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Best Horizon Forbidden West settings for the NVIDIA GTX 970 (2026)

On a NVIDIA GTX 970 (paired with a balanced Intel Core i5-8600K-class CPU), Horizon Forbidden West runs at roughly 66 FPS at 1080p with our optimized settings — up from about 43FPS with everything maxed. Here's the configuration and what each setting costs.

The NVIDIA GTX 970 is a entry-level graphics card with 4GB of VRAM, and Horizon Forbidden West is a demanding, graphically heavy game. Paired with the Intel Core i5-8600K, it runs well at 1080p — about 66 FPS with FrameCoach's optimized settings, a clear jump from roughly 43 FPS with everything on High.

Across resolutions you can expect around 66 FPS at 1080p and 62 FPS at 1440p, dropping to roughly 35 FPS at 4K. With only 4GB of VRAM, keep textures a notch below max in Horizon Forbidden West 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.

ResolutionAll-High FPSOptimized FPS
1080p4366
1440p2662
4K1535
🚀 Biggest free win: enable FSR (Balanced) — about +55% FPS for a small sharpness trade.
Recommended settings
Upscaling — FSRBalanced+55% FPS
Horizon Forbidden West supports DLSS, FSR and XeSS. A strong GPU-side boost on this lush open world.
Texture QualityUltra-1% FPS
Surface sharpness - cheap if it fits your VRAM.
Shadow QualityHighbaseline
Shadow resolution and range. High is the value pick over Ultra.
Screen Space ReflectionsHighbaseline
Reflections on water and shiny surfaces. Medium is a clean trade.
Terrain QualityHighbaseline
Open-world terrain and geometry detail. High looks great without the Ultra cost.
Cloud QualityHighbaseline
Volumetric cloud detail. Moderately heavy for how subtle it is.
Level of DetailHighbaseline
How far full-detail geometry renders. Mild pop-in when lowered.
Ambient OcclusionHighbaseline
Soft contact shadows. Medium is a cheap, good-looking option.
Anti-AliasingTAAbaseline
Edge smoothing. TAA is clean and cheap; DLAA is sharper but costs more.
Anisotropic Filtering16xbaseline
Keeps distant ground sharp at angles - effectively free, use 16x.

⚡ Fine-tune this for your exact CPU & target FPS →

🎯 Can the NVIDIA GTX 970 run Horizon Forbidden West? See the verdict →

Horizon Forbidden West on other GPUs
Other games on the NVIDIA GTX 970
Frequently asked

What FPS does the NVIDIA GTX 970 get in Horizon Forbidden West?

With FrameCoach's optimized balanced settings, the NVIDIA GTX 970 averages around 66 FPS at 1080p in Horizon Forbidden West — up from about 43 FPS with everything on High.

Can the NVIDIA GTX 970 run Horizon Forbidden West at 1440p?

At 1440p with optimized settings, the NVIDIA GTX 970 averages roughly 62 FPS in Horizon Forbidden West — a smooth experience.

What are the best Horizon Forbidden West settings for the NVIDIA GTX 970?

Turn on FSR (Balanced), keep ray tracing off for maximum FPS, and ease the heaviest options like Shadow Quality and Screen Space Reflections 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.