Best FPS Settings for ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA)

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Looking for the best FPS settings for ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) without turning the game into a potato? This guide shows the exact in-game settings to change for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs across Low-end, Mid-range and High-end hardware. We keep UE5’s showpiece features like Lumen and Nanite looking great while prioritising consistent, smooth FPS.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Table of Contents

Update: ASA v72.9 added a dedicated Reflections setting and improves the quality of Low Reflections, making it a much better option for low-end and mid-range builds.

Why we list key settings up front

Most players search for a single switch — “how do I enable Lumen,” “which upscaler should I use,” “what about Frame Generation?” So we first list the settings you’ll touch. Then we provide three presets that combine those options for Low-end, Mid-range and High-end systems.

Key options you’ll use

  • Upscaler & Anti-Aliasing – Unreal, DLSS, FSR
  • Frame Generation – DLSS, FSR, None
  • Quality (Upscaler) – Quality, Balanced, Performance, Ultra Performance, DLAA
  • Global Illumination Quality – Controls Lumen
  • Reflections – Controls Lumen Reflections
  • Disable Cosmetics Dynamic Downloading – limits streaming of cosmetics to reduce hitching, VRAM use, bandwidth and disk writes

Icon legend (performance impact)

These icons indicate the typical performance cost if you raise a setting above the recommended value. When chasing FPS, lower 🔴 first, then 🟠, and leave 🟢 for last.

🟢 Low impact

🟠 Medium impact

🔴 High impact

Preset 1 – Low-end (meets minimum spec)

Target: 1080p ~60 FPS

Hardware Specifications

  • CPU – Older 4-6 core (Intel 8th-10th gen i5/i7, Ryzen 2000-3000)
  • GPU – 6-8 GB VRAM (GTX 1660, RTX 2060, RX 5600-6600, Arc A380-A580)
  • System RAM – 16 GB (32 GB smoother)
  • Storage – SSD or NVMe

General – Video

  • 🔴 Resolution – 1920×1080
  • 🟢 Window Mode – WindowedFullscreen
  • 🟢 Max Frame Rate – Set to your monitor’s refresh (no Frame Generation used)
  • 🟢 Upscaler & Anti Aliasing – NVIDIA: DLSS, AMD/Intel: FSR (use Unreal only if DLSS/FSR are unavailable)
  • 🟠 Quality – Quality (use Balanced if you need more FPS)
  • 🟢 Frame Generation – None (lowest latency)
  • 🟢 VSync Mode – Off

General – Graphics

  • 🟠 Graphics Presets – Medium
  • 🟠 Advanced Graphics – Medium
  • 🟠 View Distance – Medium
  • 🟢 Textures – Medium (reduces VRAM usage on 6-8 GB GPUs)
  • 🔴 Reflections – Low (best for performance)
  • 🟠 Post Processing – Medium
  • 🟠 General Shadows – Medium
  • 🔴 Global Illumination Quality – High (Lumen)
  • 🟠 Effects Quality – Medium
  • 🟠 Foliage Quality – Low to Medium
  • 🟢 Motion Blur – Off (personal preference)
  • 🟢 Light Bloom – Off (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Light Shafts – On (optional)
  • 🟢 Low-Light Enhancement – On (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Enable Foliage & Fluid Interaction – On
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Distance Multiplier – 1.0
  • 🟢 Foliage Distance Interaction Limit – 1.0
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Quantity Limit – 1.0
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Particles – Off
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Decals – Off
  • 🟢 Disable HLOD – Off
  • 🟢 GUI 3D Widget Quality – 0.5
  • 🔴 Cinematic Lighting Mode (EXPENSIVE) – Off

Advanced

  • 🟠 Disable Cosmetics Dynamic Downloading – On (reduces hitching, VRAM usage, bandwidth and disk writes)

Preset 2 – Mid-range

Target: 1080p or 1440p ~60 FPS

Hardware Specifications

  • CPU – Modern 6-8 core (Ryzen 5, Core i5/i7)
  • GPU – 8-12 GB VRAM (RTX 3060/3060 Ti/4060/4060 Ti, RX 6700/7600-7700, Arc A750-A770)
  • System RAM – 16-32 GB
  • Storage – NVMe SSD

General – Video

  • 🔴 Resolution – 2560×1440 or 1920×1080 (choose based on hardware)
  • 🟢 Window Mode – WindowedFullscreen
  • 🟢 Max Frame Rate – Set to your monitor’s refresh rate, if using Frame Generation set to half
  • 🟢 Upscaler & Anti Aliasing – NVIDIA: DLSS, AMD/Intel: FSR (use Unreal only if DLSS/FSR are unavailable)
  • 🟠 Quality – Quality (use Balanced if you need more FPS)
  • 🟢 VSync Mode – Off

