Minimum | Low | ★ Best valueRecommended | High | Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settings | Low | Medium | High | High | Ultra |
| Performance | 1080p30 FPS | 1080p60 FPS | 1080p60 FPS | 1440p60 FPS | 4K60 FPS |
| GPU (NVIDIA) | GTX 1060(6GB) | RTX 2080 | RTX 2070 SUPER | RTX 4070 Super | RTX 5080 |
| GPU (AMD) | RX 480(8GB) | RX 5700 XT | RX 6700 XT | RX 7800 XT | RX 9070 XT |
| CPU (Intel) | Core i7-7700K | Core i7-10700 | Core i7-10700 | Core i7-13700K | Core Ultra 7 265K |
| CPU (AMD) | Ryzen 5 1600 | Ryzen 5 3600 | Ryzen 7 3700X | Ryzen 7 7700X | Ryzen 7 9700X |
| RAM | 16 GB RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB RAM | 32 GB | 32 GB |
| Upscaling | Native | Native | Native | DLSS 4 / FSR 3.1 | DLSS 4 / FSR 4 |
| Frame Gen | — | — | — | — | Yes |
| Ray Tracing | Off | Off | Off | Medium | High |
Disable all ray tracing and reduce shadow quality to Low—this combo alone recovers 8-12 FPS. Cap volumetric effects at Medium and disable contact shadows to stay stable at 30fps without stuttering.
Keep textures at High (VRAM-dependent, not FPS-dependent) and enable 16x anisotropic filtering for free. Disable ray tracing entirely and set shadows to Medium; this game doesn't need ultra shadows at 1080p.
This is the sweet spot for 1080p High settings without compromises. Enable DLSS 4 Quality if you have an RTX card to push toward 1440p, or stick native 1080p for the cleanest image—either way, 60fps is locked.
Use DLSS 4 Balanced at 1440p to maintain 60fps comfortably; the quality loss is minimal on a 27" monitor. Enable Medium ray tracing reflections only (skip global illumination), and keep volumetric effects at High—this balance looks premium without the FPS tax.
DLSS 4 Quality at 4K is your target—the upscaling is nearly native-looking. Enable High ray tracing and Frame Gen if you're playing single-player; Frame Gen adds ~1 frame of latency but the visual smoothness is worth it for a story-driven game like this. Disable Frame Gen if you value input responsiveness over visual fluidity.
Storage
100 GB available space
DirectX
Version 12
Reaching 120fps requires an RTX 5080 or RX 9070 XT with DLSS 4 Performance or FSR 4 Performance mode at 1440p. Disable ray tracing entirely, set shadows to Medium, and cap volumetric effects at Medium—this game is GPU-heavy, so the FPS gains come from settings, not CPU. Frame Gen is not recommended for action-heavy gameplay; stick to native 120fps for responsive controls.
The Recommended tier (RTX 2070 Super / RX 6700 XT) is the best value—it guarantees 60fps at 1080p High with zero compromises and costs $300-400 used. If you want 1440p headroom, jump to the High tier (RTX 4070 Super / RX 7800 XT) at $500-600; the DLSS 4 / FSR 3.1 support future-proofs your investment.
GTX 1060 users should jump to an RTX 5070 ($549)—this is a 3x generational leap that unlocks DLSS 4 and enables 1440p gaming. RTX 3060 owners can stretch to an RTX 5070 Ti ($749) for 1440p 120fps potential, but the 3060 still handles this game fine at 1080p High. RTX 4060 users should wait for the RTX 5000 Super refresh (Q1 2026) rather than upgrade now—the 4060 is adequate for 1080p, and a 30-40% jump isn't compelling enough.
Where Winds Meet is moderately demanding—it's a GPU-focused game that scales well with upscaling tech but doesn't punish older CPUs. The ideal setup is a Ryzen 5 3600 / i7-10700 with an RTX 2070 Super or RX 6700 XT for locked 60fps at 1080p High, or step up to RTX 4070 Super / RX 7800 XT for 1440p with DLSS 4 / FSR 3.1. Ray tracing is optional and scales from Low to High depending on your GPU; the game looks excellent without it. On consoles, PS5 Pro's Balanced mode (40fps PSSR 2.0) is the standout experience, while base PS5 and Xbox Series X prefer Performance mode (60fps) over Quality—handheld players should target 40fps on Deck OLED and 60fps on Ally X / Legion Go 2 for the best battery-to-smoothness trade-off.
