The Last of Us: Part 1 on PC - performance and technical issues

 How many FPS on GTX 1060, D3D_Feature_Level_12_0 error, long shader compilation, crashes, and more

Apparently, all the major exclusives from Sony of the last couple of generations of the PlayStation will soon be released on the PC. Recently, the release of the computer version of The Last of Us: Part 1 took place - a remake of the very game of 2013, on which the series was recently released. The release turned out to be problematic - on Steam, the port received only about 30% of positive reviews. Most complain about unstable frame rates, crashes, graphical artifacts, and various technical errors.

In this article, we will understand how powerful a computer is needed for the PC version of The Last of Us: Part 1, as well as provide proven solutions for common technical problems with the game.

What kind of computer is needed for The Last of Us: Part 1 remake (system requirements)

The system requirements for the game were posted on the official PlayStation Blog as early as March 9, 2023. And the first tests appeared immediately after the release of the PC version, which happened on March 28th. We reviewed many independent tests of The Last of Us: Part 1 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. The game is not very demanding on the processor, but it can parallelize calculations well. Maximum performance is achieved with 16 physical processor cores. A comfortable minimum is 6 physical cores running in 12 virtual threads, or 8 physical cores. Less than 8 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 12 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. A living classic in the face of the GeForce GTX 1060 allows you to play the game at medium settings. On this still popular graphics card, you can get a stable 30 FPS at 1080p. This is also true for the Radeon RX 480 and RX 570 graphics cards.
5. For a stable 60 FPS on high settings at the same 1080p resolution, you will need at least a GeForce RTX 2080 or RTX 3070, and from Radeon video cards, at least the RX 6700 XT.
6. 1440p @ 30 FPS at high settings will require GeForce RTX 2080 or Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics cards, while 60 FPS will require RTX 3080 and RX 6800 XT respectively.
7. To play 4K @ 30 FPS at high settings, you will need at least a GeForce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6800. And for a stable 60 FPS at this resolution, you will need a GeForce RTX 4080 or Radeon RX 7900 XT.

The game does not start on Windows 7/10

The game is not designed to run on Microsoft operating systems older than Windows 10.

If you have Windows 10, and the game still does not start, then try installing all the latest updates.

The Last of Us: Part 1 (2023) crashes with error 0x0c000142 / 0x0c000005

Run Windows System File Checker. To do this, press the key combination Windows + R, and then in the window that opens, enter “sfc /scannow” (without quotes). After the check is complete, restart your computer.

Error 0xc000007b

Reinstall or update NVIDIA drivers. It is advisable to do a clean install to reset unsuccessful settings.

D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_12_0 error in The Last of Us: Part 1

1. This bug has been fixed in driver 522.25 for NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. Reinstall the driver.
2. Also, the error may occur on older graphics adapters that do not support DirectX 12 or only partially support it.

Too long shader compilation / poor performance/crashes when compiling shaders

Installing a slightly older (and more stable) version of the Oodle Decompression Library 2.9.5 might help :

1. Download the oo2core_9_win64.dll file.
2. Unzip the downloaded archive and transfer the .dll file to the root directory of the game.

"Out of memory" error in The Last of Us: Part 1

Your PC is running out of RAM. The best solution is to increase the amount of RAM to at least 8 gigabytes. Increasing the swap file probably won't help. Also, be sure to close your browser before launching any game. Especially if it has a large number of open tabs.

Game crashes without error/freezes on startup / black screen / vcruntime140_1.dll error

A. Restart your computer after installing the game.

B. If this does not work, download and install RuntimePack. This is a complete set of all libraries necessary to run games.

C. If this does not help, then check the integrity of the game files in Steam:

1. start Steam;
2. go to the "Library" section;
3. [*] right- click on the game name ([i]The Last of Us: Part 1/i]) in the list on the left and open the properties;
4. in the "Local files" tab, click "Verify integrity of game files";
5. wait for the process to complete.

Resolution does not change / image goes off screen

This error can occur if screen scaling is enabled in Windows. You can compensate for this in the following way:

1. Find the tlou-i.exe file in the game folder.
2. Go to properties and go to the "Compatibility" tab.
3. Click the "Change high DPI settings" button.
4. In the "Override scaling mode..." option, select "Application".

The Last of Us: Part 1 (2023) slows down / lags/optimization problems / graphical artifacts

Check if your PC meets the system requirements

See See "What kind of computer do you need for The Last of Us: Part 1 remake" above.

Update your video card drivers

Visit the graphics adapter manufacturer's website:

• NVIDIA GeForce: The site will select the appropriate drivers for you. Just click "Search" and then "Download Now". After the download is complete, run the downloaded file and follow the instructions in the installer.
• AMD Radeon: Scroll to Search for your product and select your graphics card under Graphics. Click the Submit button. On the page that opens, click LMB on your version of Windows and click "Download". Once the download is complete, run the downloaded file and follow the instructions in the installer.

