CONTROL Resonant PC Settings: FPS Boost, DLSS 4.5 & RT Guide

Updated September 25, 2026

CONTROL Resonant is demanding on PC, especially at 1440p with ray tracing enabled. The good news is that you don't need to lower every setting to improve FPS. A few options—including Indirect Lighting, Volumetric Lighting, SDF Reflections, and Post Processing Resolution—have a much larger performance impact than others.

DLSS 4.5 also deserves special attention. DLSS 4.5 is not automatically the fastest choice on every RTX GPU, particularly on older RTX 30-series hardware.

This guide covers the settings that matter most for FPS, image quality, VRAM usage, ray tracing, DLSS, Frame Generation, and smoother frame pacing.

Quick Answer: Recommended PC Settings

If you want a good starting point at 1440p, use these settings and adjust from there:

Display

• Display Mode: Fullscreen or Borderless
• Resolution: 2560×1440
• Render Resolution: Use the chosen DLSS/FSR mode
• Upscaler: DLSS on compatible NVIDIA GPUs
• DLSS Mode: Quality for stronger GPUs; Balanced when more performance is needed
• Frame Generation: Off initially; enable after achieving a stable base frame rate
• VSync: Off when using a compatible VRR display
• Frame Rate Limiter: Match your preferred target if needed

Graphics

• Texture Resolution: High
• Texture Filtering: Ultra
• LOD: High
• Global Illumination: High
• Volumetric Lighting: High
• Volumetric Spotlight: High
• Fog: High
• Shadow Map Resolution: High
• Shadow Map Filtering: High
• Shadow Map Detail: High
• SSAO: On
• SSR: Medium or High
• SDF Reflections: Medium

Ray Tracing

For a performance-focused RT configuration:

• Ray Tracing: Custom
• Direct Lighting: High
• Direct Lighting Denoising: Medium
• Indirect Lighting: Medium or High
• Indirect Lighting Denoising: Medium
• Transparency: Medium or High
• Debris: On
• DLSS Ray Reconstruction: Test on your GPU; keep it enabled if it improves the balance of image quality and performance

Post Processing

• Post Processing Resolution: Render Resolution
• Motion Blur: Off
• Depth of Field: Personal preference
• Lens Distortion: Off
• Film Grain: Off
• Vignetting: Personal preference

The important part is not simply copying every setting above. CONTROL Resonant responds very differently to individual options, so lowering the expensive settings first can preserve much more image quality than dropping the entire preset.

📋 Table of Contents

• Quick Answer: Recommended PC Settings
• Best CONTROL Resonant Settings for 60 FPS
• DLSS 4.5 vs DLSS 4 vs DLSS Legacy
• Which Settings Cost the Most FPS?
• RTX 3060 Ti Settings
• RTX 4070 Super Settings
• Ray Tracing Settings
• VRAM and Texture Settings
• Frame Generation Settings
• Settings You Can Turn Up
• How to Reduce Stutter and Frame-Time Spikes
• CONTROL Resonant Graphics Settings FAQ
• Final Recommended Settings

Best CONTROL Resonant Settings for 60 FPS

A practical starting point for a 60-FPS target is to avoid lowering everything to Low.

Instead, start with your preferred resolution and upscaler, then reduce the settings that put the most pressure on the GPU.

For 1440p, a good starting point is:

• DLSS Quality
• High textures
• High LOD
• High Global Illumination
• High Volumetric Lighting
• High shadows
• SSAO On
• SSR Medium
• SDF Reflections Medium
• Ray Tracing Off

If you still need more FPS, lower Volumetric Lighting, SDF Reflections, SSR and render resolution before sacrificing settings that have little measurable performance impact.

If your GPU has enough headroom, you can then add ray tracing selectively.

Why not simply use the Low preset?

The difference between Low and High is not necessarily worth the visual trade-off on a stronger GPU.

Several settings have surprisingly small performance differences between their lower and higher options. Lowering those settings first can therefore sacrifice visual quality without producing a meaningful FPS gain.

The goal should be to find the expensive settings rather than blindly moving the entire preset downward.

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DLSS 4.5 vs DLSS 4 vs DLSS Legacy

One of the more unusual things about CONTROL Resonant is that DLSS 4.5 can behave differently depending on your RTX generation.

