Watch the video:

00:00 - Explanation
00:16 - How does the game run on powerful GPUs?
01:17 - Disable VSync
02:19 - Turn off RT & RTX
02:43 - Upscaler (DLSS, FSR 2, XESS)
05:00 - No upscaler?
05:56 - Frame Generation
06:20 - NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency
06:30 - Framerate limit
07:20 - Help motion sickness & Vision
08:05 - Selecting the correct GPU
09:15 - Global Quality Preset
09:50 - Update GPU driver
10:23 - Effects Quality
10:44 - Material Quality
11:04 - Fog Quality
12:00 - Sky Quality
12:15 - Foliage Quality
13:14 - Post Processing Quality
13:50 - Shadow Quality
14:30 - Texture Quality
15:06 - View Distance Quality
15:45 - Population Quality
16:20 - My Optimized Settings (High end)
17:10 - My Optimized Settings (Stable/Lower-end)

You need the best settings for this game.

Getting the most out of your hardware is critical to maintaining an edge in-game, and of course getting the max amount of enjoyment out of the game. This guide covers getting the best performace out of Hogwarts Legacy.

How does the game run on powerful GPUs?

If you have a really powerful GPU, such as a 3080ti - 4090 etc. You are more than likely to be happy with the performace that this game gives you out-of-the-box.

With in the game, most areas that you navigate into as open as they appear are often more simply rendered so you’re not acutally using that much GPU. Inside Hogwarts there are bearly any FPS drops other than those when you are running into new areas.

With a 3080ti the game bearly dropped below 50 FPS while exploring hogwarts, However when opening and closing certain menus the FPS will oftentimes drop to 20 / 30 FPS even on such a powerful graphics card.

Disable VSync

First you want to change your Window Options within the game, by following the steps below:

1. Click Settings
2. Select Display Options
3. Click Windowed Mode
4. Select Windowed Full Screen

Select Full Screen if that option is available to you. It was not available for me. With having Windowed Full Screen selected, you will also not be able to change your Resolution - This will have to be done within Windows.

Follow the steps below to change your VSync settings:

1. Click Settings
2. Select Display Options
3. Select VSync
4. Turn VSync Off

Once VSync is disabled, you can then change your Framerate to Uncapped. This will give you the most accurate representation of your FPS.

Turn off RT & RTX

If Ray Tracing Reflections and Ray Tracing Shadows are enabled:

Follow the steps below to disbale Ray Tracing settings:

1. Click Settings
2. Select Display Options
3. Turn off Ray Tracing Reflections, Ray Tracing Shadows, Ray Tracing Ambient occlusion
4. Click Apply
5. Restart your game.

Should you keep all the above options turned on, Try turning down Ray Tracing Quality to Low. By disabling them you will gain more FPS.

Upscaler (DLSS, FSR 2, XESS)

You should choose Nvidia DLSS if you have a compatibile RTX Nvidia graphics card.

If you do not have an RTX Nvidia graphics card or have AMD.

• Select AMD FSR 2

Upscale Mode

The more you push it towards Performance versus Quality, The lower the Rendering Resolution will be and the more AI will have to try upscale to make it fit your monitor.

Should you select AMD FSR 2 Ultra Performace you will gain more FPS, however a drastic loss in graphic quailty as well.

Change the Upscale Mode to Nvidia DLSS Quality try switching to AMD FSR 2 Quality or Balanced for more performace.

Upscale Sharpness

Increasing Upscale Sharpness will remove any blur you have around your objects and people.

Set Upscale Sharpness to 0.33 for the best quailty.

No Upscaler?

Playing with Upscale Type set to None is NOT recommended. However, if you do set it to None. You will need to set Anti Aliasing Mode to one of the below options, best suited for you.

Anti Aliasing Mode:

• TAA Low: Will give you the best performace out of all the other Anti Anliasing modes, if you do not want to use an upscaler.
• TAA High: Will give you the same performace as Nvida DLAA, at least on higher end graphics cards.
• Nvida DLAA

It is recommened to select Nvida DLSS or AMD FSR 2 for the Upscale Mode.

Frame Generation

Frame Generation fills in missing frames, whenever things are really laggy. However, you will need an Nvidia DLSS compatible graphics card and Windows Hardware Accelaerated GPU Scheduling Enabled

To Enable Windows Hardware Accelaerated GPU Scheduling, Follw the steps below:

1. Click Start on your desktop.
2. Open Settings then click System
3. Click Display
4. Click Grpahics Settings
5. Enable Hardware-accelerate GPU Scheduling

Once Hardware-accelerate GPU Scheduling is enabled, you will need to restart your computer.

NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency

Should you like Nvidia Reflex Low Latency and you think it gives you more responsiveness then go ahead and turn it On. If you have a lower-end CPU set it to On + Boost

Ensure that Vsync is off and Framerate is Uncapped. If you are recording / Streaming cap your FPS just below the amount of FPS you are getting.

HDR

HDR is completely dependant on your hardware, you wont lose too many FPS by having it Enabled. You can get a ton of graphic fidelity when HDR is enabled especialy with higher end HDR monitors.

Image Calibration

Image Calibration is your personal perference. You will be able to set the brightness.

Help motion sickness & Vision

Field of View

FOV is again your personal perference, set it to what your prefer.

You may gain or lose some FPS depending on what this is set too.

Mostion Blur

If you sturggle with motion sickness turn Off Motion Blur.

Depth of Field

Depth of field can add alot of realism and of course depth of field to sences you are looking around in.

Chromatic Aberration

Chromatic Aberration is that weird blurring effect around object and people. You can turn this Off if you’d like less of a camera lense effect.

Film Grain

Personally I keep Film Grain On just for a bit of added effect. However, this is your personal prefernce and you can turn it off, without effect the performance of the game.

Select GPU

At the very bottom of Display Options you are able to select a GPU, should you have more than 1 GPU installed.

Select the more powerful GPU, that you have installed in your PC, and has a direct connection to the monitor you are trying to play on.

Global Quality Preset

If you set Global Quality Preset to Low you will see a drastic change in FPS.

Effects Quality

If you find that you are losing FPS while doors are shattering or spells being cast, Turn this setting to Medium as a good middle ground.

Material Quality

Material Quality is different to Texture Quailty, This option is for all models and reflextions are within the game. Set this to Meduim or Low for better FPS.

Fog Quality

This option is completely your own preferance, this option wont always have effect but when it is, it will be queit noticable. If you set this option higher, the fog will be more dense. There is a noticable difference in game, however there is not much change in FPS. You can leave this setting on Low to gain the best FPS.

Sky Quality

This option will mostly have to do with clouds. You can leave this setting at Medium or Low if you dont find yourself looking up much at all.

Foliage Quality

This option is situational, when youre in a forest, Walking on grass and such. Which can have an effect on your FPS. If you are in a stone building most of the time, You can turn Foliage quaility to Low. If you like the extra details in grass you can set this to high,

Post Process Quality

Post Processng effects, such as ambient occlussion, depth of field, motion blur and lens flare. This option does imapct your GPU performance. The higher the setting the more FPS you will lose. If you have ambient occlussion, depth of field, motion blur and lens flare turned off you can up this setting to High as it will have very little imapct on your GPU. If you have the above mentioned setting on, for maximum FPS keep this option to Medium or High.

If you find yourself losing random FPS, this option is definitely something that can be causing a drop in FPS.

Shadow Quality

Once again this is your preference, on Low or High you will notice will small differences. If you like extra FPS leave in on Low or Medium.

Texture Quality

Higher quailty increases overall texture resolution. This completely depends on the amount of VRAM in your graphics card.

If you have around:

• 2gb-4gb of VRAM - Set this option to Low
• 4gb-6gb of VRAm - Set this option to Medium
• 8gb or Higher - Set this option to High or Ultra

View Distance Quality

This option impacts everything. You can lower this setting for a around the board improvement in performance. I recommend leaving this setting at Low or Medium. Looking at the top of the buildings and things like that, the backgrounds are simplified, you are not loading in the entire world.

Population Quality

Set the quailty of non-essential NPC’s and Creatures in the world. This will impact your GPU performace.

If you find huge FPS drops, as soon as things get busy within the world. Set this option to Low.

My Optimized Settings (High end)

• Global Quality Preset - Custom
• Effects Quality - Medium
• Material Quality - Medium
• Fog Quality - High
• Sky Quality - Ultra
• Foliage Quality - High
• Post Process Quality - High
• Shadow Quality - Meduim
• Texture Quality - Ultra
• View Distance Quality - Ultra
• Population Quality - Ultra

Ray Tracing options off

My Optimized Settings (Stable/Lower-end)

• Global Quality Preset - Custom
• Effects Quality - Low
• Material Quality - Low
• Fog Quality - Medium
• Sky Quality - High
• Foliage Quality - Medium
• Post Process Quality - Low
• Shadow Quality - Low
• Texture Quality - High
• View Distance Quality - High
• Population Quality - High

Ray Tracing options off

That is the optomization guide complete. There are tons of options in Hogwarts Legacy and tons to play with.