Best Arc Raiders settings for optimized PC performance

The best Arc Raiders settings will help you optimize your time in Sperenza, making it easier to pick up on audio cues and keep the game running smoothly. We've tested Embark Studios' latest to see what audio and video/graphics settings will get you the best experience, no matter what gaming PC hardware you're running. Also see below for how Arc Raiders runs on Steam Deck.

While the graphics in Arc Raiders can look amazing, you can rest assured that you don't need to own the absolute best graphics card to get a smooth frame rate. The Arc Raiders system requirements are reasonably modest, and the game is well optimized, with good default settings, but there's plenty of room for improvement, too.

Graphics

• Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation: Off
• Vsync: Disabled
• Nvidia Reflex Low Latency: On
• Frame Rate Limit: Unlimited
• Upscaled Resolution: 100%
• Resolution Scaling Method: DLSS or FSR
• Nvidia DLSS Quality: DLAA
• Nvidia DLSS Model: Transformer
• Field of View: 70
• Motion Blur: Off or your preference
• Nvidia RTX Global Illumination: Dynamic - high
• View Distance: Epic
• Anti-Aliasing: Epic
• Shadows: Epic
• Post-Processing: Epic
• Texture: Epic
• Effects: Epic
• Reflections: Epic
• Foliage: Epic
• Global Illumination Resolution: Medium

Using the above settings on our RTX 4070 testing rig (full specs under How We Test), we had an average frame rate of 104fps, with 1% lows of 55fps at 1080p. This felt great, with the ability to keep graphics settings maxed out while still hitting over 100fps average showing just how well optimized this game is.

The combination of high detail settings with a reasonably high frame rate also balances well with the style of gameplay in this title. You want a high enough frame rate for smooth-feeling aiming, but it doesn't need to be ultra high, like it does for more competitive shooters.

You may want to experiment with lowering some settings to reduce visual clutter and get a more competitive advantage. We'd recommend turning off motion blur, setting RTX global illumination to static, dropping reflections to medium, and reducing foliage all the way to low.

You can also engage DLSS frame generation to boost your frame rate further, but we didn't feel the need. At most, we'd recommend engaging 2x frame gen, as higher levels of frame gen can add too much latency, which isn't ideal for keeping a snappy feel when engaging in firefights.

Jumping up to 1440p and we still got a 78fps average with 51fps 1% lows with our setup, again making for a generally acceptable, smooth experience. If you want a little higher frame rate to keep competitive in firefights, you can either drop down to high, rather than epic, graphics settings, or engage DLSS upscaling in quality mode.

At 4K, our RTX 4070 rig did struggle, hitting a 43fps average and 33fps 1% low, which felt sluggish and choppy - it wouldn't even be great for using a controller, instead of a mouse. However, again, dropping the detail settings to high and engaging DLSS upscaling at balanced will sort you out. Using DLSS balanced our average went back up to over 70fps, which is fantastic for a modern FPS that looks this good running on an RTX 4070.

Audio

A key feature of this game is sneaking around and getting a sense of your surroundings based on audio cues, and so to get the best experience, you may want to tweak somd audio settings.

For a start, make sure you're using a headset. The best gaming headset options provide a much better sense of audio positioning than any speakers, and the convenience of an in-built mic will help you take advantage of interactions with other Arc Raiders.

Also worth doing is enabling Night Mode. This setting reduces the dynamic range of the audio mix, making louder sounds quieter, and quieter sounds louder. This can help you hear subtle noises, such as footsteps, without having to deafen yourself when guns go off.

We'd also recommend using push-to-talk for proximity chat. Arc Raiders sets proximity chat to open mic by default, so anyone can hear your mic if they're close by. Ordinarily, many gamers will choose to only chat with friends in Discord, leaving in-game comms turned off, but proximity chat is a crucial part of the Arc Raiders experience.

Best Arc Raiders settings for Steam Deck

Arc Raiders runs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck, whether you're rocking a Steam Deck OLED or original Steam Deck LCD. The game automatically runs at the handheld's native 1,280 x 800 resolution, and opts for low detail settings with TAAU. With these settings engaged, you'll get 40-50fps, which is perfectly playable.

The HUD and graphical richness of the game can get a bit cluttered, but the game takes full advantage of the Steam Deck's touchpads and generally works just fine.

However, one thing to note is that you'll need to run your Steam Deck in Proton Experimental mode to get the game to run. To do this, open the game's Properties menu, scroll to the Compatibility tab, and select Proton Experimental as a forced compatibility tool. Once done and accepted, the game should just launch with the Steam Deck preset.

How we tested Arc Raiders

At PCGamesN, we use dedicated gaming rigs to test the best settings for performance and gameplay in the latest releases. The test rig used to play Arc Raiders includes the following components: Intel Core i7-11700F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 12GB, 32GB of DDR4 3,200MHz RAM in a dual-channel configuration, and MSI B560 motherboard. We also test using Windows 11 64-bit.

We always run our testing first at 1,920 x 1,080 to identify the best settings for this entry-level resolution, then again at 2,560 x 1,440 and 4K using the same setup to gauge the difference in performance. We use CapFrameX to capture frame data and compare testing sessions.

Does Arc Raiders need an SSD?

Arc Raiders does not require an SSD, but due to the long loading times you can experience without one, it's highly recommended that you upgrade if you still currently use a mechanical drive.

If you grab yourself the best SSD for your existing gaming PC, it will really help keep game loading times in check and help you get the chunky 130GB game file downloaded much quicker.

How to monitor performance in Arc Raiders

If you want to keep an eye on performance in Arc Raiders, we have an easy method that works whether you're using an AMD or Nvidia graphics card.

For Nvidia cards, ensure you have the Nvidia App installed and the in-game overlay enabled, and then hit ALT + R in-game to bring up your performance monitor. With AMD cards, you can enable performance monitoring via the Radeon overlay using the shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + O.

Alternatively, you can download free software such as CapFrameX or Nvidia FrameView, to get a cleaner, more simplified benchmarking tool that works with any graphics card.

With handheld gaming PCs, most will have a dedicated button to access a quick menu from which performance monitoring, sometimes called real-time monitoring, can be accessed.

If you're struggling to get into Arc Raiders for any reason, be sure to check out the Arc Raiders server status to make sure you're not trying to log in during maintenance or a potential outage.

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