On an RTX 4070 Super at 1440p, the tested results were approximately:

• DLSS 3 Legacy Quality: 76 FPS
• DLSS 4 Preset K Quality: 72–73 FPS
• DLSS 4.5 Quality: 67–68 FPS

On an RTX 3060 Ti at 1440p:

• FSR 3: ~60 FPS
• DLSS 3 Legacy: ~62 FPS
• DLSS 4 Preset K: ~57–58 FPS
• DLSS 4.5: ~44–45 FPS
• DLSS 4 Preset K Balanced: ~65 FPS

That means you should not assume the newest DLSS option is automatically the fastest option for your GPU.

Which DLSS mode should you use?

For a modern RTX GPU with enough performance:

• Start with DLSS 4.5 Quality.
• If performance is lower than expected, test another available DLSS model before immediately dropping the entire graphics preset.

For an RTX 30-series card, compare:

• DLSS 4.5
• DLSS 4/K
• DLSS Legacy

If the older model gives you substantially more FPS while still looking good, you can use that model instead of forcing DLSS 4.5.

For more information about DLSS behavior on your particular GPU, check the individual frame-rate result rather than relying only on the label shown in the graphics menu.

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Which Settings Cost the Most FPS?

Not every graphics option deserves equal attention.

The following settings produced some of the clearest performance differences.

1. Ray-Traced Indirect Lighting

This is one of the biggest performance hitters.

In one test scene:

• Off: 106 FPS
• Medium: 81 FPS
• High: 71 FPS
• Ultra: 43 FPS

Another scene produced:

• Off: 85 FPS
• Medium: 70 FPS
• High: 64 FPS
• Ultra: 39 FPS

If your FPS suddenly collapses after enabling high-level ray tracing, Indirect Lighting should be one of the first settings you check.

2. Volumetric Lighting

Volumetric Lighting also has a noticeable performance cost:

• Medium: 75 FPS
• High: 72 FPS
• Ultra: 59 FPS

High is therefore a useful middle ground.

If you need additional performance, moving from High to Medium can help without requiring you to lower the entire graphics preset.

3. SDF Reflections

Signed Distance Field Reflections are another setting that can quietly consume performance.

Across several scenes, turning SDF Reflections from Off to Medium cost roughly 5–7 FPS.

The difference between Medium and High was much smaller.

That makes Medium a useful compromise if you want the effect without paying the full performance cost.

4. Post Processing Resolution

This setting is particularly easy to overlook.

In testing:

• Render Resolution: ~73 FPS
• Display Resolution: ~64 FPS

That's roughly a 9 FPS difference in the tested scene.

For a performance-focused setup, use Render Resolution unless you have enough GPU headroom to justify Display Resolution.

5. Ray-Traced Transparency

Ray-traced Transparency also scales with a meaningful performance cost.

One test produced:

• Off: 92 FPS
• Medium: 73 FPS
• High: 71 FPS
• Ultra: 66 FPS

If you're looking for a compromise, Medium or High can provide a useful balance.

6. Direct Lighting

Direct Lighting can also be expensive when combined with other RT effects.

One test produced approximately:

• Off: 80 FPS
• High: 65 FPS
• Ultra: 59 FPS

High is therefore a sensible starting point for an RT-focused configuration.

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RTX 3060 Ti Settings

The RTX 3060 Ti needs a more conservative configuration at 1440p, especially once ray tracing is enabled.

A good starting profile is:

• Resolution: 2560×1440
• DLSS: Balanced
• DLSS Model: Compare 4.5 with K or Legacy
• Textures: Low or Medium
• Texture Filtering: High or Ultra
• LOD: High
• Global Illumination: High
• Volumetric Lighting: Medium
• Volumetric Spotlight: High
• Fog: Medium
• Shadow Resolution: High
• Shadow Filtering: High
• Shadow Detail: High
• SSAO: On
• SSR: Medium
• SDF Reflections: Off or Medium
• Ray Tracing: Off for a consistent 60-FPS target
• Frame Generation: Use only after establishing a stable base frame rate

The biggest consideration is not simply average FPS.

An optimized configuration produced a much higher frame rate than the Ultra preset in testing on the RTX 3060 Ti, showing why manually tuning the expensive settings is preferable to simply selecting Ultra and lowering resolution.

RTX 3060 Ti DLSS tip

If DLSS 4.5 produces an unexpectedly large performance drop, test DLSS 4/K or Legacy before lowering several other graphics settings.

This is particularly useful if the image quality of the older model is acceptable to you.

