Escape from Tarkov optimization guide for weak PCs (2023) - how to increase FPS, remove lags and freezes

 

With the release of update 0.13.0.0 in Escape From Tarkov, many players have problems with optimization. We asked ourselves a simple question: how to increase FPS, as well as get rid of freezes and freezes? In this guide, we will describe several effective ways to improve performance, as well as tell you how to properly set the graphics settings for a more comfortable game.

How to optimize launcher performance in Escape From Tarkov

The first thing you need to do is set up the launcher correctly. It has many useful features that will help improve the performance of the game. To do this, follow the instructions below.

Open launcher. In the upper right corner next to your nickname, click the arrow and click on the Clear cache button. Then go to the "Settings" section.

Here we are interested in two lines. In the item "When you click on the button to close the window" set "Close launcher". In the "When starting the game" section, set "Completely exit the launcher".

Scroll down the list and find the section "Folder for temporary files". We advise you to clean it before each launch of the game.

This launcher setting will create a minimal load on the system, which means it will free up more resources for the game. Check these settings after updates are released, as they may be reset when you download the next patch or other small fixes.

How to optimize the system

Escape From Tarkov is quite demanding and not fully optimized yet. Therefore, you should prepare the system for a more comfortable game.

It has long been believed in the gaming community and among popular streamers that EFT consumes mainly RAM and CPU resources. The video card also affects the gameplay, but not as much. For example, when comparing GTX GeForce 1060 Ti (3GB) and Radeon RX 580 (8GB) video cards at the minimum graphics settings, the difference in FPS growth turned out to be slightly more than 10 frames.

Install launcher and game on SSD drive

It's no secret that the data transfer speed of SSD drives is much higher than conventional hard drives. If you have multiple drives, install the launcher and game on an SSD if possible.

Create a swap file

For those players who have no more than 8 GB of RAM installed, we recommend creating a swap file in the Windows system. This will avoid various freezes and crashes since in this case they can be found everywhere:

• Press the key combination "Win + R" to call the search box, enter "sysdm.cpl" without quotes, and press "Enter" ;
• Go to the "Advanced" tab, then in the "Performance" section, click "Settings" ;
• In the window that opens, click on the item "Advanced", then "Change" ;
• Uncheck the box "Automatically choose the size of the paging file" and click "Specify size" ;
• In the field "Initial size (MB):" set the value - 4096 ;
• In the field "Maximum size (MB):" put - 8192 ;
• Click the "Set" and "OK" button.

Note: You must restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

We have given the optimal values ​​for the swap file. If you still encounter difficulties, the developers recommend setting higher rates. For the paging file, be sure to specify an SSD drive, if any.

Adjusting NVIDIA graphics card settings

• On the desktop, right-click and go to "NVIDIA Control Panel" ;
• Find the 3D Options section. In the item “Adjusting image settings with preview”, check “Advanced 3D image settings” and move the slider to the left;
• Set the "Performance" option and click "Apply".

Next, go to the "Manage 3D Settings" tab. In the window that opens, set the optimal values ​​​​(the procedure may differ):

• "CUDA GPUs" - set to "All" ;
• "DSR Degree" - "Off" ;
• "Anisotropic filtering" set - "Control from the application" ;
• "Vertical Sync - "Off" ;
• "GPU OpenGL Rendering" - select your discrete graphics card;
• "Pre-prepared frames" - set the value "1" ;
• Ambient Light Shading - Off ;
• Shader Caching - On ;
• "Max Frame Rate" and "Max Frame Rate" options. background application frequency "- turn off ;
• "Streaming optimization" - be sure to enable ;
• "Low Latency" - "On" ;
• "Power management mode" - set "Preferred maximum performance mode" ;
• "Anti-Aliasing - FXAA" - "Off" ;
• "Smoothing - Gamma Correction" - "On" ;
• "Anti-Aliasing - Transparency" - "Off" ;
• "Smoothing - mode - set the value - "Control from the application" ;
• "Monitor Technology" - set "Fixed refresh rate" ;
• "Triple Buffering" - "On" ;
• "Texture filtering - anisotropic filtering" - "On";
• "Texture filtering - quality" - set "High performance" ;
• "Texture filtering" - negative deviation - set "Allow" ;
• "Texture filtering - trilinear optimization" - "On";
• Click the Apply button.

AMD graphics card settings

We click RMB on the desktop and select "AMD Software: Adrenaline Edition". In the application that opens, go to the settings by clicking the gear in the upper right corner. Then open the "Video card" section and select the following options:

• "Radeon Anti-Lag" - "Off" ;
• "Radeon Chill" - "Off" ;
• "Radeon Boost" - "Off" ;
• Radeon Image Correction - Off ;
• "Radeon Enhanced Sync" - "Off" ;
• "Wait for vertical update" - set the parameter "Always off".