Important: Be sure to restart your computer after updating your drivers.

Turn on high performance for graphics card

For NVIDIA GeForce owners:

1. Open the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on the desktop.
2. Select Manage 3D Settings from the list on the left.
3. Switch to the "Program settings" tab in the main part of the screen and select The Last of Us: Part 1 from the drop-down list under "1. Select a program to configure "(if the game is not in the list, then add the appropriate button next to it).
4. In the list below, locate the "Power Management Mode" feature and toggle it to "Maximum Performance Mode Preferred".

For owners of AMD Radeon and AMD processors:

1. Open Radeon Settings by right-clicking on the desktop.
2. Go to the "System" section.
3. In the "Switchable Graphics" category, set the graphics card with "maximum performance" as the main one.
4. Click Accept.

How to adjust the graphics in The Last of Us: Part 1 / how to increase the frame rate

Optimal settings for a weak PC, close to the minimum system requirements (i5-7500 + GTX 1050 Ti):

• Video mode: windowed (no frame).
• Screen resolution: 1920x1080.
• Vertical sync: disable.
• Max. frame rate: 30.
• Zoom mode: DLSS/FSR 2.
• Render scale: 100.
• Quality: quality.
• Viewing angle: 0.
• Animation quality: low.
• Draw distance: medium.
• Detailing of dynamic objects: medium.
• Character detail: medium.
• Terrain Detail: Medium.
• Texture quality of dynamic objects: medium.
• Character Texture Quality: Medium.
• Terrain Texture Quality: Medium.
• Quality of textures of special effects: average.
• Texture Filtering: Anisotropic 16x.
• Texture sampling quality: medium.
• Ambient shadow quality: 1/2 resolution.
• Directional Shadow Resolution: Medium.
• Distance of directional shadows: medium.
• Panoramic lightmaps: disable.
• Resolution of shadows from directional sources: medium.
• Point Source Shadow Resolution: Medium.
• Reflected light: disable.
• Screen Space Shadow Quality: Low.
• Dynamic shadows in screen space: disable.
• Quality of contact shadows: low.
• Screen Space Background Light Shading: Enable.
• Background light shading filtering quality: low.
• Screen space directional light shading: Disable.
• Conical tracing in screen space: disable.
• Screen Space Reflections: Disable.
• Quality of reflections in real time: disable.
• Quality of real-time cloud reflections: disable.
• Light scattering in screen space: disable.
• Refraction quality: 1/2 resolution.
• Depth of field: Movies only.
• Depth of field quality: medium.
• Speed ​​Effect Quality: Medium.
• Speed ​​effect resolution: 1/2 resolution.
• Ghosting resolution: 1/2 resolution.
• The quality of volumetric effects: medium.
• Optics flare: 1/2 resolution.

"Soapy" (fuzzy) graphics in the game

Two possible reasons:

1. Your video card does not have enough memory to render textures in full quality. This game requires at least 8 GB of VRAM. Set the texture quality to medium or low.
2. Enabled DLSS or FSR smart upscaling in performance mode.

Audio issues in The Last of Us: Part 1

1. Open the Windows Control Panel.
2. Go to the Hardware and Sound section.
3. Open sound settings.
4. Select the default device (there should be a green check next to it) and go to its properties using the button below.
5. In the "Advanced" tab, select the default format "24 bit, 48000 Hz".
6. If it doesn't help, then lower it to "16 bits, 44100 Hz".
7. If this does not help, then run the "Sound Troubleshooter" by right-clicking on the volume icon in the lower right corner of the desktop. Follow the instructions of the program.

Game freezes / “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG” error / black screen

Perhaps the problem is overheating of the video card. Check if the fans of her cooling system are blocked by adjacent wires. If everything is in order with this, then try resetting the overclocking: go to the MSI Afterburner application and click the Reset button (if such a program is not installed, then the video card most likely did not overclock).

Game not saving in The Last of Us: Part 1 (2023)

Check if there are any foreign letters in the path to the tlou-i.exe file. You can quickly find the file through the "Search" in the explorer.

Where are the saves of The Last of Us: Part 1

In the following folder: C:\Users\UserName\Saved Games\The Last of Us Part I\users\UserNumber\savedata\

Gamepad (joystick) does not work in the game

1. Delete the device in the "Device Manager" and restart the computer.
2. If this does not help, then run the controller setup in Steam and manually set the Xbox Controller mode.
3. If this does not help, then try connecting the gamepad via wire.

Write in the comments if you know other ways to solve technical problems in The Last of Us: Part 1!