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RTX 4070 Super Settings

The RTX 4070 Super has considerably more room for a high-quality 1440p configuration.

Start with:

• Resolution: 2560×1440
• DLSS: Quality
• Textures: High
• Texture Filtering: Ultra
• LOD: High
• Global Illumination: High
• Volumetric Lighting: High
• Volumetric Spotlight: High
• Fog: High
• Shadow Resolution: High or Ultra
• Shadow Filtering: High
• Shadow Detail: High
• SSAO: On
• SSR: Medium or High
• SDF Reflections: Medium or High
• Ray Tracing: Custom
• Direct Lighting: High
• Indirect Lighting: Medium or High
• Transparency: High
• Debris: On
• Ray Reconstruction: Test On
• Post Processing Resolution: Render Resolution

This configuration gives you considerably more room to experiment with ray tracing without sacrificing the entire rasterized graphics profile.

RTX 4070 Super with ray tracing

If you want the visual benefits of RT without accepting the full performance cost of Ultra RT, start by lowering Indirect Lighting rather than everything else.

This is one of the most important settings in the entire menu.

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Ray Tracing Settings

You do not need to treat ray tracing as an all-or-nothing switch.

CONTROL Resonant lets you adjust several RT components independently, so you can keep the effects that matter most to you while cutting the expensive ones.

Recommended RT starting profile

Try:

• Direct Lighting: High
• Direct Lighting Denoising: Medium
• Indirect Lighting: Medium
• Indirect Lighting Denoising: Medium
• Transparency: High
• Debris: On
• DLSS Ray Reconstruction: On if it benefits your GPU

Then raise Indirect Lighting to High if you still have sufficient headroom.

What about Ultra RT?

Ultra RT can consume a large amount of performance.

If you are struggling to maintain your target FPS, don't immediately lower textures, LOD, filtering, and shadows.

Instead, try:

• Lower Indirect Lighting.
• Lower Transparency.
• Lower Direct Lighting.
• Reduce SDF Reflections.
• Reduce Volumetric Lighting.
• Change DLSS mode.
• Reduce render resolution.

This preserves more of the overall image than dropping every setting to Medium.

DLSS Ray Reconstruction

DLSS Ray Reconstruction deserves its own warning because its performance impact can vary between GPU generations.

On the RTX 4070 Super, Ray Reconstruction could improve performance in some tested RT scenarios.

However, the RTX 3060 Ti produced a different result.

In one indoor test:

• RTX 4070 Super with standard denoising: ~54 FPS
• RTX 4070 Super with Ray Reconstruction: ~62 FPS

On the RTX 3060 Ti:

• Medium denoising: ~41 FPS
• High denoising: ~39 FPS
• Ray Reconstruction: ~34 FPS

So do not enable Ray Reconstruction simply because it is available.

Test it on your GPU.

If it improves image quality and performance, keep it enabled. If your older RTX card loses performance, disable it and use the normal denoising option.

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VRAM and Texture Settings

Texture Resolution is more closely tied to VRAM than many of the other graphics settings.

In testing, captured VRAM usage in a static scene was approximately:

• Low: 8.25 GB
• Medium: 9.44 GB
• High: 10.39 GB
• Ultra: 10.53 GB

Dynamic gameplay showed lower allocations depending on the scene and configuration, but the pattern means Ultra textures can leave very little VRAM headroom on 8GB and 10GB graphics cards, especially when ray tracing and other demanding effects are enabled.

8GB VRAM

Start with:

• Medium textures
• High texture filtering
• High LOD

If you experience VRAM pressure, hitching, or frame-time spikes, keep textures at Medium.

If the game remains stable, you can test High textures and compare performance.

10GB VRAM

High textures are a safer starting point.

Ultra may be possible in some configurations, but it leaves considerably less headroom once ray tracing and other demanding features are enabled.

12GB+ VRAM

High or Ultra textures make more sense, depending on resolution and RT settings.

Remember that a displayed VRAM allocation is not automatically proof that the game is exceeding usable memory. Watch for actual symptoms such as frame-time spikes, hitching, texture streaming problems, or instability.

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Settings You Can Turn Up

Some options barely affected performance in testing.

These are the settings you should consider leaving high or ultra before lowering expensive effects.

Texture Filtering

Texture Filtering showed almost no meaningful difference between Medium, High and Ultra in the tested scenes.

Use Ultra if your GPU has the headroom.

LOD

LOD produced only a small performance spread:

• Low: ~69 FPS
• Medium: ~68 FPS
• High: ~67 FPS

In another scene, all three settings were also very close.

High LOD is therefore a good choice.

Shadow Map Filtering

Medium and High produced essentially identical results in the tested scene.

Use High.

Shadow Map Detail

Low, Medium and High were also very close:

• Low: ~59 FPS
• Medium: ~59 FPS
• High: ~58 FPS

There is little reason to sacrifice visual detail here for a tiny potential FPS gain.

Debris

Ray-traced Debris had an almost negligible measured difference:

• Off: ~61 FPS
• On: ~60 FPS

If you like the effect, leave Debris enabled.

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Frame Generation Settings

Frame Generation can produce a major increase in the displayed frame rate, but it should not be used as a substitute for a weak base frame rate.

A better sequence is:

1. Establish a stable base FPS.
2. Tune graphics settings and DLSS.
3. Enable Frame Generation.
4. Check latency and frame pacing.

On the RTX 4070 Super, an optimized RT configuration produced roughly:

• Optimized RT: 67–71 FPS
• Optimized RT + Frame Generation: around 103–104 FPS

The important point is that Frame Generation was added after reducing the underlying GPU workload.

Should you use 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 6x Frame Generation?

Start with a lower Frame Generation multiplier and increase it only if frame pacing and responsiveness remain comfortable.

Higher generated-frame counts can look impressive on an FPS counter, but the underlying rendered frames still matter.

If the game feels sluggish or uneven, reduce the Frame Generation multiplier and improve the base frame rate first.

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How to Reduce Stutter and Frame-Time Spikes

If CONTROL Resonant feels uneven even though the FPS counter looks high, focus on frame time rather than average FPS alone.

Some launch-day PC reports have described inconsistent GPU utilization and image-quality fluctuations in certain configurations. These are individual reports rather than proof of a universal issue, so not every performance problem can necessarily be solved by lowering graphics settings.

Start with these changes

1. Stabilize your base FPS

Don't use Frame Generation to compensate for an unstable graphics configuration.

2. Reduce Indirect Lighting

This is one of the most expensive settings in the game.

3. Reduce Volumetric Lighting

Move Ultra to High or Medium.

4. Lower SDF Reflections

Try Medium or Off.

5. Use Render Resolution for Post Processing

This can recover a meaningful amount of performance.

6. Check VRAM

If you have an 8GB or 10GB GPU, test lower texture settings if you encounter hitching or frame-time spikes.

7. Test your DLSS model

Especially on RTX 30-series hardware, compare DLSS 4.5 with the older available models.

8. Test Ray Reconstruction

Don't assume it is beneficial simply because you have an RTX GPU.

9. Avoid changing everything at once

Change one or two settings, then test the same area again.

This makes it much easier to identify what is actually causing the performance problem.

A Good Balanced 1440p Profile

If you don't want to experiment with every individual option, start here:

1440p Balanced

• Resolution: 2560×1440
• DLSS: Quality
• Frame Generation: Off initially
• Textures: High
• Texture Filtering: Ultra
• LOD: High
• Global Illumination: High
• Volumetric Lighting: High
• Volumetric Spotlight: High
• Fog: High
• Shadow Resolution: High
• Shadow Filtering: High
• Shadow Detail: High
• SSAO: On
• SSR: Medium
• SDF Reflections: Medium
• Ray Tracing: Off
• Post Processing Resolution: Render Resolution
• Motion Blur: Off
• Lens Distortion: Off
• Film Grain: Off

This is the profile to use if your priority is a good combination of image quality and stable performance.

A 1440p Ray-Tracing Profile

For a stronger GPU such as the RTX 4070 Super:

• DLSS: Quality
• Textures: High
• Texture Filtering: Ultra
• LOD: High
• Global Illumination: High
• Volumetric Lighting: High
• Volumetric Spotlight: High
• Fog: High
• Shadow Resolution: High
• SSAO: On
• SSR: Medium
• SDF Reflections: Medium
• Direct Lighting: High
• Direct Denoising: Medium
• Indirect Lighting: Medium
• Indirect Denoising: Medium
• Transparency: High
• Debris: On
• Ray Reconstruction: On if performance remains favorable
• Post Processing Resolution: Render Resolution
• Frame Generation: Optional after establishing a stable base FPS

If performance remains strong, raise Indirect Lighting from Medium to High first.