General – Graphics

  • 🟠 Graphics Presets – High
  • 🟠 Advanced Graphics – High
  • 🟠 View Distance – High
  • 🟢 Textures – High (use Medium on 8 GB if stutter appears)
  • 🔴 Reflections – Medium
  • 🟠 Post Processing – High
  • 🟠 General Shadows – High
  • 🔴 Global Illumination Quality – High (Lumen)
  • 🟠 Effects Quality – High
  • 🟠 Foliage Quality – Medium to High
  • 🟢 Motion Blur – Off (personal preference)
  • 🟢 Light Bloom – On (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Light Shafts – On (optional)
  • 🟢 Low-Light Enhancement – On (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Enable Foliage & Fluid Interaction – On
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Distance Multiplier – 1.5
  • 🟢 Foliage Distance Interaction Limit – 1.5
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Quantity Limit – 1.5
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Particles – On
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Decals – On
  • 🟢 Disable HLOD – Off
  • 🟢 GUI 3D Widget Quality – 0.5
  • 🔴 Cinematic Lighting Mode (EXPENSIVE) – Off

Advanced

  • 🟠 Disable Cosmetics Dynamic Downloading – Off by default; turn On only if micro-stutter occurs

Preset 3 – High-end (latest gen)

Target: 4K or 1440p high refresh rate

Hardware Specifications

  • CPU – Fast 8-16 core (Ryzen 7/9 incl. X3D, Core i7/i9 13th/14th gen)
  • GPU – 12-24 GB VRAM (RTX 4080/4080 SUPER/4090 or RTX 50-series; RX 7900 XT/XTX)
  • System RAM – 32 GB or more
  • Storage – Gen4/Gen5 NVMe SSD

General – Video

  • 🔴 Resolution – 3840×2160 or 2560×1440 high refresh rate
  • 🟢 Window Mode – WindowedFullscreen
  • 🟢 Max Frame Rate – Set to your monitor’s refresh rate; if using Frame Generation set to half
  • 🟢 Upscaler & Anti Aliasing – NVIDIA: DLSS, AMD: FSR
  • 🟠 Quality – Quality or Balanced (DLAA at native res if you have headroom)
  • 🟢 Frame Generation – NVIDIA: DLSS, AMD: FSR
  • 🟢 VSync Mode – Off

General – Graphics

  • 🟠 Graphics Presets – High to Epic
  • 🟠 Advanced Graphics – High to Epic
  • 🟠 View Distance – High to Epic
  • 🔴 Reflections – High to Epic
  • 🟠 Post Processing – High to Epic
  • 🟠 General Shadows – High to Epic
  • 🔴 Global Illumination Quality – Epic (Lumen)
  • 🟠 Effects Quality – High to Epic
  • 🟠 Foliage Quality – High to Epic
  • 🟢 Motion Blur – Off (personal preference)
  • 🟢 Light Bloom – On (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Light Shafts – On (optional)
  • 🟢 Low-Light Enhancement – On (personal preference)
  • 🟠 Enable Foliage & Fluid Interaction – On
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Distance Multiplier – 2.5
  • 🟢 Foliage Distance Interaction Limit – 2.5
  • 🟢 Foliage Interaction Quantity Limit – 2.0
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Particles – On
  • 🟢 Enable Footstep Decals – On
  • 🟢 Disable HLOD – Off
  • 🟢 GUI 3D Widget Quality – 0.5
  • 🔴 Cinematic Lighting Mode (EXPENSIVE) – On (optional, showcase visuals at heavy performance cost)

Advanced

  • 🟠 Disable Cosmetics Dynamic Downloading – Off by default; turn On only if micro-stutter occurs

Quick tips for troubleshooting

  • Big FPS drops at night/storms: lower Reflections first, then Effects, then Foliage.
  • VRAM spikes/stutter on 8 GB GPUs: switch Textures to Medium and keep Disable Cosmetics Dynamic Downloading On (Low-end) or turn On temporarily (Mid/High) if hitching appears.
  • CPU-limited scenes (crowded bases, heavy foliage): reduce View Distance and Foliage one step.
  • Sharper image at native resolution (when you have headroom): try DLAA on NVIDIA instead of upscaling.

Quick Reference Cards (Low-end, Mid-range and High-end)

High-end Best FPS Settings
High-end Best FPS Settings
Mid-range Best FPS Settings
Mid-range Best FPS Settings
Low-end Best FPS Settings
Low-end Best FPS Settings

Sample Images

During my testing I captured some great images while flying around Ragnarok. Here they are along with performance numbers.

These were captured on an NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super 16 GB VRAM, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 64 GB RAM using the High-end preset at 1440p.