Best The Last of Us Part 1 Settings for FPS and Performance

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The fastest way to boost FPS in The Last of Us Part 1 is to match Texture Quality to your VRAM, set Shadows and Ambient Occlusion to Medium, enable DLSS or FSR on Quality, and let shaders finish compiling before you judge performance. The Last of Us Part 1 is a demanding, VRAM-hungry game, so managing VRAM is the single biggest fix. This guide covers the best graphics, upscaling, and Windows settings for any PC.

The goal is playable, stutter-free frames with your VRAM meter under control — not maxed textures that overflow memory and cause hitching.

Best The Last of Us Part 1 settings

Set these in Options → Display and Graphics:

SettingRecommended value
Display ModeFullscreen
V-SyncOff
Frame Rate CapCap slightly below refresh
UpscalingDLSS / FSR / XeSS — Quality
Texture QualityMatch your VRAM (see below)
Anisotropic Filteringx16 (cheap)
Shadow QualityMedium
Ambient OcclusionMedium
Reflections QualityMedium
Screen Space ReflectionsMedium or Off
Depth of FieldOff (or Gameplay only)
Bounced LightingMedium
Dynamic Objects/Environment DensityMedium
Motion BlurOff
Film GrainOff

The most expensive settings for stability are Texture Quality (through VRAM pressure), Shadow Quality, Ambient Occlusion, and Reflections — set textures to match your VRAM first, then lower the rest for the biggest smoothness gain.

Why The Last of Us Part 1 is so demanding

The Last of Us Part 1 is a VRAM-heavy port that streams high-resolution textures and compiles a large shader set on first launch. Most performance problems here are not about raw GPU power — they come from VRAM overflow (which spills to slower system RAM and causes stutter) and shaders compiling in real time. A card with plenty of compute can still hitch if its VRAM is full. These settings prioritize keeping VRAM under control and frame times even.

Manage VRAM first — the key fix

The in-game menu shows a VRAM meter. Keep it from filling completely:

  • 6 GB cards: Medium textures at 1080p, sometimes Low in dense areas.
  • 8 GB cards: Medium/High textures at 1080p, High at 1440p with DLSS.
  • 10–12 GB cards: High/Ultra at 1440p; watch the meter at 4K.
  • 16 GB+ cards: Ultra is generally safe.

If the meter is maxed, drop Texture Quality one step even if your GPU has spare compute — an overflowing VRAM pool is the number-one cause of stutter here. Upscaling also lowers VRAM use by rendering at a smaller internal resolution.

Display and frame pacing

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 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 combat and traversal. For the reasoning, see How to Cap Your FPS Correctly.

Upscaling and frame generation

  • Start with DLSS/FSR/XeSS on Quality for a large FPS boost with minimal clarity loss — and lower VRAM use as a bonus.
  • Drop to Balanced at 1080p only if Quality still isn’t enough.
  • If your version offers frame generation, enable it 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

After VRAM, lower these first — they cost the most performance for the least visual value in motion:

  • Shadow Quality
  • Ambient Occlusion
  • Reflections / Screen Space Reflections
  • Bounced Lighting
  • Motion Blur and Depth of Field

Keep Anisotropic Filtering at x16 — it is nearly free and sharpens ground textures. Only push Texture Quality as high as your VRAM meter allows.

Best settings by goal

Smoother 1080p on a weaker PC

  • Textures Medium (match VRAM), FSR/DLSS Balanced on
  • shadows, AO, reflections to Low–Medium
  • sensible FPS cap, let shaders finish first

Cleaner high-refresh setup

  • DLSS Quality, textures as high as VRAM allows
  • shadows and reflections Medium, AO Medium
  • prioritize stable frame times and a controlled VRAM meter

Windows-side checks worth doing

  1. Install The Last of Us Part 1 on an SSD — it streams high-res assets and needs fast storage.
  2. Let the initial shader build finish before playing, and clear the cache after a driver or game update. See Clear Shader Cache to Fix Stuttering if hitching persists.
  3. Keep the latest stable GPU driver installed — it ships fixes for this port.
  4. Use the correct discrete GPU on laptops and set a high-performance power mode.
  5. Consider disabling VBS for extra CPU headroom.

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 The Last of Us cluster

The best The Last of Us Part 1 settings keep your frame rate playable and your VRAM under control. Match Texture Quality to your card, let shaders finish compiling, drop shadows and reflections, lean on Quality upscaling, and cap your FPS for even frame times.

Frequently asked questions

What settings give the most FPS in The Last of Us Part 1?

Texture Quality (via VRAM pressure), Shadow Quality, and Ambient Occlusion are the settings that most affect FPS and stability in The Last of Us Part 1. The game is extremely VRAM-hungry, so matching Texture Quality to your card's VRAM is the single biggest fix — an overfilled VRAM pool causes stutter and frame drops. Then drop shadows and AO to Medium and enable DLSS or FSR on Quality for a large boost.

How much VRAM does The Last of Us Part 1 need?

The Last of Us Part 1 is one of the most VRAM-hungry PC games — 8 GB cards should run Medium/High textures at 1080p, and 6 GB cards often need Medium or lower to avoid stutter. Watch the in-game VRAM meter and keep it from filling completely; an overflowing VRAM pool spills to system RAM and causes hitching. Lower Texture Quality one step if the meter is maxed, even if your GPU has spare compute.

Is DLSS or FSR better in The Last of Us Part 1?

Use DLSS on NVIDIA RTX cards for the cleanest image and FSR on AMD or older GPUs. Both give a large FPS boost and are the recommended way to reach high frame rates in The Last of Us Part 1. Set the upscaler to Quality at 1440p and 4K, or Balanced at 1080p if you still need frames. Upscaling also reduces VRAM pressure by rendering at a lower internal resolution.

Why does The Last of Us Part 1 stutter and run poorly?

The Last of Us Part 1 launched as a demanding, VRAM-heavy port with heavy shader compilation on first launch. Most stutter comes from VRAM overflow and shaders compiling as you play, not raw GPU power. Let the shader build finish before judging performance, match Texture Quality to your VRAM, enable DLSS or FSR, and install on an SSD to smooth out the frame-time spikes.

What is a good FPS cap for The Last of Us Part 1?

Cap slightly below your refresh rate — 60 for 60 Hz, 117 for 120 Hz, 141 for 144 Hz. The Last of Us Part 1 is a single-player game where consistent frame times matter more than peak FPS, so a stable cap keeps pacing smooth through combat and cutscenes. Pair the cap with G-SYNC or FreeSync for the smoothest result, and avoid uncapped frames that spike and dip.