The load-related options named in official patch notes are the graphics quality preset, Resolution scale, and the upscaling options (AMD FSR and Intel XeSS), and for all three the direction is the same: reduce load until your frame rate is steady. There is no official guide that explains the settings menu item by item, so as of October 6, 2026 this page lists only options named in official patch notes or on the Steam store page, with no numeric targets and no pro settings. Everything here is for PC (the game is cross-platform, but console-only items are left out); if the frame rate keeps dipping while you record or stream, work through why FPS drops while recording to separate the causes.
The short answer: secure frame rate first, then compare the rest yourself
The safest conclusion is to touch the load-reducing options only when your frame rate is short, and to pick everything else by comparing on your own PC and your own hands. No official source says how many percent any option adds, and some options, like mouse smoothing, have no official recommended direction, so nobody can hand you a correct value. This page therefore does not prescribe numbers; it only tells you what to compare and which way to lean. If recording or streaming stacks extra GPU load on top of the game, reducing GPU load while recording is worth reading alongside this.
How to apply them: six steps, one change at a time
- 1Check the store page and your driver first — Read the minimum and recommended specs on the Steam store page (the minimum lists items such as 12 GB RAM and DirectX 12) and bring your graphics driver up to date. The official Live Update 1.33.0 and 1.36.0 notes said some PC players might see lower FPS than usual and advised updating the GPU driver or rolling back to a previous version. That was guidance at the time, and whether it still applies could not be confirmed in official documents, so treat it only as a way to narrow down causes.
- 2Build a fixed test scene — Before changing anything, pick one area and one repeatable action (moving, a fight) as your test scene, and change only one option at a time. If you change several at once you cannot tell which one helped. Live Update 1.45.0 on September 8, 2026 upgraded Unreal Engine from 5.3 to 5.7, and the official note gives no performance figures, so it is safer to re-compare even settings you chose earlier.
- 3Load options: preset, Resolution scale, upscaling — The official notes describe Cinematic as a visual enhancement for high-end PCs, so if frames are short, compare it with a lower preset first. Next lower Resolution scale, and finally try upscaling such as AMD FSR or Intel XeSS while watching image quality. The direction is that lower settings leave more frame headroom, but no official figure gives the size of the effect, so measure on your own PC. For what each option does exactly, rely on the wording shown in the in-game settings menu.
- 4Visibility options: motion blur, HUD, filters — Patch 1.7.0 added a motion blur intensity slider, so you can choose a degree; if movement smears the image and enemies are hard to spot, compare lower intensities. HUD visibility mode can be switched with F10 on PC. NVIDIA Freestyle comes to mind for contrast, but 1.17.0 blocked enabling all filters at once, and the Steam store page lists kernel-level anti-cheat, so check the official policy before using any external overlay or filter.
- 5Input and voice: mouse smoothing and voice chat — Mouse smoothing was added in 1.13.0 and has no official recommended direction, so alternate between on and off in your test scene and keep what feels better (1.17.0 fixed a case where it stayed on after being turned off). For voice chat, set System Default so devices follow Windows, then check the microphone test and noise suppression. Footstep and positional sound improvements in 1.29.0 (comb filtering, binaural) are the game's own processing, not user options that could be confirmed, and the weapon audio latency reduction in 1.22.0 applies only to Windows systems with at least 16 GB RAM.
- 6Re-check after the next update — The Frozen Trail update is scheduled for October 8, 2026, and whether it changes graphics or settings could not be confirmed. After it ships, reopen the settings menu to see whether options were added or descriptions changed, then repeat the test-scene comparison once more. If an option name or description differs from this page, follow what the game shows.
Option table (only options named in patch notes)
| Option (official English name) | What it does and which way to lean | Basis (patch notes) |
|---|---|---|
| Cinematic graphics setting | A quality level that enhances visuals for high-end PCs. If your frame rate is short while using it, compare against a lower preset. Other preset names could not be confirmed in official documents. | 1.7.0 Cold Snap, 2025-12-16 |
| Resolution scale | The resolution scale option. In general, lowering it reduces GPU load and makes the image less sharp. The adjustable range and default could not be confirmed officially. | 1.7.0 (depth of field scaled to resolution scale) |
| AMD FSR, FSR Frame Generation, Intel XeSS | AMD FSR and Intel XeSS are upscaling options, while FSR Frame Generation is a frame generation option. If the picture looks soft or the controls feel different after enabling one, turn it off and compare. Mode names and gains could not be confirmed officially. | 1.22.0 (FSR 2.1.0, XeSS 2.1.1), 1.24.0 (FSR Frame Generation blur fix), 1.26.0 (XeSS 3.0.0) |
| Motion blur intensity slider | A slider for how strong motion blur is. If smearing during movement bothers you, compare lower intensities. There is no official recommended value. | 1.7.0, 2025-12-16 |
| Mouse smoothing | Turns mouse input smoothing on or off. With no official recommendation, compare how your aim feels in both states and pick one. | 1.13.0 added 2026-01-27 / 1.17.0 fix for the off state, 2026-02-24 |
| NVIDIA Freestyle | A way to adjust visibility with NVIDIA filters. Enabling all filters at once is blocked, so leaning on filters has limits. The list of allowed filters could not be confirmed officially. | 1.17.0 Shrouded Sky, 2026-02-24 |
| HUD visibility mode | Changes how the HUD is shown. On PC it can also be switched with F10; if the screen feels cluttered, cycle through the modes and compare. | 1.22.0 Flashpoint, 2026-03-31 |
| Voice chat: System Default, noise suppression, microphone test | Match voice chat input and output devices to your Windows defaults (System Default), clean up sound with noise suppression, and verify with the microphone test. The game guides you to Windows settings if microphone permission is needed. | 1.2.0, 2025-11-13 (System Default) / 1.7.0 (microphone test, Windows microphone-permission guidance) / 1.26.0, 2026-04-28 (noise suppression) |
Before-and-after checklist
- Did you adjust preset, Resolution scale, or upscaling only because your frame rate was short?
- Did you change one option at a time and compare in the same test scene?
- If the picture looked soft or the controls felt different after enabling upscaling or FSR Frame Generation, did you turn it off and compare again?
- If you use an external filter or overlay such as NVIDIA Freestyle, did you check the official anti-cheat policy first?
- Did you confirm voice chat devices are on System Default with the microphone test?
- Did you reopen the settings menu after the October 8 update?
Keep the match as mp4 and cut only the scene you need
As the ARC Raiders game page shows, DOR, the free Windows recording app, records ARC Raiders full matches automatically as mp4. Automatic highlight clips are not available for this game, so to compare the same moment before and after a settings change, cut that stretch yourself with Trim in the app library or in DOR Studio; how to trim game clips walks through it, and the result can be shared as a dor.gg link. On an NVIDIA graphics card the NVENC hardware encoder is the default, and because the app records game sound and your microphone together, you can replay the sound mix of the same match later. If you play with recording on, it makes sense to compare under the same condition, and the effect of recording on frame rate varies by PC, so no figure is given.
Official sources and what was checked
Checked as of October 6, 2026. This page relies on the specs and feature labels on the ARC Raiders Steam store page, the 1.7.0 Cold Snap patch notes (Cinematic, motion blur, resolution scale), and the 1.22.0 patch notes (FSR, XeSS, HUD). The range reviewed runs through Live Update 1.45.0 and Store Update 1.47.0. Options may change with the October 8 Frozen Trail update or later, so if the in-game wording differs from this page, follow the game.
