Best PC Settings for Space Marine 2: Boost Performance and Graphics
September 15, 2024So, you’re diving into Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and you want to squeeze every bit of performance and visual goodness from your gaming rig. Whether you’re commanding the battlefield on a high-end PC or trying to optimize performance on a budget setup, tuning your PC settings can make all the difference in your gameplay experience.
Here, we’ll show you the best PC settings for Space Marine 2 based on your hardware and help you achieve that sweet balance between performance and stunning visuals. Let’s jump into it.
Table of Contents
Optimizing Space Marine 2 for a Mid-Range PC
If you’re rocking a mid-range PC, you’ll want settings that make the game look great while maintaining stable performance. Here are the recommended settings for a smooth experience:
- Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080p)
- Render Resolution: Quality or Balanced
- Upscaling: DLSS or FSR 2 (use DLSS if you have an NVIDIA card, FSR for AMD)
- Shadows: Medium or Low (High shadows can be a major FPS drain)
- Texture Quality: High (you can afford this on a mid-range system)
- SSAO: Low (Ambient occlusion can cause a significant FPS drop, so tone this down)
- Anti-Aliasing: TAA (offers smooth visuals with minimal performance hit)
- V-Sync: Off (unless you experience screen tearing)
Why These Settings Work: This setup focuses on maintaining high-quality textures and good upscaling without sacrificing too much performance. Shadows and SSAO can heavily impact FPS, so turning them down slightly is a good compromise.
Best Space Marine 2 Settings for Low-End PCs
Running Space Marine 2 on a low-end PC? No worries. You can still get decent performance and visuals with the right tweaks.
- Resolution: 1280×720 (720p) or 1600×900 (900p) for a bit more quality
- Render Resolution: Performance (sacrifices visuals to prioritize FPS)
- Upscaling: FSR 2 (for AMD users) or DLSS (for NVIDIA users) set to Performance
- Shadows: Low (turn this down to boost FPS)
- Texture Quality: Medium (High textures may slow down weaker GPUs)
- SSAO: Off (completely disable for maximum FPS)
- Anti-Aliasing: FXAA (faster and lighter on performance than TAA)
- V-Sync: Off
Why These Settings Work: Reducing resolution and using performance-focused upscaling (FSR or DLSS) will give you the best balance of visual fidelity and playability. Disabling SSAO and lowering shadows ensures smoother performance.
Best Settings for High-End PCs to Max Out Graphics
If you’re fortunate enough to have a high-end gaming rig, you can afford to max out most of Space Marine 2’s settings for the ultimate experience.
- Resolution: 2560×1440 (1440p) or 3840×2160 (4K)
- Render Resolution: Quality or Ultra Quality (for the sharpest visuals)
- Upscaling: DLSS or FSR 2 (set to Quality)
- Shadows: High or Ultra (you can max this out without losing much FPS)
- Texture Quality: Ultra (enjoy the rich details of the game)
- SSAO: High (better ambient lighting without sacrificing too much performance)
- Anti-Aliasing: TAA (top-tier visual smoothness at higher resolutions)
- V-Sync: On (turn on for a tear-free experience at 60+ FPS)
Why These Settings Work: On high-end systems, you can push the game’s visuals to the limit. Ultra textures, high shadows, and SSAO create a rich and immersive world. DLSS or FSR at Quality ensures you get the best frame rates while keeping everything looking sharp.
Key Settings to Focus On
Let’s take a closer look at the settings that make the biggest impact on Space Marine 2’s performance and visual quality.
- Resolution and Upscaling: If you’re struggling with performance, tweaking resolution is one of the quickest ways to boost FPS. Pairing a lower resolution with DLSS or FSR allows you to maintain good image quality while boosting performance.
- Shadows: Shadows are notoriously performance-heavy. Dropping them from High to Medium or Low can give you a noticeable boost in FPS without drastically reducing visual quality.
- SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion): This setting impacts how ambient light is displayed in-game. Lowering or disabling SSAO will provide a major FPS boost, especially on mid-range or low-end systems.
- Texture Quality: Keep textures as high as your GPU allows. High-end cards should have no problem maxing out textures, while mid-range and low-end GPUs may need to stick to Medium or High for smooth performance.
Performance vs. Visuals: How to Strike the Perfect Balance
If you’re aiming for 60 FPS, prioritize reducing settings that don’t drastically affect visual fidelity, like shadows and anti-aliasing. On lower-end systems, lowering resolution and using performance modes for DLSS or FSR will yield the best results. For those chasing higher frame rates (like 120 FPS on high-refresh monitors), drop SSAO, lower shadow quality, and reduce render resolution slightly. These tweaks can boost performance without making the game look too rough.
Experiment with these settings, and feel free to tweak them to your personal preference—because at the end of the day, it’s all about enjoying the battlefields of the Warhammer universe at their best.