What Should You Lower First?

If you're below your target FPS, use this order:

For general graphics

• Volumetric Lighting
• SDF Reflections
• SSR
• Post Processing Resolution
• Render resolution/DLSS mode
• Shadow Resolution
• Fog

For ray tracing

• Indirect Lighting
• Transparency
• Direct Lighting
• RT preset
• Ray Reconstruction, if it is hurting performance

What should you lower last?

Try to preserve:

• Texture Filtering
• LOD
• Shadow Filtering
• Shadow Detail
• Debris

These settings produced comparatively small performance differences in testing.

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CONTROL Resonant Graphics Settings FAQ

What are the best PC settings for CONTROL Resonant at 1440p?
Start with DLSS Quality, High textures, High LOD, High Global Illumination, High Volumetric Lighting, Medium SSR, Medium SDF Reflections and Render Resolution for Post Processing.

For maximum consistency, disable ray tracing first and add individual RT effects later.

Is DLSS 4.5 worth using on an RTX 3060 Ti?
Not necessarily.

DLSS 4.5 produced a substantially lower frame rate than older DLSS options in testing on the RTX 3060 Ti. Compare DLSS 4.5 with DLSS 4/K and DLSS Legacy rather than assuming the newest model is automatically the fastest.

Should I use DLSS Quality or Balanced at 1440p?
Use Quality when your GPU has enough headroom.

Move to Balanced when you need additional performance, particularly on GPUs such as the RTX 3060 Ti.

Which CONTROL Resonant setting causes the biggest FPS drop?
Ray-traced Indirect Lighting is one of the biggest performance hitters. Ultra can produce a much larger performance reduction than many of the standard graphics settings.

Volumetric Lighting, SDF Reflections, RT Transparency and Post Processing Resolution can also have noticeable costs.

Should I turn on ray tracing?
Only if your GPU has enough performance headroom.

For a consistent 60-FPS target, ray tracing is often the first feature worth disabling or reducing. On a stronger GPU, using Custom RT settings can provide a better balance than simply selecting the Ultra RT preset.

Should I use DLSS Ray Reconstruction?
It depends on your GPU.

It improved performance in some RTX 4070 Super tests but reduced performance in an RTX 3060 Ti test. Try it and compare both FPS and image quality rather than assuming it is universally beneficial.

What texture setting should I use with 8GB VRAM?
Start with Medium textures and keep Texture Filtering high.

If performance and frame times remain stable, try High. Ultra textures leave considerably less VRAM headroom.

Should I use Frame Generation?
Use Frame Generation after establishing a stable base frame rate.

It can substantially increase displayed FPS, but it should not be the first solution to a graphics configuration that already struggles.

How do I reduce stutter in CONTROL Resonant?
Start by lowering Indirect Lighting, Volumetric Lighting and SDF Reflections, then check your DLSS mode and VRAM usage.

If you are using Frame Generation, test the game with it disabled first so you can determine whether the underlying configuration is already stable.

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Final Recommended Settings

For most 1440p players, the practical approach is not to run everything at Ultra.

Use High where visual quality matters, keep inexpensive settings such as Texture Filtering and LOD high, and reduce the settings that actually consume GPU resources.

The biggest settings to watch are:

• Indirect Lighting
• Volumetric Lighting
• SDF Reflections
• Ray-Traced Transparency
• Direct Lighting
• Post Processing Resolution
• DLSS mode
• Texture Resolution when VRAM is limited

And if you're using an RTX 30-series GPU, make sure you actually compare the available DLSS models. DLSS 4.5 is not automatically the fastest choice for every generation of RTX hardware.

Once your base frame rate is stable, you can then add Frame Generation and selectively increase ray tracing without sacrificing the entire graphics configuration.

If you're also tuning combat performance, see our guide to CONTROL Resonant Falter Not Filling? How to Stagger Enemies Faster for tips on building Falter more reliably.

For the Crossing the Threshold section, our CONTROL Resonant Medical Cabinet Code 0665 & Location guide covers the Field Hospital cabinet and Security Station route, while CONTROL Resonant CCTV Footage Location: Find the CCTV in Crossing the Threshold covers the surveillance objective.

You can also check CONTROL Resonant Practice Knot: Effect, Cost & Early Talent Guide for the Practice Knot, its Formation requirements, and the early Talents that improve Falter-focused combat.