Our Shadow of the Tomb Raider Optimization Guide will help you with all the graphics settings available for the game, offering the best possible settings for a 1080p/60fps experience. Nixxes Software did an incredible job on the PC version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, not to mention the amazing implementation of DirectX 12.
There are manygraphics settingsfor the PC version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and each have their own performance impact.
Nosso Shadow of the Tomb RaiderPC settingsGuide will help you with all graphics settings and offer the best possible settings for1080p/60FPSExperience in low, medium and high range systems.
Increase FPS
Before we begin discussing each setting and how it affects performance, let's take a look at a few ways you might be able to do thisIncrease your FPSwithout compromising much of the visual settings.
First, make sure there are no background processes running that are using CPU or HDD. Open "Task Manager" and check if any process is using too much of your CPU or disk and kill it.
Your game settings may not be optimized in the Steam client either; So to force the game to run properly go to “SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Shadow of the Tomb Raider“,choose"Characteristics"and on the Compatibility tab, check the box with"Disable full screen optimization".
With these changes, you need to ensure that Steam launches the game with high priority. Go to your Steam library, select the"Characteristics"of the game and on the General tab enter the launch option. Enter the here"-Alt"command (without commas). Press"OK"and close the window.
Even if you have a GPU that supportsDirectX12Make sure you enable it as the game has been optimized for DirectX 12 and is the graphics API recommended by the developers. Compared to DirectX 11, DX12 has better overall performance.
If you have an Nvidia GPU, especially if you have a GTX 10 series GPU with a good CPU, open the Nvidia Control Panel and select Manage 3D Settings.
Now select the program settings and select Shadow of the Tomb Raider from the list. Scroll through the options andSet V-Sync to "Fast". If you have the GPU and CPU headroom, this will definitely give you a significant FPS boost and a potentially locked 60 FPS experience.
Also disableNvidia-Highlightsfor the game as Shadow of the Tomb Raider is having issues with this particular feature.
Also inManage 3D settings, set theprogram settings. Here select Shadow of Tomb Raider and activate ittheme optimization. also definedMaximum pre-rendered frameis for1.
If you are using an Nvidia GPU, driver update 399.24 (or later) must be installed, and if you are using an AMD GPU, driver update 18.8.2 (or later) must be installed.
texture quality
Most PC gamers would understand what texture quality means for video games. For those who don't know, this graphics setting controls the quality of the game's textures.
The higher the setting, the better the in-game texture quality. However, this is one of the graphics settings in Shadow of the Tomb Raider that requires a significant amount of VRAM and GPU resources.
If you have a high-end PC, set it to Ultra; However, depending on your system, you may need to lower this setting a bit.
texture filtering
This graphics setting determines the texture quality at a specific distance from the player when viewed from a specific angle. I would recommend that you don't drop this setting below 8x and if you have the system go for 16x for the best visual presentation.
shadow quality
Shadows are one of the most demanding graphics settings in any PC game, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider is no exception. However, the performance impact of shadow quality is fully justified, as it not only makes the scene more realistic, but also makes the transitions between areas realistic.
If you have the GPU that can handle this setting, increase it to Ultra. However, if you are playing on a mid-range system or laptop and want a smooth experience, try setting it to Medium or Low.
However, dropping this setting will cost you the visual fidelity of the scene, as the shadows become increasingly unrealistic as the setting is lowered.
surrounding occlusion
Ambient occlusion is also one of the most demanding video game settings. There are two options to choose from in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, BTAO and HBAO+.
For those who don't know, Ambient Occlusion allows for realistic shadows to be cast across the overall scene, making the scene much more realistic to view.
BTAOis the Ambient Occlusion technique developed by Eidos Montreal that offers a significant improvement in the overall scene at a low performance penalty.
HBAO+, on the other hand, is reserved for Nvidia GPUs, but offers much more realistic results for the overall scene. However, these settings cost you a significant amount of performance.
If you have a high-end system, HBAO+ is recommended, otherwise set it to BTAO for mid-range systems.
