ACC is a heavy game. It runs on Unreal Engine 4, with 30 cars, rain and night on top, and it will take every frame your PC has.
So the goal is not the prettiest picture. It is a sharp picture and a frame rate that does not move when the race starts. Here are three presets to start from, and the logic to tune them.
The three presets
Performance is for an older graphics card or for triple screens. Balanced is where I would start on most PCs. Quality is for a strong card on a single screen.
To find the menu: Options, then Video. The game also has its own presets at the top, from Low to Epic. I would not use them as they are, because they move everything together, and half of the settings cost almost nothing while four of them cost a lot.
Basic
| Setting | Performance | Balanced | Quality | FPS cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution scale | 100% | 100% | 100% | High |
| View distance | Mid | High | Epic | Low |
| Shadows | Low | Mid | High | Very high |
| Shadows distance | Mid | High | Epic | Low |
| Contact shadows | Disabled | Disabled | Enabled | High |
| Antialiasing | Mid | High | Epic | Medium |
| Antialiasing type | Temporal | Temporal or KTAA | Temporal or KTAA | Low |
| Effects | Low | Mid | High | Low, more in rain |
| Post-processing | Low | Mid | High | Medium |
| Foliage | Low | Mid | High | Medium |
| Texture | Mid | High | Epic | Low, it uses video memory |
| Mirror view distance | 60 metres | 100 metres | 150 metres | High |
| Mirror quality | Low | Mid | High | High |
Advanced
| Setting | Performance | Balanced | Quality | FPS cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Materials quality | High | High | High | Medium |
| Temporal upsampling | Off at 100% scale | Off at 100% scale | Off at 100% scale | Only matters under 100% |
| Bloom quality | Off | Low | High | Low |
| Volumetric fog | Disabled | Low | High | High |
| Foliage LOD quality | Very Low | Low | High | High |
| Car LOD quality | 70% | 80% | 100% | Low |
| HLOD | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | It gains frames |
| Advanced sharpen filter | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | High |
Check the hardware side first on my ACC system requirements page. No preset fixes a PC under the minimum.
The four settings that cost the most
If you only have five minutes, change these.
Shadows. The biggest one. From Epic to Mid you get a lot of frames back and on track you will not see it. You look at the braking point, not at the shadow of the grandstand.
Contact shadows. Small shadows where objects touch the ground. Expensive, and almost invisible at speed. Disabled.
Mirrors. The game draws the track a second time for the mirrors. Quality on Low or Mid and distance around 100 metres is enough to see who is behind you. If the game gives you a mirror frame rate limit, 30 is fine. You glance at a mirror, you do not watch it.
Volumetric fog. It looks great at dawn. It costs a lot when the weather turns. Low or off.
After those four: foliage LOD, post-processing and antialiasing quality, in that order.
What I would keep high
Resolution scale at 100%. Under 100% the game draws fewer pixels and stretches them. Far objects go soft, and far objects are your braking boards and the car 200 metres in front. If you need frames, take them from the shadows first.
Materials quality on High. On Mid the dashboard and the cockpit look flat. You look at them for the whole race.
Textures on High or Epic if your card has the video memory, 8 GB or more. Textures cost memory, not frames.
Car LOD at 70% or more, so the cars in front do not change shape as you get closer.
DLSS and FSR
Since version 1.8 the game has both. They draw the picture at a lower resolution and scale it up, and you get frames back.
- DLSS works on NVIDIA RTX cards. More frames, and a cleaner image at rest, but it can leave trails behind moving cars.
- FSR works on any card, AMD or NVIDIA. A little softer, fewer trails.
| Your screen | DLSS or FSR mode |
|---|---|
| 1080p | None if you can. Quality if you must |
| 1440p | Quality |
| 4K | Quality or Balanced |
| Triple screens | Quality or Balanced, plus the Performance preset |
Try both for ten laps in traffic and keep the one that bothers you less. Avoid Performance mode on a single screen. The gain is big but the far end of the straight turns into a blur.
Temporal upsampling is the older option of the game for the same job. It only does something when the resolution scale is under 100%. At 100%, leave it off.
For antialiasing type, Temporal gives smoother edges with a little ghosting, KTAA is sharper with more jagged edges. FXAA is the one to avoid, it is the worst looking of the three.
