How to improve FPS in Dune: Awakening (PC)
Dune: Awakening brings open-world survival to Arrakis, with dynamic sandstorms, worms crossing the desert, and buildable bases that persist on the map. Built on Unreal Engine 5 with Lumen for global illumination, the game splits load between GPU (desert rendering, reflections and lighting) and CPU (storm simulation, sand physics, asset streaming, and player syncing in busy PvP zones). This guide covers the settings with the biggest performance impact without sacrificing terrain readability, key to surviving both worms and other players in the Deep Desert.
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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 +61% free FPS.
Resolution Scaling (DLSS/FSR/XeSS)
Enabling upscaling is the single change with the biggest impact in the open desert, where the engine constantly renders long draw distances and scattered vegetation.
Shadows
Dynamic shadows in desert exteriors under an overhead sun have a high rendering cost and a small visual difference between High and Medium.
Volumetric Effects (sand fog and atmosphere)
Volumetric fog and Arrakis's atmospheric scattering are expensive to calculate in real time, especially during storms or at dawn/dusk.
FPS Limit (Frame Rate Cap)
Leaving the framerate uncapped causes temperature spikes and perceptible stutter; capping it to the monitor's refresh rate stabilizes frametime.
V-Sync
V-Sync adds input lag and can cause hitching if framerate drops below the refresh rate, common during storms.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Global Illumination (Lumen)
Lumen calculates indirect lighting and reflections in real time; at High/Ultra it's one of the engine's heaviest systems, especially inside bases and caves.
Vegetation Density and Terrain Detail
The desert generates scattered vegetation, rocks, and dune detail that load dynamically based on distance; reducing density eases both CPU (streaming) and GPU load.
Texture Quality
With 10GB of VRAM or more you can keep it on Ultra with no penalty; below that, dropping to High avoids micro-stutter from texture swapping (streaming).
Post-Processing (motion blur, depth of field, vignette)
These effects add rendering cost with no competitive advantage, and many players disable them outright in Deep Desert PvP for visual clarity.
Draw Distance (View Distance)
Arrakis is an open map with no vertical obstacles, so draw distance is very noticeable both for performance and for spotting enemies and worms at range.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
NVIDIA DLSS (Balanced)
+30% FPSThe most stable of the three options in the game's current state; Quality for powerful GPUs at 1440p/4K, Balanced as the recommended middle ground.
AMD FSR (Quality)
+22% FPSWorks on any GPU but with more sharpness artifacts than DLSS on moving sand scenes; use Quality to minimize ghosting.
Intel XeSS (Balanced)
+20% FPSA valid alternative for GPUs without DLSS or good FSR support; performance similar to FSR with somewhat less sharpness on fine sand detail.
DLSS Frame Generation / Multi Frame Gen
+45% FPSDoubles or multiplies perceived frames on compatible RTX GPUs; recommended only if you're already starting from 50-60 base FPS, since it can generate notable ghosting on fast camera turns.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •Update to the newest Game Ready drivers; Funcom has published several NVIDIA-specific optimization patches since launch.
- •Enable Reflex if available in the graphics menu to reduce input lag, especially relevant in Deep Desert PvP combat.
- •On 8GB VRAM cards or less, avoid combining Ultra textures and vegetation density to avoid micro-stutter from memory shortage.
AMD
- •Use Anti-Lag+ (or Anti-Lag 2) from AMD Adrenalin to offset input lag in combat.
- •FSR tends to show more artifacts than DLSS on moving sand; if you notice ghosting, try dropping from Quality to Balanced instead of raising it.
- •Verify Smart Access Memory (SAM/ReBAR) is enabled in the BIOS, as the engine benefits from it in terrain-geometry-heavy scenes.
Sistema
- •Make sure Resizable BAR is enabled in the BIOS; the UE5 engine with Lumen benefits especially from it on open maps like Arrakis.
- •Install the game on an SSD (NVMe preferred): continuous terrain streaming and player-built bases cause pop-in and stutter on HDD.
- •Close overlays and background recorders (Discord, GeForce Experience, RTSS) during sandstorms or mass combat, moments when the CPU is already maxed out.
5. Known game issues
Shader compilation stutter and traversal stutter
As in most Unreal Engine 5 games, the first few minutes of play and entering new zones can cause hitching while shaders compile or assets load. It usually improves after the first few sessions and with post-launch patches.
FPS drops during sandstorms and PvP zones with many players
Storm particle simulation and network syncing with many players in the Deep Desert create a CPU bottleneck that no GPU can compensate for on its own.
Estado: Partially mitigated in post-launch patches; Funcom has acknowledged the issue and continues optimizing.
Ghosting with DLSS/FSR Frame Generation during fast camera movement
With Frame Generation enabled (single or multi), sharp camera turns — very common while piloting an ornithopter or dodging a worm — can show trail-like visual artifacts.
6. Frequently asked questions
Why does my FPS drop only during sandstorms?▾
DLSS or FSR for Dune: Awakening?▾
Is it worth enabling Frame Generation?▾
How much VRAM do I need to play without stutter?▾
Want to know exactly how many FPS YOUR PC will get?
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Calculate FPS for Dune: Awakening →Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →