01.Introduction: 30 FPS is the New 60
In City Builders, you don't need 144 FPS. The focus is simulation speed. If the game runs at 30 FPS but time passes quickly (3x Speed), that's great. If it runs at 60 FPS but time is in slow motion, your CPU is bottlenecked.
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02.Chapter 1: Volumetrics Quality (The Villain)
Turn Off Immediately
Volumetric quality (clouds, smoke) is absurdly heavy in this game.
Go to Graphics > Advanced:
- Volumetrics Quality Settings: Disabled or Very Low.
Visually it changes little (the sky looks less "fluffy"), but the FPS gain is almost 40%.
03.Chapter 2: Depth of Field (Tilt Shift)
The "miniature" effect (blurred background) consumes GPU.
- Depth of Field Mode: Disabled.
Besides gaining performance, you see your city with total clarity, which is better for planning roads.
04.Chapter 3: Level of Detail (LOD)
The game renders windows and furniture inside buildings.
- Level of Detail Distance: Low.
This makes high-quality models (with teeth and furniture) only appear when you zoom in very close. From afar, it uses simplified models.
A1.Chapter 4: DLSS and TAA
Use DLSS Quality if you have Nvidia.
If not, use TAA.
Dynamic resolution scaling should be avoided as it causes blurring when you move the camera. Prefer fixed DLSS.
A2.Chapter 5: Traffic Simulation
Traffic is calculated by the CPU.
In cities with 100k inhabitants, traffic can slow down the simulation ("Simulation Speed" drops).
There is no graphics setting for this. The solution is to improve your road design (Road Hierarchy) to have fewer stopped cars calculating alternate routes.
A3.Chapter 6: Shadows and Global Illumination
- Global Illumination: Low.
- Reflections: Low.
The water is beautiful, but heavy. Reflections of buildings on the water consume VRAM.
A4.Chapter 7: Performance Mods
Use the official mod manager (Paradox Mods).
Look for mods that remove unnecessary "props" (trash cans, park benches) en masse. Fewer objects = Fewer polygons.
Chapter 8: 100k Inhabitants (Olympus)
After passing 100,000 inhabitants, the game will get slow. It is inevitable even on Threadripper CPUs. Accept 1x speed and enjoy the scenery.
Chapter 9: Autosave Interval
Autosave causes a 2-second stutter.
Increase the interval to every 15 or 30 minutes instead of 5, so you don't interrupt your flow.
Chapter 10: V-Sync Off
If you have 30-40 FPS, V-Sync causes mouse input lag. Leave it off or use G-Sync/FreeSync to smooth the camera.
Don't do it Manually.
Voltris Optimizer automates this entire guide and removes Windows delay in seconds.
Written by a verified expert
Douglas Felipe M. Gonçalves
Expert in Windows system optimization with years of experience in hardware diagnostics, kernel tuning, and advanced technical support. Founder of Voltris and developer of the Voltris Optimizer.
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