Best settings for Escape from Tarkov: How to improve FPS, graphics & visibility
Making sure you have the best settings for FPS, graphics and visibility in Escape from Tarkov is a great way to ensure you have a slight edge, as well maximising your enjoyment of the game.
Escape from Tarkov is a notoriously tough game to run where gunfights are decided by millisecond advantages, so getting the best performance and visibility can turn painful deaths into successful extractions.
With that being said, if you're wondering what the best settings in Escape From Tarkov are, alongside how to improve your FPS and visibility in game, then look no further than our full guide below.
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Escape from Tarkov best settings
Click to enlargeThere are really three main sections that we will be looking at for the Escape From Tarkov best settings. The first is a couple of options in the main game settings menu, and then the entirety of the graphics and postfx tabs.
Of course, the effectiveness of these settings depends on your current PC configuration, and lower-end systems are still quite likely to struggle, but these settings should generally be applicable across all component levels.
Game
In the game tab of the settings menu, you'll want to make sure:
- Automatic RAM Cleaner: On
- Only use physical cores: On
- Head bobbing: 0.2
It is almost always a good idea to have these options set this way, with the only minor exceptions being if you have an excessive amount of RAM and are willing to restart the game after semi-long sessions. Even then, there is still really no downside to having the RAM Cleaner on.
The field of view slider is a slightly different story, as it is both down to personal preference, and comes with some additional benefits too. Another thing to watch out for is that it is measured in vertical degrees, as opposed to the traditional horizontal, so you will be using a different number than what you are used to.
If you're looking for the absolute maximum FPS, then setting the FOV to the lowest is the way to go, as there is less information on screen for the game to render. The obvious trade-off for that though is that you have inherently less visibility, so you might miss someone right at the edge of the frame that you would have seen otherwise.
The other thing to consider when choosing your FOV is how you like to use guns in Escape From Tarkov. Lower FOVs do 'zoom' in the player's view, making it easier to see targets at longer ranges with semi-automatic weapons, but the effect of camera recoil is significantly more due to the 'zoomed in' view.
Therefore, if you're more the type of player to spray and pray instead of one tapping headshots, then a wider field of view will suit you better.
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Graphics
Click to enlargeMoving onto the graphics tab, these are the best settings to improve your FPS and visibility in Escape From Tarkov:
- Texture quality: High
- Shadows quality: Low
- Object LOD quality: 2
- Overall visibility: 400 (scaling up to 1500 for long range sniping)
- Antialiasing/NVIDIA DLSS: TAA High/Quality (dependent on graphics card)
- Resampling: 1x off
- HBAO: Off
- SSR: Off
- Anisotropic Filtering: Off
- NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: On
- Sharpness: 0.2
- Lower checkboxes: All off
The only settings you'll really want to play around with here are overall visibility, the antialiasing options, and resampling.
As noted, it is best to keep overall visibility at its lowest setting for maximum performance, but if you're doing anything that requires visibility at long distances like on Lighthouse or the Escape From Tarkov Woods map, then setting that a bit higher will help you out.
One additional, rather unconventional fact to add into the equation is that you benefit from having your shadows and object visibility at the lowest possible, as these two factors aren't rendered at range in certain circumstances, letting you see far more than you technically should be able to.
There are a couple of long angles on Interchange for example that allow you to see enemies that should be in dark, shadowed areas in full brightness, or hidden behind debris that hasn't loaded in for you.
Antialiasing and DLSS will be completely dependent on how powerful your system is. It is very much recommended to at least have some form of antialiasing on, as it not only greatly improves the look of your game, but also helps you spot enemies at a distance from their surroundings.
If you've got an NVIDIA graphics card from or after the 20-series, then you'll have access to DLSS, which can dramatically improve frame rates at very little cost. You can play around with how far you're willing to push this setting, but the quality option is a good and reliable starting point.
With regard to the MIP Streaming setting, make sure to check out our Escape From Tarkov MIP Streaming guide for more extended details. To summarise though, you're generally better having it on - especially if you often encounter micro-stutters - but you're not always guaranteed the highest framerate.
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Best Escape From Tarkov Postfx Settings
Now finally onto the postfx settings, and this is where you will see the most user input. There isn't really a 'best' postfx configuration, as it is all down to what works best for you, but this particular combination is a good way of improving how the game looks.
One thing to note is that setting postfx to 'on' does come with a small performance cost, but it is worth it for the other enhancements it brings to the look of your game.
- Brightness: 0
- Saturation: 35
- Clarity: 0
- Colourfulness: 75
- Luma Sharpen: 20
- Adaptive Sharpen: 0
- Colour Grading: Montreal
- Intensity: 35
The settings you'll want to play around with the most are the saturation, colourfulness, and colour grading intensity. These all play a part in how strong the overall postfx effect is on your game, and can make a big difference in how clear your image is.
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How to Improve visibility in Escape from Tarkov
Click to enlargeThe main ways to improve visibility in Escape From Tarkov are by increasing your settings, and optimising your postfx.
It is no surprise that the 'better' your image is, the easier it is to make out enemies, especially at a distance. Of course, the key thing here is to find a balance between quality and performance, but settings like antialiasing will play a huge part in achieving this equilibrium.
The other primary way to increase your visibility is through the postfx filters. Naturally, Escape From Tarkov can look quite washed out, making it quite hard to spot minor details, especially in lower light scenarios. Using postfx can brighten up the game a lot, and bring detail into the shadows, and more information dense areas.
Click to enlargeWhich postfx you choose however can make a difference, but it is very much down to what look suits you best as a player. Switching between the Montreal and Cognac colour grading for example can make the game look quite different, and that is before playing around with the intensity of such effects.
From a pure visibility point of view, then the more red-toned filters like Cognac are better for the game, as they light up the shadows in maps with darker indoor areas like Interchange and Reserve, but Montreal can offer a more consistent, realistic look across both outside and interior locations.
So, that wraps up our guide on the Escape From Tarkov best settings, giving you all the information you'll need if you're looking to improve FPS and visibility.
Once you've got the technical side of the game down though, why not improve yourself when playing by checking out these Escape From Tarkov tips, so you can have the skills to match your new and improved performance, and for everything else Escape from Tarkov be sure to take a look at all of our guides.