The Blood of Dawnwalker PC Settings: DLSS, FSR, XeSS and FPS

Start Dawnwalker with frame generation off, then tune shadows, lighting, foliage and detail before pushing the upscaler to Performance. At 1440p, Balanced is a useful first comparison; at 1080p, try Quality first and check whether the image and frame rate are acceptable.

Table of Contents (7)

PC specs: the minimum tier is not a 60 FPS promise

The official Steam listing specifies 16 GB RAM, DirectX 12 and 60 GB on an SSD. Its minimum CPU is an i5-11400F or Ryzen 7 2700X, with a GTX 1060 or RX 580 and a separate 6 GB VRAM note. Check your actual card’s memory: the family name alone is not sufficient.

Steam’s recommended listing names an i7-11700K or Ryzen 7 5700X, an RTX 4060, RX 7600 XT or Arc B580, and 8 GB VRAM. These requirements describe configurations, not a guarantee of a locked frame rate in every scene.

The final performance sheet uses Low for 1080p/30, Medium for 1080p/60, High for 1440p/60 and Ultra for 4K/60, with Balanced upscaling assumed. PC Gamer’s launch testing and reproduced requirements document these targets.

Four graphics settings to change first

PC Gamer tested an RTX 4060 with a Ryzen 7 7700X at 1440p. Its custom configuration used the High preset with the following changes:

Setting	Value
Shadow Quality	Low
Light Quality	Medium
Foliage Quality	Medium
Detail Quality	Medium

In PC Gamer’s test, DLSS Balanced with those changes averaged 62 FPS versus 50 on High, with a 1% low of 46 FPS. Results vary by hardware and scene.

Use those four changes as a starting comparison. Keep the rest of your configuration unchanged for the first run. If your machine is below the recommended tier, start with a lower overall preset rather than assuming this High-based setup will fit it.

DLSS, FSR or XeSS: choose by the options your PC exposes

For an RTX card, begin by comparing DLSS Quality and Balanced. For other hardware, compare the supported FSR or XeSS choices in your installed game. Availability and hardware acceleration vary; do not assume that every upscaler or frame-generation feature works on every GPU.

Use the same save and camera movement for each comparison. Look at the character outline, vegetation, thin objects and distant detail while moving. A still screenshot can hide instability that becomes distracting in play.

Output resolution	Suggested comparison, not a benchmark
1080p	Quality first. If too slow, reduce expensive graphics settings before testing Balanced; inspect small text and foliage.
1440p	Balanced as a starting point with the four changes above. Try Quality if you have room, or a lower preset if you do not.
4K	Balanced first; test Performance only if the extra speed is worth the image-quality tradeoff. Lower the output resolution if neither is satisfactory.

Do not treat “Quality” or “Balanced” as identical image quality across different technologies. The practical choice is whichever available mode looks acceptable in motion and meets your target on your hardware.

Frame generation: check base performance first

Leave frame generation off while establishing your baseline. If your build and GPU expose it, enable it only after the game is reasonably consistent and compare combat response as well as the displayed FPS.

Generated frames can improve visual smoothness, but the higher output counter is not the same as a matching increase in the rate at which the game processes your actions. They also do not resolve the underlying cause of crashes or traversal hitches. If the image gains distracting artifacts or controls feel worse, turn the feature back off.

Record whether frame generation was enabled whenever you compare results with another player. “60 FPS” with generated frames and “60 FPS” without them are different observations.

A repeatable way to diagnose low FPS and stutter

1. Prepare a clean baseline. Install the latest game update and the appropriate driver from your GPU vendor, finish any compilation screen the game presents, and confirm the game is on an SSD.
2. Choose a demanding route. Use the same save, movement and fight for each run. Record resolution, preset, upscaler and whether frame generation is off.
3. Try the four quality changes. Compare the route again before changing anything else.
4. Test a lower rendering resolution. A substantial improvement suggests that reducing GPU work helps. Little change means you should not keep sacrificing image quality blindly; investigate CPU load, background tasks and scene-specific behavior.
5. Check memory pressure. If problems worsen as you travel or with higher textures, try lowering texture quality and close memory-heavy applications. That is a diagnostic experiment, not proof that VRAM was the cause.
6. Choose a sustainable cap. If 60 remains inconsistent, compare a lower target appropriate to your display. A cap cannot fix a scene that falls below it.

For repeatable crashes, restore default settings, disable experimental features and verify game files before adding mods or editing configuration files. Record the error and installed version so a patch-specific fix can be distinguished from a generic suggestion.

PC is no longer the only announced 60 FPS option

The launch-patch announcement added a Performance mode targeting 60 FPS on PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X. Series S has a separate 30 FPS target. See our console modes guide and Rebel Wolves’ announcement. Targets are not a claim of flawless frame pacing.

For PC, choose your settings around the scenes you actually play, rather than a spec-sheet headline. Once the game feels comfortable, our combat, hunger and save guide covers the next decisions.

Game reveal video

The original reveal below is background viewing, not evidence of current PC performance.