documentation. | Intel warns that XeSS should not be combined with competing upscalers or TAA because of possible incompatibilities. |
There is no responsible universal ranking of DLSS, FSR and XeSS from the information available here. Their results depend on the game’s implementation, motion vectors, sharpening, graphics card and chosen internal-resolution mode. The fairest comparison is to hold output resolution, target frame rate, ray tracing state and scene constant, then inspect both frame time and image behavior around fine geometry, foliage, particles and moving objects.
When to move from Quality to Balanced or Performance
- Run the busiest scene with the upscaler in Quality mode.
- If the target is missed, switch to Balanced and repeat the identical route.
- Use Performance only when Balanced still cannot reach the target or when a lower internal resolution is an acceptable trade-off.
- Check distant detail, thin lines and moving foliage after every change. A larger FPS number is not an improvement if reconstruction shimmer becomes distracting.
At 1080p output, XeSS Performance’s documented 960×540 internal render illustrates why Performance mode can look substantially softer: only one quarter as many internal pixels are rendered as the 1920×1080 output contains. That is a documented XeSS example, not a rule that every upscaler uses the same scale.
Ray tracing: the first major switch to test
If the GPU is the limiting component, turn ray tracing off before dismantling every other quality setting. Ray-traced lighting, reflections or shadows can raise GPU frame time sharply and consume additional video memory. MSI identifies resolution and ray tracing as especially costly settings.
NVIDIA’s Control graphics guide recommends a GeForce RTX 2060 or better for ray-traced play in that game. Treat that as a title-specific recommendation and an editorial hardware anchor, not a universal minimum for this unnamed demo. The same guide advises dropping texture resolution from Ultra to High if textures take too long to stream, and notes that shadows carry both performance and video-memory costs.
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A practical ray-tracing decision
- Keep ray tracing: Use it when the GPU sustains the target in the stress scene and the visual difference is important to you.
- Reduce ray-tracing quality: If the title offers separate ray-traced reflections, shadows or global illumination controls, lower the most expensive component first rather than disabling every ray-traced effect automatically.
- Disable ray tracing: Choose this when GPU frame time is high, 1% lows collapse during effects-heavy moments, or the image benefit is smaller than the smoothness cost.
Do not infer that ray tracing is the cause merely because the average FPS is low. Confirm the bottleneck with the game’s performance overlay or a frame-time monitor: a high GPU utilization and high GPU frame time point toward resolution, ray tracing or other GPU settings; a busy CPU with spare GPU capacity points elsewhere.
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Textures are different from most effects. They primarily consume VRAM and storage bandwidth rather than continuously multiplying shader work. Keep texture quality at the highest level the graphics card can stream reliably. NVIDIA’s Control guidance says to use Ultra on a modern GPU, but to drop to High when textures take too long to stream.
Signs that textures are too high
- Surfaces appear blurry for several seconds after entering a room.
- Texture detail arrives late when turning quickly.
- Frame-time spikes occur during traversal even though average GPU load looks acceptable.
- The game reports a VRAM warning or the graphics settings menu shows memory usage beyond the card’s available budget.
Lower textures one step, retest the same traversal and keep the change only if streaming becomes more consistent. Do not lower textures first when the actual problem is ray-tracing cost or output resolution; you may sacrifice surface detail without addressing the dominant frame-time source.
The second wave: shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects
Once resolution, upscaling, ray tracing and textures are in a sensible state, tune the remaining expensive effects one at a time. Change one setting, replay the identical scene and note average FPS, the worst visible hitch, frame-time behavior and image changes.
Shadows
Shadow resolution, distance and filtering can be costly, especially in scenes with many light sources. Lower shadows one step before making more drastic changes. Watch foliage, character silhouettes and moving lights: a small reduction may deliver a useful frame-time gain while preserving the scene’s overall depth.
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Volumetric effects
Fog, smoke, clouds and light shafts can fill a large portion of the screen and become expensive during combat or weather effects. Reduce volumetric quality one step if the stress scene contains dense atmosphere. Compare the same camera angle, because a clear hallway can hide the cost that appears when the scene fills with smoke.
Reflections
Reflections are particularly visible on wet floors, glass and polished surfaces. If ray tracing is already disabled, lower the conventional reflection setting only if it is still a measurable GPU-time contributor. Check whether lowering it removes reflections entirely or merely reduces resolution and update frequency; keep the highest option that does not reintroduce stutter.
Screen-space effects
Screen-space reflections, ambient occlusion and similar post-process effects can affect image stability around the edges of the screen and when objects move out of view. Reduce them one step at a time after the larger levers. Examine corners, contact shadows and reflective surfaces for distracting changes rather than relying on the menu’s nominal quality label.
Frame generation: use it after the base rate is stable
Frame generation inserts predicted frames between traditionally rendered frames. AMD’s wording is precise: “FSR Frame Generation: Predicts and inserts new frames between rendered ones, delivering smoother and higher frame rate gaming.” The displayed FPS can rise, but the generated frames do not replace the need for a stable underlying render rate.
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If the base render rate is fluctuating, frame generation has uneven source frames to work from. You may see a larger counter number while input still feels delayed or motion contains artifacts. First stabilize native or upscaled rendering by fixing resolution, ray tracing and the other GPU-heavy settings. Then enable frame generation and repeat the stress-scene test.
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What to evaluate
- Displayed smoothness: Is camera motion visibly more continuous?
- Input response: Does aiming or steering still feel immediate at the chosen base rate?
- Artifacts: Inspect fast-moving geometry, particles, HUD elements and disoccluded areas.
- Frame-time consistency: Are the original rendered frames stable, or is the counter masking large source-frame gaps?
