How to improve FPS in ARK: Survival Ascended (PC)
ARK: Survival Ascended is the ARK remake in Unreal Engine 5 with Lumen, Nanite, and Ray Tracing. It's one of the most GPU-demanding games on the market alongside Cyberpunk 2077 with RT. An RTX 4090 can drop below 60 FPS at Epic settings. The key is two critical changes: disabling Lumen (real-time global illumination) and using DLSS+FrameGen. With these changes, the game is perfectly playable on high-mid-range hardware.
This is what you'd gain with a NVIDIA RTX 4060 Ti
Calculations based on our FPS model combined with the % gain of each setting (measured in public benchmarks). Calculate your exact FPS with your own hardware →
1. Quick wins (no visual loss)
Start here. Each one adds a little, but together they give +136% free FPS.
Lumen Global Illumination
Disabling Lumen is the most impactful setting in ARK SA. Lumen calculates real-time global illumination — it's extremely expensive. Disabling it can more than double FPS. The game remains visually impressive with Lumen Off thanks to Nanite.
Motion Blur
Motion Blur Off in ARK SA gives a sharper image during movement and exploration.
Film Grain
Film Grain adds artificial noise to the image. Off gives a cleaner image.
Volumetric Cloud Quality
Volumetric clouds in ARK SA are very expensive for the GPU. Off or Low gives significant savings especially in open map areas.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Shadow Quality
Shadow Quality in ARK SA is one of the most expensive settings after Lumen. Medium is the balance for most hardware — functional shadows with substantial GPU savings.
Foliage Quality
ARK SA has dense and complex vegetation. Foliage Quality Medium notably reduces GPU load in vegetation-heavy biomes without eliminating the open-world feel.
Anti-Aliasing Quality
With DLSS active, disable the game's native AA to avoid double processing. Without DLSS, TSR Medium gives good image quality.
Water Quality
Water Quality Epic in ARK SA has expensive reflections and simulation. High keeps water visually attractive with better performance.
Post Processing Quality
Post Processing Medium in ARK SA reduces Bloom, DoF, and other post-process effects to reasonable levels with real GPU savings.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
DLSS Quality (NVIDIA RTX) — OBLIGATORIO
+45% FPSDLSS is practically mandatory in ARK SA for any GPU except the RTX 4090. Quality offers near-native image with massive FPS gain. The combination Lumen Off + DLSS Quality transforms the game.
DLSS Frame Generation (RTX 40-series) — Transformador
+90% FPSFrame Generation in ARK SA is one of the most impactful uses of the technology. With Lumen Off + DLSS Quality + Frame Gen, an RTX 4060 Ti can exceed 80 stable FPS at 1080p.
FSR Quality (AMD y NVIDIA no-RTX)
+30% FPSFSR Quality in ARK SA is essential for AMD GPUs. The UE5 implementation is good. Always combine with Lumen Off for maximum benefit.
XeSS (Intel Arc)
+25% FPSXeSS available in ARK SA. On Intel Arc GPUs uses dedicated hardware for better quality than FSR. Viable option if you have an Intel GPU.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •The definitive ARK SA configuration on RTX: Lumen Off + DLSS Quality + Frame Generation (RTX 40). Transforms the game from unplayable to fluid.
- •Frame Generation on RTX 40-series makes the biggest perceptible difference in ARK SA of any available technology — the game was designed for this.
- •Resizable BAR gives 3-5% in ARK SA. Enable it in BIOS.
AMD
- •With AMD GPU: Lumen Off + FSR Quality is the essential combination. Without these two, ARK SA is practically unplayable on mid-range.
- •Fluid Motion Frames (FMF) on RX 7000-series: AMD's equivalent to DLSS Frame Gen. Enable it in Adrenalin for ARK SA.
- •SAM (Smart Access Memory) gives 4-6% in ARK SA — one of the games where SAM has the highest impact.
Sistema
- •ARK SA requires a powerful GPU — no CPU optimization can save the performance. Prioritize GPU in your budget.
- •16 GB of RAM is the real minimum; 32 GB recommended for servers with mods or many entities.
- •NVMe SSD is highly recommended — map load times on HDD/SATA are very long.
5. Known game issues
Extremely low performance at Epic or Ultra settings
ARK SA's Epic settings are literally unplayable on current hardware — even an RTX 4090 can drop below 30 FPS at full Epic settings. Lumen Off + Shadow Quality Medium + DLSS are absolutely necessary.
Severe stuttering on first launch after an update
ARK SA compiles shaders on first launch after each update, causing massive stuttering for 10-30 minutes. It's a one-time process — normalizes afterwards.
Estado: Expected behavior in UE5 (shader compilation)
VRAM overflow on GPUs with less than 10 GB
ARK SA with high settings can exceed 8-10 GB VRAM. On 8 GB GPUs, keeping Texture Quality at High (not Epic) and using DLSS are preventive measures.
6. Frequently asked questions
How many FPS does an RTX 4060 Ti get in ARK SA?▾
Why is ARK SA so demanding?▾
Should I disable Nanite or Lumen?▾
What minimum GPU do I recommend for ARK SA?▾
Want to know exactly how many FPS YOUR PC will get?
Enter your GPU and CPU in our calculator and measure the real impact of each setting.
Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →