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Best Crimson Desert settings for the NVIDIA GTX 980 (2026)

On a NVIDIA GTX 980 (paired with a balanced Intel Core i5-8600K-class CPU), Crimson Desert runs at roughly 61 FPS at 1080p with our optimized settings — up from about 40FPS with everything maxed. Here's the configuration and what each setting costs.

The NVIDIA GTX 980 is a entry-level graphics card with 4GB of VRAM, and Crimson Desert is a one of the most punishing games to run on PC. Paired with the Intel Core i5-8600K, it runs well at 1080p — about 61 FPS with FrameCoach's optimized settings, a clear jump from roughly 40 FPS with everything on High.

Across resolutions you can expect around 61 FPS at 1080p and 61 FPS at 1440p, dropping to roughly 38 FPS at 4K. Crimson Desert offers ray tracing, but the NVIDIA GTX 980 isn't built for it, so we leave it off. With only 4GB of VRAM, keep textures a notch below max in Crimson Desert 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
1080p4061
1440p2461
4K1438
💡 Crimson Desert: Huge open world on Pearl Abyss' BlackSpace engine - upscaling is basically required at 1440p and up.
🚀 Biggest free win: enable FSR (Balanced) — about +55% FPS for a small sharpness trade.
Recommended settings
Upscaling — FSRBalanced+55% FPS
Crimson Desert (Pearl Abyss' BlackSpace engine) supports DLSS, FSR and XeSS plus Frame Generation. In this huge open world, upscaling is basically required at 1440p and up.
Ray TracingOffsaves FPS
Ray-traced lighting and reflections across the open world. Gorgeous but the heaviest setting by far - keep Off unless you have upscaling + Frame Gen on.
Texture QualityUltra-1% FPS
Surface sharpness - cheap on FPS if it fits your VRAM. High for 8GB cards, Ultra for 12GB+.
Global IlluminationHighbaseline
Bounce lighting across the landscape - the heaviest non-RT setting. High over Ultra is a big saving.
Shadow QualityHighbaseline
Shadow resolution and range. High looks nearly identical to Ultra while running faster.
Vegetation / FoliageHighbaseline
Grass and tree density across the open world - a real cost in dense areas. Medium/High is the value pick.
ReflectionsHighbaseline
Reflections on water and wet surfaces. Medium is plenty when ray tracing is off.
Volumetric Clouds & FogMediumbaseline
Volumetric clouds and weather fog - a real cost during storms. Medium is a clean trade.
View DistanceHighbaseline
How far the world renders in full detail. High avoids obvious pop-in; drop for frames.
Effects QualityHighbaseline
Combat and weather effects. High is fine; lower in big battles for stability.
Anisotropic Filtering16xbaseline
Keeps the terrain sharp into the distance. Practically free - leave at 16x.

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

🎯 Can the NVIDIA GTX 980 run Crimson Desert? See the verdict →

Crimson Desert on other GPUs
Other games on the NVIDIA GTX 980
Frequently asked

What FPS does the NVIDIA GTX 980 get in Crimson Desert?

With FrameCoach's optimized balanced settings, the NVIDIA GTX 980 averages around 61 FPS at 1080p in Crimson Desert — up from about 40 FPS with everything on High.

Can the NVIDIA GTX 980 run Crimson Desert at 1440p?

At 1440p with optimized settings, the NVIDIA GTX 980 averages roughly 61 FPS in Crimson Desert — a smooth experience.

What are the best Crimson Desert settings for the NVIDIA GTX 980?

Turn on FSR (Balanced), keep ray tracing off for maximum FPS, and ease the heaviest options like Global Illumination and Shadow 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.