Setting up Returnal graphics for a weak PC

 Space roguelike optimization tips to help you get 60 FPS without harming the picture

Most of the former PlayStation exclusives of the last couple of years ( God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles Morales ) have similar traits in terms of performance. They all look good even at medium settings (which most often match the original ones from PS4 or PS5) and are well-optimized, but consume a lot of video memory and require a relatively powerful processor. Was no exception and Returnal, although it is not as diverse and colorful locations as in the above games.

We plunged into the world of the ever-changing jungle of an alien planet, conducted performance studies in the field, and hasten to share with you the best settings for the PC version of the game.

What kind of computer is needed for Returnal (system requirements)

The system requirements for the game were posted on the official PlayStation Blog as early as January 18, 2023. And the first tests appeared immediately after the release of the PC version, which happened on February 15th. We reviewed many independent tests of Returnal and came to the conclusion that the official system requirements are close to the truth:

After analyzing the system requirements of the game and the test results, we can derive a number of theses about its performance:

1. Maximum performance is achieved on 8 physical processor cores. A comfortable minimum is 4 physical cores running in 8 virtual threads, or 6 physical cores. Less than 6 processor threads the game is unstable.
2. The game has a rather high consumption of video memory. For high settings, 8 gigabytes of VRAM is enough at resolutions up to 1440p (2560x1440). For the maximum with ray tracing, you will need 10 already. And if you want to play in 4K, your video card must have at least 11 gigabytes on board. If there is not enough VRAM, it is not recommended to set the texture quality to high, in order to avoid microfreezes.
3. On the immortal people's video card GeForce GTX 1060, you can play at medium settings (without ray tracing) at 1080p resolution (1920x1080) at a stable 45 FPS. This is also true for the Radeon RX 480 and RX 570 graphics cards.
4. For a stable 60 FPS on high settings at the same 1080p resolution, you will need at least a GeForce GTX 1080 or RTX 2070, and from Radeon video cards, at least the RX 5700 XT.
5. 1440p @ 30 FPS at high settings will require GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600 graphics cards, while 60 FPS will require RTX 2080 and RX 6700 respectively.
6. To play 4K @ 30 FPS at high settings, you will need at least a GeForce RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6700 XT. And for a stable 60 FPS at this resolution, you will need a GeForce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6900 XT.

Graphics settings in Returnal / how to increase FPS (frame rate) in the game

Next, we will analyze in detail all the graphic settings. Testing was conducted on a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card in conjunction with a Core i5-10400F processor, the game was installed on an SSD.

• Screen mode. Select "Full screen" to have the system allocate maximum resources to the game itself, without maintaining the desktop. And if you are a streamer, windowed mode will suit you in full screen without borders. It will allow you to easily move the mouse cursor between multiple monitors.
• "Screen resolution". For most, the actual resolution is still 1920x1080. This is the native resolution for standard monitors. Also, 1920x1080 can look good on 4K TVs (but not monitors!).
• "Vertical Synchronization". Not only limits the maximum frame rate, but also equalizes the time of their rendering with each other. This makes the footage as smooth as possible, but increases input lag. Therefore, it is better to use the frame rate limiting function, which is just lower.
• "Frame Rate Limiting". Put 45fps here on a GeForce GTX 1060-level card (that's what it's capable of at 1080p at medium settings, especially with FSR smart upscaling enabled) and 60fps on an RTX 2060-level card.
• Screen optimization. Today, neural network scaling works perfectly, the picture is almost the same as the native resolution, especially in dynamics, and the FPS grows noticeably. For this reason, everyone should use it. If your video card does not support DLSS, then at least enable FSR.
• "DLSS/FSR mode". Select the Quality mode. So the image will be completely identical to the original and performance will increase. In the "Balance" mode, the picture will be slightly worse, but still acceptable. But "Performance" is not worth choosing.
• "Lighting Quality" There are quite a few settings in the game that have little effect on performance if you have a relatively modern graphics card (at least 2016-17 models). Lighting is one of those. Reducing to medium quality or lower is only on outdated hardware. And on the modern difference in performance is not present.
• Shadow quality. The shadows look like the PS5 original only in high quality. And if you lower it to medium, then the number of FPS will increase by about 10%. Low quality will not give an additional increase, while it looks terrible. Set to medium or high quality.
• "Background shading". Additional darkening of various joints and recesses, which makes the surfaces more voluminous. You can get another 8% increase in productivity if you lower this parameter to medium quality. Visually, the difference will be imperceptible.
• "Shadow Tracing". You should not enable ray tracing on weak (and even medium power) video cards at all. So let's move on right away.
• "Reflections on the surfaces of objects". These are reflections in screen space by the classic method without ray tracing. It has almost no effect on performance, so you can turn it on.
• "Ray tracing: reflections". Similar to the Shadow Trace option.
• Model quality. Detailing of distant objects. More of a CPU-dependent setting and also has a slight effect on memory consumption. In general, you can leave it at a high value.
• Texture quality. For high-quality textures, you need a 6 GB video card, and for maximum quality, 8. If you have less than 6, then set the average.
• "Volumetric fog". Medium quality can increase FPS percent by 3, compared to the maximum. There are few visual differences, so set the quality to medium.
• "Particle Quality". Not too demanding setting, except for especially large-scale battles. But even there the difference between the maximum and minimum quality does not reach even 10%. At the same time, the visual difference is clearly noticeable - especially in the range of rendering special effects.
• Smoothing quality. Here the recommendations are similar to the lighting parameter. On a relatively modern video card, you can set the maximum quality. And on the old - downgrade to medium.
• "Depth of field". Doesn't affect performance, but background blur can be annoying in some combat situations. Can be turned off.
• "Glow". Additional brightness for illuminated areas of surfaces. It is better to turn it on since it almost does not consume FPS.

