How to improve FPS in DOOM Eternal (PC)
DOOM Eternal runs on idTech 7, id Software's engine optimized to the last drop to sustain frantic combat at 200+ FPS even on mid-range hardware. Its smart VRAM management (texture streaming) and the absence of shader-compilation waits make it a rarity: a visually demanding shooter that barely needs any tuning to fly. Here's the optimal setup for chaining glory kills, chainsaw kills, and demons without dropping a single frame.
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Calculations based on our FPS model combined with the % gain of each setting (measured in public benchmarks).
1. Quick wins (no visual loss)
Start here. Each one adds a little, but together they give +12% free FPS.
Texture Quality / Texture Pool Size
idTech 7 manages texture streaming so efficiently that lowering this setting barely frees performance unless you have less than 4 GB of VRAM. Leave it on High unless your card is very limited.
Anti-Aliasing (TSSAA)
idTech 7's TSSAA (temporal supersampling) is very efficient and delivers a sharp image without the cost of traditional MSAA. Dropping it to 1TX frees some performance on very constrained GPUs.
Depth of Field
Depth of field blur adds nothing in a shooter this fast and adds unnecessary post-processing load during combat.
Motion Blur
Given DOOM Eternal's movement speed, motion blur makes it harder to aim during glory kills and dashing. Almost no competitive player keeps it active.
V-Sync
Disable V-Sync and use the game's own FPS limiter or your graphics panel's if you need to avoid tearing; V-Sync adds noticeable input lag in such a fast shooter.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Shadow Quality
idTech 7's dynamic shadows are among the few that do consume real performance. Dropping from Ultra to Medium is barely noticeable amid the heat of combat but frees up several FPS.
Ray Tracing: Reflections
The ray tracing added in Update #6 improves reflections on metallic surfaces, but has a notable cost, especially below an RTX 3060. Reserve it for mid-to-high-end RTX GPUs.
Screen Space Reflections
A non-ray-tracing alternative for reflections; on Medium it keeps a good look on infernal and metallic surfaces without penalizing performance too much.
Volumetric Lighting
Volumetric light shafts in hellish and space environments have a noticeable cost. Medium preserves the atmosphere without penalizing as much as Ultra Nightmare.
Resolution Scale
Slightly lowering the native resolution scale (without upscaling) is a simple way to gain extra FPS on very limited GPUs without resorting to DLSS or FSR.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
NVIDIA DLSS
+45% FPSAdded in Update #6 (2021), DLSS in Quality mode offers a notable performance gain on RTX GPUs while maintaining excellent sharpness, ideal for enabling ray tracing without sacrificing framerate.
AMD FSR
+35% FPSFSR works on any GPU (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) and in Balanced mode offers a good balance between sharpness and performance, though somewhat less clean than DLSS in fast motion.
Dynamic Resolution Scale
+20% FPSWithout AI-based upscaling, the engine's native resolution scale lets you manually lower the internal resolution as a simple alternative on GPUs without modern DLSS/FSR support.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •Enable DLSS in Quality if you have RTX: performance gain with almost imperceptible sharpness loss.
- •Ray tracing is worth it from RTX 3060 with 8 GB of VRAM upward.
- •Keep Game Ready drivers updated; Update #6 requires 471.11 WHQL or higher for DLSS and RT.
AMD
- •Use FSR in Balanced if you're after more FPS at high resolutions without relying on RT.
- •RX 6700XT or higher GPUs run ray tracing at 1080p/60 with low settings without issue.
- •Enable Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR) if your CPU+GPU combo is Ryzen 5000/6000 with an RX 6000-series card.
Sistema
- •idTech 7 uses multiple cores well, but prioritize per-core frequency to keep combat pacing steady.
- •Install the game on an SSD: it reduces load times between arenas and avoids micro-stutter when streaming large levels.
- •Close overlays and background recorders; the game is already so well optimized that any extra process is proportionally more noticeable.
5. Known game issues
Denuvo and slow launches in older builds
Early builds of the game suffered longer launch times due to Denuvo protection combined with integrity checks. Later patches notably reduced this impact.
Estado: Update #3
Punctual micro-stutters with ray tracing enabled
After enabling ray tracing in Update #6, some users reported small hitches when entering new areas with many reflective surfaces, especially on GPUs with less than 8 GB of VRAM.
Estado: Update #6.66
6. Frequently asked questions
Why does DOOM Eternal give such high FPS even on modest PCs?▾
Is it worth enabling ray tracing in DOOM Eternal?▾
DLSS or FSR, which to choose in DOOM Eternal?▾
Which setting has the biggest real performance impact?▾
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.
Calculate FPS for DOOM Eternal →Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →