Best Cyberpunk 2077 Settings for FPS and Performance

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The fastest way to boost FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 is to turn ray tracing off (or keep it minimal), set Screen Space Reflections and Volumetrics to Medium, enable DLSS or FSR on Quality, and run a stable FPS cap. Cyberpunk 2077 is a demanding open-world game that leans on upscaling, so these changes recover the most frames while keeping Night City sharp. This guide covers the best graphics, ray tracing, upscaling, and Windows settings for any PC.

The goal is playable, stable frames while driving through a crowded district — not maxed reflections that tank your FPS the moment the city fills the screen.

Best Cyberpunk 2077 settings

Set these in Settings → Graphics:

SettingRecommended value
Display ModeFullscreen
V-SyncOff
Max FPSCap slightly below refresh
UpscalingDLSS / FSR / XeSS — Quality
Frame GenerationOn only above ~50 FPS base
Ray TracingOff for max FPS (or Medium on RTX)
Path TracingOff unless high-end RTX + Frame Gen
Texture QualityHigh (Medium on 8 GB VRAM)
Screen Space Reflections QualityMedium
Volumetric Cloud / Fog ResolutionMedium
Ambient OcclusionMedium
Shadow quality (all)Medium
Local Shadow Mesh / QualityMedium
Contact ShadowsOn (cheap)
Motion BlurOff
Depth of FieldOff
Chromatic AberrationOff
Film GrainOff

The most expensive settings are Ray Tracing / Path Tracing, Screen Space Reflections, and Volumetric Fog/Clouds — lower these first for the biggest FPS gain with the least visual loss.

Why Cyberpunk 2077 is so demanding

Cyberpunk 2077 is a GPU-heavy open-world game that streams dense Night City geometry, dynamic crowds, and layered lighting in real time. Its ray tracing and Path Tracing modes are among the most demanding graphics options shipped in any PC game, so a setup that runs fine indoors can collapse the moment you drive into a crowded, neon-lit district. These settings prioritize gameplay clarity and steady frame times over reflections you rarely notice while playing.

Display and frame pacing first

These give the biggest improvement instantly:

  1. Use Fullscreen for the lowest input delay.
  2. Turn V-Sync off to avoid added latency — cap your FPS instead.
  3. Cap your frame rate for even frame times (see the caps below).
  4. Turn Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Chromatic Aberration, and Film Grain off for a cleaner, more responsive image.

Good FPS cap starting points

  • 60 FPS for 60 Hz
  • 117 FPS for 120 Hz
  • 141 FPS for 144 Hz

A stable cap below your refresh keeps frame times even through busy areas. For the reasoning, see How to Cap Your FPS Correctly.

Ray tracing, Path Tracing, and upscaling

Cyberpunk 2077 is built around upscaling — treat DLSS/FSR as a core setting, not a last resort.

  • Start with DLSS/FSR/XeSS on Quality for a large FPS boost with minimal clarity loss.
  • Drop to Balanced at 1080p only if Quality still isn’t enough.
  • Ray tracing off gives the biggest single FPS jump on mid-range cards; the rasterized lighting still looks great.
  • If you run ray tracing on an RTX card, enable DLSS Ray Reconstruction and Frame Generation to claw back the cost.
  • Enable frame generation only once your base frame rate is around 50–60 FPS — it adds latency and artifacts if your real FPS is too low.

For the full breakdown of which upscaler to pick, see DLSS vs FSR vs XeSS for Gaming.

Graphics settings that matter most

Lower these first — they cost the most performance for the least visual value in motion:

  • Ray Tracing / Path Tracing
  • Screen Space Reflections Quality
  • Volumetric Fog / Cloud Resolution
  • Shadow quality (all shadow sliders)
  • Motion Blur and Depth of Field

Keep Texture Quality high if your VRAM allows — textures are nearly free on frame rate but a big clarity boost. Drop to Medium only if you have 8 GB of VRAM and see hitching or texture pop-in.

Best settings by goal

Smoother 1080p on a weaker PC

  • Ray tracing Off, SSR and volumetrics to Low–Medium
  • FSR/DLSS Balanced on
  • textures down a step if frame times get messy
  • sensible FPS cap, frame generation on if your base is stable

Cleaner high-refresh setup

  • ray tracing Off or Medium with DLSS Quality
  • SSR and shadows Medium, volumetrics Medium
  • prioritize stable frame times over maxed reflections

Windows-side checks worth doing

  1. Install Cyberpunk 2077 on an NVMe SSD — Night City streams constantly as you drive, and slow storage causes traversal hitching and pop-in.
  2. Let shaders finish compiling on a fresh session, and clear the cache after a driver or game update. See Clear Shader Cache to Fix Stuttering if hitching persists.
  3. Keep 15–20% free space on the drive and don’t run downloads while playing.
  4. Use the correct discrete GPU on laptops and set a high-performance power mode.
  5. Consider disabling VBS for extra CPU headroom in crowded districts.

For deeper system tuning, use How to Minimize Input Delay for Competitive Gaming and The Ultimate Guide to Timer Resolution for Gaming + Tier1Suite.

Build your Cyberpunk 2077 cluster

The best Cyberpunk 2077 settings keep your frame rate playable when a district gets busy. Turn ray tracing off (or minimal), drop reflections and volumetrics, keep textures high if your VRAM allows, lean on Quality upscaling, and only add frame generation once your base frame rate is stable.

Frequently asked questions

What settings give the most FPS in Cyberpunk 2077?

Ray tracing, Screen Space Reflections Quality, and Volumetric Cloud/Fog Resolution are the heaviest settings in Cyberpunk 2077. Turning ray tracing off (or Path Tracing especially) and dropping SSR and volumetrics to Medium reclaims the most frames, because Night City spends its GPU budget on reflections and atmospheric lighting rather than on gameplay-critical detail. Enable DLSS or FSR on Quality for a large boost on top.

Should I use ray tracing or Path Tracing in Cyberpunk 2077?

Only on a high-end RTX card with DLSS and Frame Generation on. Ray tracing is demanding and Path Tracing (RT Overdrive) is one of the heaviest graphics options in any PC game — it can halve your frame rate. If you want maximum FPS, turn ray tracing off entirely and use rasterized lighting, which still looks excellent in Cyberpunk 2077 and runs far faster on mid-range hardware.

Is DLSS or FSR better in Cyberpunk 2077?

Use DLSS on NVIDIA RTX cards for the cleanest image and DLSS Ray Reconstruction if you run ray tracing; use FSR on AMD or older GPUs. Both give a large FPS boost. Set the upscaler to Quality at 1440p and 4K, or Balanced at 1080p if you still need frames. Cyberpunk 2077 has one of the best DLSS/FSR implementations, so upscaling costs very little clarity.

Why does Cyberpunk 2077 run poorly on my PC?

Cyberpunk 2077 is a demanding open-world game that streams dense Night City geometry, crowds, and heavy lighting. At native resolution with ray tracing on, even strong GPUs struggle. Lower ray tracing, SSR, and volumetrics, enable DLSS or FSR, and install the game on an SSD — this recovers most lost performance without a hardware upgrade.

What is a good FPS cap for Cyberpunk 2077?

Cap slightly below your refresh rate — 60 for 60 Hz, 117 for 120 Hz, 141 for 144 Hz. Cyberpunk 2077 swings between quiet interiors and crowded districts, so a stable cap keeps frame times even and stops jarring drops while driving. An uncapped frame rate spikes and dips, which feels worse than a steady locked number, especially with G-SYNC or FreeSync active.