Feldtiefe
Depth of field simulates the effect of a camera focusing on a single object and blurring the rest of the scene. If you set it to Normal, this effect will only activate during cutscenes.
However, if you set it high, the effect begins to play boldly, giving you the effect of a camera following the character and its movement.
This graphics setting doesn't affect performance much, but setting it high to enable it in-game is a personal preference, as some gamers don't like the depth of field during gameplay. However, if you have a low-end GPU, disable it.
level of detail
The level of detail determines how far objects disappear in low-quality models, and the higher the setting, the higher the performance cost.
Decreasing this setting decreases the distance at which objects in your low-quality models fade.
Mosaic
Tessellation is actually related to thatsoil quality. This graphics setting adds displacement maps to surfaces and adds geometry, giving the terrain a realistic look.
However, this setting is a real GPU resource hog and needs to be disabled for low-end systems.
bloom
This graphical setup allows for a realistic transition between a dark area and a light area. It requires relatively fewer GPU resources.
Motion blur
When enabled, this graphical setting blurs the environment as the character or camera moves. This serves two purposes.
The first purpose of Motion Blur is that if you play the game with variable FPS, this setting easily hides the FPS drops and gives you a smoother experience compared to turning it off. The second goal is to make the scene realistic.
Motion blur doesn't require a lot of resources, so I suggest you enable it when the game is running at variable FPS or drops below 60 FPS.
However, at a locked 60 FPS, enabling motion blur is a personal preference as some gamers don't like the effect.
screen space reflections
These are reflections created on the surfaces of objects on the screen. It doesn't require a lot of GPU resources and requires a reasonable system.
Contact shadows in the screen area
This particular graphics setting in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is CPU intensive rather than GPU intensive. Contact shadows in screen space allow object shadows to be cast seamlessly. The higher the setting, the more CPU is required, so please set it according to your CPU.
clean hair
Pure Hair is exclusive to Nvidia GPUs, making Lara Croft's hair realistically respond to your movement, simulating individual strands of hair.
Needless to say, it's quite demanding, so skip it if you have a mid-range or budget Nvidia GPU.
volumetric lighting
Volumetric lighting allows for realistic simulation of game lighting in all scenes. Enabling this setting fills any scene with volumetric lights, and the light filtering through leaves and dust particles creates realistic rays, akadivine rays.
Blendenfleck
This graphical setup simulates the light diffusion of a camera lens. This is a personal preference.
screen effects
This setting allows effects such as blood and dust to hit the camera to enhance the third-person viewing experience. Again, this setting is a personal preference.
Suitable for high-end systems
Before I start, I want to make it clear that by high-end system I mean at least a 6th gen Core i7 processor, 16 GB RAM and at least GTX 1070.
If you have a system that meets these specs, simply set the settings to Ultra for 1080p resolution and enable DirectX 12 for a smooth 1080p/60fps experience.
Suitable for mid-range systems
By mid-range system I mean at least 6th Gen Intel Core i5 with 8-12 GB RAM, GTX 1060 6 GB with 1080p resolution.
texture quality: Alt
texture filtering: 8x-16x
shadow quality:Average
surrounding occlusion: BTAO or HBAO+ (for Nvidia GPUs)
Feldtiefe: Normal
level of detail: Average
Mosaic: Out of
bloom: One
Motion blur: One
screen space reflections: One
Contact shadows in the screen area: Normal
clean hair: Normal
volumetric lighting: One
lens flare: One
screen effects: One
inexpensive systems
By low-end system we mean a system with at least 5th Gen Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, GTX 1050 3GB. Here are the settings for a 1080p/60fps experience.
texture quality: Average
texture filtering: 4x
shadow quality:Low
surrounding occlusion:BTAO
Feldtiefe: Normal
level of detail: Low
Mosaic: Out of
bloom: One
Motion blur: One
screen space reflections: One
Contact shadows in the screen area: Deactivate
clean hair: Out of
volumetric lighting: Out of
lens flare: One
screen effects: One
That's all for our Shadow of the Tomb Raider Tuning Guide with tips on each individual graphics setting and which settings are best for the 1080p/60fps experience.