The final optimal Returnal settings for a weak (and not only) PC

IMPORTANT: All recommendations below are for 1920x1080 resolution.

Optimal settings for a weak PC (GTX 960 / RX 580):

• Screen mode: full screen.
• Screen resolution: 1920x1080.
• Vertical sync: disable.
• Frame Rate Limit: 45 fps.
• Screen optimization: DLSS/FSR.
• DLSS/FSR mode: quality.
• Light quality: average.
• Shadow quality: high.
• Background Shading: Medium.
• Shadow tracing: disable.
• Reflections on object surfaces: disable.
• Ray Tracing: Reflections: Disable.
• Quality of models: average.
• Texture quality: medium.
• Volumetric fog: medium.
• Particle quality: medium.
• Smoothing quality: medium.
• Depth of field: disable.
• Glow: enable.

Best settings for an entry-level gaming PC (RTX 2060 / RX 5600):

• Screen mode: full screen.
• Screen resolution: 1920x1080.
• Vertical sync: disable.
• Frame Rate Limit: 60 fps.
• Screen optimization: DLSS/FSR.
• DLSS/FSR mode: quality.
• Lighting quality: high.
• Shadow quality: high.
• Background Shading: High.
• Shadow tracing: disable.
• Reflections on object surfaces: enable.
• Ray Tracing: Reflections: Disable.
• Model quality: high.
• Texture quality: medium.
• Volumetric fog: medium.
• Particle quality: high.
• Smoothing quality: high.
• Depth of field: disable.
• Glow: enable.

Optimal settings for a mid-range PC (RTX 3060 / RX 6600 XT):

• Screen mode: full screen.
• Screen resolution: 1920x1080.
• Vertical sync: disable.
• Frame Rate Limit: 60 fps.
• Screen optimization: DLSS/FSR.
• DLSS/FSR mode: quality.
• Lighting quality: high.
• Shadow quality: high.
• Background Shading: High.
• Shadow tracing: disable.
• Reflections on object surfaces: enable.
• Ray Tracing: Reflections: Disable.
• Model quality: high.
• Texture quality: high.
• Volumetric fog: high.
• Particle quality: high.
• Smoothing quality: high.
• Depth of field: disable.
• Glow: enable.

Optimal settings for a pre-top PC (RTX 3080 / RX 6800 XT):

• Screen mode: full screen.
• Screen resolution: 1920x1080.
• Vertical sync: disable.
• Frame Rate Limit: 90 fps.
• Screen optimization: DLSS/FSR.
• DLSS/FSR mode: quality.
• Lighting quality: epic.
• Shadow Quality: Epic.
• Background shading: epic.
• Shadow tracing: high.
• Reflections on object surfaces: enable.
• Ray Tracing: Reflections: High.
• Model quality: epic.
• Texture quality: epic.
• Volumetric fog: epic.
• Particle Quality: Epic.
• Smoothing quality: epic.
• Depth of field: epic.
• Glow: enable.

That's all. Write in the comments if you have any questions about setting up graphics in Returnal or if you have technical problems with the game - we will try to help you!