Best Assassin's Creed Shadows Settings for FPS (PC Optimization Guide)
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The best Assassin’s Creed Shadows settings for FPS are Raytraced Global Illumination on ‘Diffuse (Hideout Only)’, DLSS or FSR set to Quality, Texture Streaming Pool matched to your VRAM, and Shadow and Cloud Quality on Medium — that setup lifts frame rate 30-40% over the Ultra preset with almost no visible loss. Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks demanding but responds very well to smart tuning, because a handful of settings carry most of the cost. Here is the optimized configuration and the reasoning behind each value.
Quick best-FPS settings table
Apply these in Options → Display and Options → Graphics:
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Upscaler | DLSS / FSR Quality | Game assumes upscaling; big FPS gain |
| Frame Generation | On above 50-60 base FPS | Smoothness, not a low-FPS fix |
| V-Sync | Off | Cap FPS instead for lower latency |
| Raytraced Global Illumination | Diffuse (Hideout Only) | +20-30 FPS — the biggest lever |
| Raytracing Quality | Low | Cheap once GI is Hideout Only |
| BVH Quality | Low | Minimal visual impact |
| Texture Streaming Pool | Match VRAM (6GB Low / 8GB Med / 12GB+ High) | Prevents VRAM hitching |
| Shadow Quality | Medium (Very High if you have headroom) | Very High ≈ Ultra at 10% faster |
| Cloud Quality | Medium | Higher presets are taxing |
| Fog Quality | Very High | Nearly free, keep it high |
| Hair Strands | Off | Notable performance cost |
| Loading/Drawing Distance | High | Minimal performance cost |
Raytraced Global Illumination: the one setting that matters most
The single most impactful setting in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is Raytraced Global Illumination. Set it to Diffuse (Hideout Only) for an instant 20-30 FPS boost with almost no visual sacrifice during normal play.
Raytracing cannot be fully disabled in Assassin’s Creed Shadows — the game uses it as part of its lighting model. But Hideout Only confines the expensive ray-traced lighting to your hideout base, so the open world you actually play in runs at a fraction of the cost. Pair it with Raytracing Quality: Low and BVH Quality: Low to reclaim the rest.
Upscaling: turn it on first
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is designed from the ground up assuming upscaling is enabled, so native resolution wastes a large amount of performance.
- NVIDIA RTX: DLSS Quality — sharpest image, big FPS gain.
- AMD / other GPUs: FSR Quality — universal compatibility.
- Keep V-Sync off and cap your frame rate instead for lower input lag.
Enable Frame Generation only after your base frame rate is a stable 50-60 FPS. It improves smoothness but adds latency, so it is a finisher, not a fix — see frame generation input lag explained and DLSS vs FSR vs XeSS.
Texture Streaming Pool: match it to your VRAM
The most common cause of hitching in Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a texture pool set larger than your VRAM. Match Texture Streaming Pool to your card:
- 6GB VRAM → Low
- 8GB VRAM → Medium
- 12GB+ VRAM → High or higher
The Ultra texture pool expects 12GB or more. Overshooting your VRAM causes stutter and frame drops, so this is the highest-impact VRAM setting in the game.
Cheap vs expensive settings
Spend your frame-rate budget where it shows:
- Shadow Quality → Medium for most PCs; Very High looks nearly identical to Ultra while running about 10% faster if you have headroom.
- Cloud Quality → Medium. Higher presets are among the most taxing settings.
- Fog Quality → Very High. It barely costs anything and improves atmosphere.
- Hair Strands → Off. It has a notable performance cost across the game’s many NPCs.
- Loading/Drawing Distance → High. Minimal cost, so keep the world detailed.
Windows and system tweaks
Round out your gains with OS-level tuning that helps any modern AAA title:
- Enable Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling and turn on Game Mode.
- Turn on Resizable BAR in your BIOS for extra frames on modern GPUs.
- Enable XMP/EXPO for full RAM speed.
- Install on an NVMe SSD to reduce texture-streaming hitches.
- Cap FPS with the best FPS cap for low latency and verify with an in-game FPS overlay.
For the lowest possible system input delay underneath these settings, work through how to minimize input delay for competitive gaming and set a stable timer resolution with the free Tier1Timer tool.
Performance expectations
Even top GPUs cannot run Assassin’s Creed Shadows at 4K Ultra 60+ FPS without upscaling, but very playable experiences are the norm once you optimize. With the settings above, an RTX 3070-class PC at 1440p with DLSS Quality reached around 71 average FPS with 50 FPS 1% lows — smooth, responsive, and visually close to the Ultra preset.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the best setting to boost FPS in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
Set Raytraced Global Illumination to 'Diffuse (Hideout Only)'. This is by far the biggest lever, worth 20-30 FPS during normal gameplay, because it limits ray-traced lighting to your hideout instead of the whole world. Raytracing cannot be fully disabled in Assassin's Creed Shadows, but Hideout Only reclaims almost all of its cost while you play in the open world.
What upscaling should I use in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
Use DLSS Quality on NVIDIA RTX cards for the sharpest image, or FSR Quality on AMD and other GPUs for universal compatibility. Assassin's Creed Shadows is designed from the ground up assuming upscaling is on, so leaving it off costs a large amount of FPS for little visual gain. Add Frame Generation on top only once your base frame rate is above 50-60 FPS.
How much VRAM does Assassin's Creed Shadows need?
Set Texture Streaming Pool to match your VRAM: Low for 6GB cards, Medium for 8GB, and High or higher for 12GB and above. Running a texture pool larger than your VRAM causes hitching and frame drops, so matching it to your card is the single most important VRAM setting. The Ultra texture pool expects 12GB+ of VRAM.
Can my PC run Assassin's Creed Shadows at 60 FPS?
Yes, most modern mid-range PCs can hit 60 FPS with upscaling and optimized settings, even though no GPU runs 4K Ultra at 60+ without help. On an RTX 3070-class card at 1440p with DLSS Quality, Raytraced Global Illumination on Hideout Only, and shadows on Medium, testers reached around 71 average FPS with 50 FPS 1% lows. Lower the raytracing and texture settings first if you fall short.
Is Assassin's Creed Shadows well optimized on PC?
Assassin's Creed Shadows is reasonably well optimized for how demanding it looks — it even runs playably on the Steam Deck and ROG Ally — but it assumes upscaling is enabled and leans on ray tracing that cannot be fully turned off. The key to good performance is intelligent prioritization: cut the expensive raytracing and cloud settings, keep the cheap ones like fog high, and let DLSS or FSR do the heavy lifting.