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Forza Motorsport Best Graphics Settings
If you're hunting for the best graphics settings for Forza Motorsport on PC and Xbox, here is our recommendation. These are the most optimal Forza Motorsport graphics settings for smooth performance.
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There is no doubt that Forza Motorsport is a real looker. It’s easily one of the best-looking racing games around. If you’re racing on an Xbox Series X, you can appreciate the incredible crisp 4k visuals without much hassle.
However, if you’re racing on PC, you may need to tinker with a few of Forza Motorsport’s graphics settings to achieve smooth FPS.
In this guide, I’m going to run through the optimal graphics settings to get the smoothest performance out of Forza Motorsport on PC. I’ll also look at how each graphics mode on Xbox differs, and which you should be using.
Check out our recommended racing wheels for Forza Motorsport.
Forza Motorsport PC system requirements
With Forza Motorsport being a graphically impressive game on both Xbox Series X and PC, you’ll want to ensure that your PC meets the minimum system requirements to really hit that 60FPS mark.
Forza has released their recommended PC specs which include a set of minimum requirements, recommended requirements and an ideal spec. Each of these will allow you to run different graphics settings, with the ideal specs allowing for true 4k with ray-tracing enabled.
Recommended graphics settings for Forza Motorsport on PC
Below I will recommend a set of graphics settings which allow for smooth performance, whilst not compromising too much on graphic fidelity.
Graphics settings for mid-range gaming PCs
These graphics settings are designed for those with a mid-range gaming PC that meets Forza Motorsport’s recommended specs. Ensure you have at least an RTX 20 or 30 series card, with an i5 or i7 processor and at least 16GB of RAM to constantly hit 60FPS with these settings.
| Settings | Value |
|---|---|
| Full-screen | On |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Show framerate | Off |
| Nvidia DLSS | Ultra Performance |
| Dynamic render quality | Medium |
| Performance target | 60FPS |
| Resolution scale | 100% |
| Image modifiers | 4x Anisotropic |
| Raytracing quality | Off |
| RTAO quality | Auto |
| Shadow quality | Medium |
| Cubemap reflection quality | Medium |
| Car model quality | Medium |
| Car livery quality | Medium |
| Windshield reflection quality | Medium |
| Mirror quality | Low |
| Track texture quality | Medium |
| Particle effects quality | Low |
| Motion blur quality | Low |
| Lens flare quality | Off |
Graphics settings for high-end gaming PCs
If you have a PC which is close to or meets the ideal specs that Forza outlined in their system requirements, you’ll be able to increase the in-game graphics settings.
Below are ideal graphics settings for Forza Motorsport if you have a high-end gaming PC. At least an RTX 4080 with an i7 processor and 16 or 32GB of RAM is really required to hit a constant 60FPS using these settings.
| Settings | Value |
|---|---|
| Full-screen | On |
| Resolution | 3840×2160 |
| Show framerate | Off |
| Nvidia DLSS | Quality (DLAA) |
| Dynamic render quality | High |
| Performance target | Unlocked |
| Resolution scale | 100% |
| Image modifiers | 8x Anisotropic |
| Raytracing quality | Car reflections + RTAO |
| RTAO quality | Low |
| Shadow quality | High |
| Cubemap reflection quality | Low |
| Car model quality | High |
| Car livery quality | Ultra |
| Windshield reflection quality | High |
| Mirror quality | Medium |
| Track texture quality | High |
| Particle effects quality | Medium |
| Motion blur quality | High |
| Lens flare quality | High |
Forza Motorsport Xbox Series X graphics modes explained
The mighty Xbox Series X is capable of running Forza Motorsport at 60FPS with ray-tracing enabled, which looks incredible. However, using the ray-tracing graphics mode won’t lock your frame rate at 60, meaning it may not be the best option to achieve silky smooth performance.
There are in fact three different graphics modes available for Forza on Xbox Series X.
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Forza Motorsport performance mode
These are the performance mode which is enabled by default. This locks your frame rate to 60FPS to achieve the smoothest performance.
You’ll still get 4k resolution thanks to a dynamic resolution which will prioritise the frame rate over achieving a constant 4k resolution. This mode uses “baked” ambient occlusion lighting and screen space reflections rather than true ray-tracing effects.
Forza Motorsport performance ray-tracing mode
You can enable the performance ray-tracing mode in the settings. This mode will still aim for 60fps with dynamic scaling to aim for 4k resolution. Adding ray tracing to Forza Motorsport really allows things to pop. Reflections and lighting all shine through in this mode, giving you a real visual treat whilst still maintaining high performance.
Forza Motorsport visual mode
The visual mode in Forza Motorsport is a true maximum graphics mode which allows the game to shine. This will prioritise more realistic and graphically impressive visuals over a high frame rate.
In visual mode, you still get dynamic resolution scaling targeting 4k. However, the frame rate is lowered to just 30 frames per second. Instead, you get higher-resolution textures, and extra detail available throughout the scene.
Forza Motorsport Xbox Series S graphics modes
If you’re running the new Forza game on an Xbox Series S, things are a little bit different. You no longer have access to any ray-tracing mode. Instead, you are presented with two options, performance mode or visual mode.
Xbox Series S performance mode
The performance mode on the Xbox Series S is very similar to the one of the Series X. It targets 60fps and uses “baked” ambient occlusion, however, the resolution is lowered to 1080p.
Xbox Series S visual mode
The visual mode increases the resolution to 1440p but lowers the frame rate to just 30fps. This downgrade in the frame rate is really quite noticeable compared to the silky smooth performance mode.
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Article written by Rich
Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
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