On a NVIDIA GTX 650 (1GB) (paired with a balanced Intel Core i5-8600K-class CPU), ARK: Survival Ascended runs at roughly 11 FPS at 1080p with our optimized settings — up from about 4FPS with everything maxed. Here's the configuration and what each setting costs.
The NVIDIA GTX 650 (1GB) is a entry-level graphics card with 1GB of VRAM, and ARK: Survival Ascended is a one of the most punishing games to run on PC. Paired with the Intel Core i5-8600K, it is a real challenge at 1080p — about 11 FPSwith FrameCoach's optimized settings. That already clears a smooth frame rate on High, so our tuning keeps the visuals as high as possible instead of chasing extra frames.
Across resolutions you can expect around 11 FPS at 1080p and 7 FPS at 1440p, dropping to roughly 4 FPS at 4K. With only 1GB of VRAM, keep textures a notch below max in ARK: Survival Ascended at higher resolutions to avoid stutter. The biggest free win is FSR upscaling — set it to Quality for a large FPS boost at little visual cost.
| Resolution | All-High FPS | Optimized FPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 4 | 11 |
| 1440p | 2 | 7 |
| 4K | 1 | 4 |
⚡ Fine-tune this for your exact CPU & target FPS →
With FrameCoach's optimized balanced settings, the NVIDIA GTX 650 (1GB) averages around 11 FPS at 1080p in ARK: Survival Ascended — up from about 4 FPS with everything on High.
At 1440p with optimized settings, the NVIDIA GTX 650 (1GB) averages roughly 7 FPS in ARK: Survival Ascended; turn on upscaling or aim for a locked 60 for the best feel.
Turn on FSR (Balanced), keep ray tracing off for maximum FPS, and ease the heaviest options like Global Illumination (Lumen) and Foliage Quality down a notch. The full per-setting breakdown is above.
FPS figures are estimates from a generalized model (hardware tier × game load × per-setting weights), not live benchmarks — real performance varies by scene, drivers and game version.