Keep frame generation when it improves perceived motion without unacceptable latency or artifacts. Turn it off when the source render is unstable or when interaction feels less responsive despite the higher displayed count.
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| Symptom | Likely constraint | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| GPU frame time is high and utilization is near its limit | Resolution, ray tracing or another GPU-heavy effect | Use the supported upscaler, disable ray tracing, then lower shadows or volumetrics |
| GPU has spare capacity but frame time still spikes during traversal | Texture streaming or a CPU-side stall | Drop textures from Ultra to High if streaming is slow; then investigate CPU frame time and asset-streaming behavior |
| Average FPS is high but movement feels uneven | Frame-time spikes or poor 1% lows | Repeat the same stress route, inspect the frame-time graph and remove the setting that causes spikes |
| Image is soft or shimmers after lowering upscaler mode | Internal resolution is too low for the output | Return to Quality or Balanced and recover performance elsewhere, starting with ray tracing |
| Displayed FPS rises but controls feel delayed | Frame generation on an unstable base rate or added latency | Stabilize the rendered rate first; disable frame generation if responsiveness remains poor |
| Only textures arrive late or pop in | VRAM or texture-streaming pressure | Lower texture quality one step and retest the same traversal |
GPU frame time versus CPU frame time
Graphics settings primarily help when the GPU is the slow side of the frame. Lowering output resolution, enabling an upscaler and disabling ray tracing reduce GPU work. They cannot fix a CPU-limited scene in which simulation, draw-call submission or streaming preparation takes longer than the GPU render.
If the overlay shows low GPU utilization while the CPU frame time is the longer number, stop lowering visual quality indiscriminately. Keep the image settings that matter to you, use the game’s available CPU-oriented options if it exposes them, and focus testing on crowded scenes where the limitation appears. The correct target remains consistent frame delivery, not a particular utilization percentage.
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- Set the monitor’s intended output resolution and choose a frame-rate target that matches the display and the demo’s hardest scene.
- Apply the High preset and restart the demo if it requires a restart for settings to take effect.
- Choose the title’s supported upscaler and set it to Quality.
- Run the same busy scene and record average FPS, 1% lows if available, GPU frame time, CPU frame time and visible artifacts.
- If GPU frame time is high, disable ray tracing and repeat the run.
- Set textures to the highest level that streams without delayed loading or hitching. If Ultra streams slowly, use High.
- Lower shadows, volumetric effects, reflections and screen-space effects individually, keeping only changes that improve consistency.
- If the target is still missed, move the upscaler from Quality to Balanced, then Performance if necessary.
- Enable frame generation only after the base render is stable, then check latency and fast-motion artifacts.
- Lock in the best combination for the stress scene and verify it in a second demanding area before treating it as your final setting.
How to compare settings fairly
Use a simple test sheet with one row per configuration. Keep the output resolution, route, camera movement, target frame rate and ambient conditions constant. Record GPU frame time, CPU frame time, average FPS, 1% lows or frame-time consistency, VRAM behavior, image stability and input feel.
Separate native-render changes from generated-display changes. Resolution, ray tracing, textures, shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects alter the rendered image or the work needed to produce it. Frame generation primarily changes the number of displayed frames between rendered ones. Treating both categories as equivalent can make a counter look better without improving the underlying bottleneck.
When comparing DLSS, FSR or XeSS, use the same output resolution and target frame rate. Do not compare different internal-resolution modes and then call the result an upscaler-quality verdict. Inspect a static detail for reconstruction stability and a moving sequence for shimmer, ghosting and temporal breakup.
When hardware is the real answer
If the demo still cannot sustain the chosen target after you have used an appropriate output resolution, Quality or Balanced upscaling, disabled ray tracing and reduced the major effects, the remaining gap may be hardware rather than a hidden menu setting. A GeForce RTX graphics card is a legitimate upgrade topic when ray-traced play or a high output resolution is non-negotiable. NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2060 recommendation for ray-traced play in Control provides a concrete reference point, but it should not be read as this unnamed demo’s guaranteed minimum.
Before buying anything, confirm whether the limitation is GPU frame time, CPU frame time or VRAM streaming. An upgrade aimed at the wrong constraint can leave the exact stutter unchanged. Also verify current product availability and specifications at the time of purchase; those details are not established for this guide.
Recommended starting profiles
| Priority | Starting profile | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image quality first | High preset, native output if sustainable, upscaler Quality, ray tracing enabled only if the stress scene remains stable, highest reliable texture level | Powerful GPUs and displays where detail matters more than maximum FPS | May require ray-tracing or effect reductions in the heaviest scene |
| Balanced smoothness | High preset, upscaler Quality or Balanced, ray tracing off when GPU frame time is high, reliable High or Ultra textures, one-step reductions to shadows and volumetrics | Most systems seeking consistent motion without a visibly soft image | Some lighting and reflection quality is reduced |
| Maximum displayed smoothness | High preset, upscaler Balanced or Performance, ray tracing off, reduced shadows and volumetrics, frame generation only after the base render is stable | Systems that prioritize a high displayed frame rate | Lower internal resolution, possible reconstruction artifacts and frame-generation latency or artifacts |
Bottom line
The highest-impact path is not a random collection of Low settings. Match resolution and target first, start at High, use the supported upscaler in Quality, remove ray tracing when GPU frame time is the problem, protect VRAM streaming with sensible textures, then trim shadows, volumetrics, reflections and screen-space effects one step at a time. Frame generation belongs at the end, after the underlying render is stable. The best final configuration is the one that keeps frame times consistent in the demo’s busiest repeatable scene while preserving the image details you actually notice.
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