THE FINALS PC Settings: Handling Destruction Without Frame Drops

THE FINALS, from Embark Studios, is built around destruction. Walls collapse, floors drop out from under you and a well-placed charge can bring down an entire building during a cashout. It's brilliant to play, and very hard on your PC when it all happens at once. The goal here is to keep those moments smooth without turning the game into a grey mess.

Display

• Window mode: Fullscreen.
• Resolution: Native.
• V-Sync: Off.
• Frame rate limit: Your refresh rate, or a few FPS below with G-Sync/FreeSync.
• NVIDIA Reflex: On + Boost if you have an NVIDIA card.
• Field of view: Wide enough to track movement; the game's upper range works well for most people.

Upscaling

THE FINALS supports several upscalers. On RTX cards, DLSS on Quality or Balanced is usually the best option. On other hardware, try the alternatives the game offers and pick the one that looks cleanest in motion. Upscaling is the single biggest FPS boost you'll get here.

Graphics settings

Lower these

• Global illumination: The lowest option you're happy with. Dynamic lighting is expensive, especially when buildings are coming down.
• Volumetric effects: Low. Dust and smoke from destruction are heavy.
• Effects: Low to Medium.
• Shadows: Medium.
• Reflections: Low.
• Motion blur: Off.

Keep these reasonable

• Textures: Based on your VRAM.
• View distance and model detail: Medium or higher so players stay visible at range.
• Anti-aliasing: Whatever pairs with your upscaler.

Why it drops during destruction

When a building collapses, the game suddenly has more geometry, debris, dust and lighting changes to handle, and your CPU and GPU both feel it. That's why lowering volumetrics and effects helps more than you'd expect: they're exactly what spikes in those moments. If your frame rate is fine in quiet moments but tanks during cashouts, start there.

PC tips

1. Let shaders finish compiling after updates before jumping into a match.
2. Install on an SSD.
3. Keep GPU drivers updated.
4. Close background apps, especially browsers with video.

Recap

Upscaling and Reflex on, global illumination and volumetrics down, effects moderate, and textures and view distance where your hardware can handle them. You'll keep the spectacle and lose most of the frame drops. Embark also made ARC Raiders, and our ARC Raiders settings guide covers similar ground. More on the PentaSharp blog.