Next, open the "Advanced" tab and also set the values:

• "Target Frame Rate Control" - "Off" ;
• "Smoothing" - set "Use application settings" ;
• "Smoothing method" - "Multiple sampling" ;
• Morphological Anti-Aliasing - Off ;
• Anisotropic Filtering - Off ;
• "Texture filtering quality" - "Performance";
• "Surface Format Optimization" - "On" ;
• "Tessellation mode" - "Override application settings" ;
• "Maximum Tessellation Level" - "Off" ;
• "OpenGL Triple Buffering" - "Off" ;
• "10-bit pixel format" - "Off" ;
• "GPU workload" - "Video card".

In the shader cache section, you need to periodically click "Perform Reset" to clean up the files. This will not affect the performance of your PC in any way.

End all third-party processes

Press the key combination "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" and complete all third-party tasks that load your system and do not need you at the moment.

Clean up the Temp folder in a timely manner

• Use the key combination "Win + R" to call the search bar and enter "%temp%" without quotes;
• Completely delete the contents of the folder. Skip those files that are not deleted. They are temporary, and you do not have to worry about the performance of your system.

How to optimize Escape from Tarkov. What settings to use for a comfortable game

Now go to the Escape from Tarkov settings:

• In the lower right corner, go to "Settings" by clicking on the gear icon;
• In the "Game" section, check the boxes "Auto-clear RAM" and "Use only physical cores".
• Uncheck the box "Preload hideout" - the disabled function will load your hideout only when you want to enter it. If this feature is enabled, the hideout will be loaded when the game is launched, which can negatively affect performance.
• Additionally, you can unscrew the "View area" slider to your taste, but remember that the wider the picture on your monitor, the more textures and objects the game will have to load.
• In the item "Shaking the head" set the value "0.2".

Graphics settings

• In the "Screen Mode" section, set "Full-Screen Mode" - this is the only mode in which the FPS in the game will be maximum. Any other screen mode will negatively affect the frame rate;
• Be sure to turn off the "Vertical Sync" option ;
• The slider "General graphics quality" can be left untouched, as you will adjust the picture in manual mode.
• In the "Texture Quality" section, select the value "Low" ;
• Set Shadow Quality to Medium. It is believed that the low quality of the shadows does not load them well in the game itself, which negatively affects the frame rate;
• Reduce the "Object detail" slider to the minimum - 2 units;
• In the "General visibility" item, we recommend setting the value "400". Skirmishes in Tarkov rarely take place at such distances - if you plan to play on a weak car, this value will suffice;
• In the "Smoothing" section, you should set the value "TAA". The function allows you to get rid of the aliasing of objects, while not spending much system resources. However, if you are comfortable playing without anti-aliasing, you can turn this option off. In this case, the picture will take on a more grainy appearance, and the visibility range will be greatly reduced;
• The "Resampling" parameter is set to "1x " by default. You can lower it for better performance, but this will degrade the picture quality. If you decide to increase this setting, you will experience significant frame drops.

The following settings may vary from user to user depending on the manufacturer of their video card.

• The HBAO parameter is responsible for the quality of lighting and shadows. It is better to turn off the function completely, as it heavily loads RAM;
• The SSR tab is responsible for realistic shadows and shading. We recommend disabling it completely;
• "Anisotropic filtering" helps to increase the clarity of objects at long distances. We recommend disabling this option.

It remains to figure out a few individual parameters that are also important for increasing performance in the game. There are a few more separate items in the "Graphics" tab :

• "High-quality color" - responsible for a more saturated picture. Consumes little FPS. We recommend enabling this option;
• "Z-Blur" - responsible for blurring the picture, it is better to turn it off;
• "Chromium. Aberrations" - turn off;
• "Noise" - also worth turning off;
• "Grass shadow" - this option loads the video card, which leads to a decrease in performance;
• "Mip Streaming" - also turn off for more stable operation.

You can simply set the graphics settings in these items, as shown in the screenshot below.

Reload the game from time to time

Even with the "Auto Cleanup RAM" setting turned on, after several long raids, you may experience freezes and freezes. We recommend restarting the game from time to time. This will forcibly clear the RAM.

Disable Binaural Audio

With the latest patch, the Binaural Sound feature has been added to the game. In theory, it allows you to determine the direction to the sound source, which makes sound perception voluminous. But many gamers note that when this parameter is activated, the overall performance of the game drops noticeably, usually by 10-15 FPS. We recommend doing the following:

• In the game settings, go to the tab "Sound" ;
• Uncheck the option "Binaural sound" ;
• Click the "Save" button and re-enter the game.

At the moment, these are the most actionable tips that both the game itself and the gaming community have to offer. Battlestate Games, in turn, is constantly working on optimizing the project.