All setups › RTX 4090 Laptop › Cities: Skylines II

Best Cities: Skylines II settings for the RTX 4090 Laptop (2026)

On a RTX 4090 Laptop (paired with a balanced Intel Core i9-12900F-class CPU), Cities: Skylines II runs at roughly 95 FPS at 1440p with our optimized settings — up from about 95FPS with everything maxed. Here's the configuration and what each setting costs.

The RTX 4090 Laptop is a high-end graphics card with 16GB of VRAM, and Cities: Skylines II is a demanding, graphically heavy game. Paired with the Intel Core i9-12900F, it runs great at 1440p — about 95 FPS with 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 159 FPS at 1080p and 95 FPS at 1440p, dropping to roughly 73 FPS at 4K. Its 16GB of VRAM is plenty for Cities: Skylines II, so textures can stay maxed. The biggest free win is DLSS upscaling — set it to Quality for a large FPS boost at little visual cost.

ResolutionAll-High FPSOptimized FPS
1080p159159
1440p9595
4K5473
💡 Cities: Skylines II: Big cities are limited by your CPU, not your GPU - upscaling won’t fix that.
Recommended settings
Upscaling — DLSSOff
Cities: Skylines II supports DLSS and FSR. A free FPS boost - enable it first, though big cities are limited by your CPU, not the upscaler.
Global IlluminationMediumbaseline
Bounce lighting across the city - one of the heaviest GPU settings. Medium is a clean trade.
VolumetricsMediumbaseline
Volumetric fog and clouds. Expensive for the payoff - drop a notch for an easy win.
ReflectionsLowbaseline
Screen-space reflections on water and glass. Low is plenty in a zoomed-out city view.
Shadow QualityMediumbaseline
Shadow resolution and range over the city. Medium is the value pick.
Ambient OcclusionLowbaseline
Screen-space contact shadows between buildings. Low is a cheap trade.
Fog QualityMediumbaseline
Distance and weather fog. Low is fine for a clear city view.
Depth of FieldOnbaseline
Background blur when zoomed in. Cheap to turn off if you don't want it.
Level of DetailMediumbaseline
How detailed distant buildings stay - also leans on the CPU. Medium for big cities.
Anti-AliasingHighbaseline
Edge smoothing across the cityscape. Cheap; leave it on to reduce shimmer.
Texture QualityHighbaseline
Surface sharpness on buildings and terrain - cheap on FPS if it fits your VRAM.

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

🎯 Can the RTX 4090 Laptop run Cities: Skylines II? See the verdict →

Cities: Skylines II on other GPUs
Other games on the RTX 4090 Laptop
Frequently asked

What FPS does the RTX 4090 Laptop get in Cities: Skylines II?

With FrameCoach's optimized balanced settings, the RTX 4090 Laptop averages around 95 FPS at 1440p in Cities: Skylines II — up from about 95 FPS with everything on High.

Can the RTX 4090 Laptop run Cities: Skylines II at 1440p?

At 1440p with optimized settings, the RTX 4090 Laptop averages roughly 95 FPS in Cities: Skylines II — a smooth experience.

What are the best Cities: Skylines II settings for the RTX 4090 Laptop?

Use a balanced preset, keep ray tracing off for maximum FPS, and ease the heaviest options like Global Illumination and Volumetrics 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.