Image settings
These cost no frames. They change how well you see.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Motion blur | Disabled | You want a sharp picture when the car moves, that is when you need it |
| Saturation | 90% to 100% | Taste. A little under 100% looks closer to a real onboard camera |
| White balance | Neutral | Leave it |
| Sharpness | 100% to 120% | Temporal antialiasing softens the image. A little sharpness gives the detail back |
| Camera dirt effect | 0 | Dirt on a lens you do not have. In a night race it hides the braking boards |
| Image contrast | Default | Raise it a little only if the picture looks washed out on your screen |
| Exposure gain | Default | Raise it a little if night races are too dark to see the kerbs |
| Tone mapping | ACES | The default, and the most natural one |
The idea is the same for all of them. TV style effects look good in a replay. When you drive, you want what your eyes would see from the seat: no blur, no dirt, no glow.
Frame rate, V-Sync and visible cars
Cap the frame rate. Put the limit at a number the PC holds in the worst case. If you get 140 alone and 85 at the start, cap around 90. A flat 90 feels better than a number that jumps between 85 and 140, and your braking is more consistent when the picture moves at the same speed every lap.
V-Sync off if your monitor has G-Sync or FreeSync. V-Sync adds delay between your hands and the picture. If you have tearing and no adaptive sync, turn it on and live with it.
Full screen on, for a few more frames.
Visible cars. The game lets you limit how many opponents it draws. This one loads the processor, not the graphics card. Around 20 is a good number. If the frames only drop at race starts, this is the setting.
How to test your settings
Do not test alone in practice on a sunny day. Everything runs well there.
- Open a single player quick race at Spa or the Nurburgring with a full grid.
- Set the time to night and the weather to rain.
- Start from the back of the grid.
- Watch the frame counter through the first lap.
The lowest number you see is your real frame rate. Tune for that one. If it holds there, it holds everywhere.
Change one setting at a time. If you move five things together you never know which one gave you the frames.
Problems and fixes
| Problem | What to change |
|---|---|
| Frames drop at the race start | Lower the number of visible cars, then the mirrors |
| Frames drop in rain or at night | Effects to Low, volumetric fog off, shadows one step down |
| Stutter with a high frame counter | Cap the frames a little under what the PC can hold, and close what runs in the background |
| Blurry picture | Resolution scale back to 100%, sharpness up, or change DLSS mode from Performance to Quality |
| Trails behind the cars | That is ghosting from temporal antialiasing or DLSS. Try KTAA, or FSR in place of DLSS |
| Jagged fences and lines | Antialiasing one step up. Do not use FXAA |
| Dashboard looks flat and cheap | Materials quality back to High |
More ACC settings
- VR needs its own values: best ACC VR settings.
- The view is as important as the picture: how to set the FOV in ACC.
- What every widget on screen means: ACC HUD explained.
- The wheel: ACC wheel and force feedback settings.
- New to the game: ACC beginner guide.
FAQ
What are the best graphics settings for ACC?
Resolution scale 100%, shadows Mid, contact shadows off, mirrors Mid at 100 metres, volumetric fog Low, materials High, motion blur off. Then cap the frames at what the PC holds at a race start.
Which ACC settings affect FPS the most?
Shadows, contact shadows, mirror quality and distance, and volumetric fog. Resolution scale too, but lowering it costs you sharpness.
Should I use DLSS or FSR in ACC?
Use Quality mode of either one if you need frames. DLSS is for RTX cards and gives more frames. FSR works on every card and leaves fewer trails behind the cars.
How do I get more FPS in ACC?
Lower shadows and mirrors first, turn off contact shadows and volumetric fog, limit the visible cars to about 20 and use DLSS or FSR in Quality mode.
What frame rate do I need for ACC?
A stable 60 is the minimum I would race with. 90 to 120 is clearly better if your monitor shows it. Stable is the word that counts.
Why does ACC drop frames at the race start?
Thirty cars in view load the processor and the mirrors together. Limit the visible cars and lower the mirror quality.
Does ACC use a lot of processor or graphics card?
Both. The graphics card limits you alone on track. In a full grid, the processor is often the limit, and lowering graphics options will not help there.