Escape from Tarkov is an incredibly immersive and realistic first-person shooter, but it's also notoriously demanding on hardware. With so many detailed maps and complex game mechanics, getting smooth FPS in EFT can be a challenge, especially for lower-end PCs.
In this ultimate optimization guide, I'll provide tips to help boost your frames per second (FPS) and overall performance in Escape from Tarkov. Whether you're struggling with stutters or simply want to maximize FPS, these tweaks will help you get the most out of your system.
The first place to start is directly within the Escape from Tarkov launcher. Here are some quick optimizations to implement:
Clear your cache regularly - This prevents a bloated cache from bogging things down. Try clearing it once per day before launching the game.
Delete log files - Old log files eat up disk space unnecessarily. Unless you need them for bug reports, delete all logs occasionally.
Exit launcher when launching game - This frees up extra resources, especially helpful for low-end PCs. Enable the "Exit launcher completely" option.
Disable fullscreen optimizations and override high DPI scaling for the EFT executable - This often improves performance and compatibility.
One handy utility for freeing up precious RAM is Empty Standby List. This clears out your standby memory, which is RAM reserved by Windows just in case it might be needed.
Download Empty Standby List and set it to automatically run every 5 minutes. This keeps your standby RAM usage minimal, providing more memory for EFT to utilize. For RAM-starved systems, it can significantly improve performance and reduce stuttering.
Make sure your RAM is running at its rated speeds. Check in Task Manager and if the speed is lower than expected, XMP is likely disabled in your BIOS.
Enabling XMP profiles boosts your RAM to its advertised speeds, which can provide a nice performance uplift, especially in RAM-hungry games like EFT.
The free utility Process Lasso gives you more control over how system resources are allocated to apps and games. For EFT, set the CPU priority to High and the I/O priority to High for improved performance.
You can also enable the Performance mode in Process Lasso for smoother overall gameplay. Just be wary of potential conflicts with other high priority programs like game capture software.
Low on RAM? Try expanding your page file size to supplement it with hard drive space. Set a custom size of 36GB or higher if you have the free space on your drives.
This "virtual memory" helps prevent out-of-memory issues which can significantly reduce stutters. It's an easy trick for systems limited to 16GB of RAM or less.
For Nvidia users, optimizing the Control Panel settings for Escape from Tarkov can further enhance performance:
Now let's dive into EFT's graphics settings menu, where you'll find many options to balance visual fidelity and frames per second.
Texture Quality: Dropping this to Medium can boost FPS substantially in certain maps like Streets with minimal visual impact.
Shadows: Set to Low for a small but helpful performance boost. Distant shadows aren't as noticeable.
Object LOD: Lower values like 2 or 2.5 can gain significant FPS with little loss in quality.
Overall Visibility: Keep this under 1000 - higher values impact performance severely with little benefit.
HBAO: Can be a heavy effect, try disabling if FPS suffers.
SSR: Screen space reflections look great but tank performance. Disable if needed.
Nvidia DLSS / AMD FSR: Essential for high FPS with minimal artifacts. Start with Quality preset.
For even more frames, lower PostFX options like sharpness and ambient occlusion. Just watch out for excessive visual degradation. Strike a balance that works for your system.
With these optimizations, tweaks, and recommended settings, you should see noticeable gains in your Escape from Tarkov framerate and overall gameplay smoothness. The more limited your hardware, the more of an impact these tips will have. Experiment to find that perfect balance for your PC.
Good luck out there in Tarkov!