Overwatch 2 Graphics Settings Guide

In online PvP games, where there are already connection issues present. The last thing you need is low fps issues affecting your experience. So, what to do, in that case? You will have to tweak the graphics settings of the game and optimize it. This guide will show you the best graphics settings for Overwatch 2 for low-end gaming PCs. You will have a smoother experience in-game, and it might also help you eliminate various performance issues if you are having any, of course.

Overwatch 2 Best Graphics Settings

• Display Mode: Fullscreen [You lose a good chunk of performance on “Windowed” or “Borderless Windowed” mode]
• Target Display: Best Match [Make sure that the game is using the display with the higher refresh rate, in case of a dual-monitor setup]
• Resolution: 1920×1080 (144)* [This whole combination of Overwatch 2 settings is for achieving 144 fps at 1080p resolution. If you are on 1440p or higher, you might have to lower the settings even further]
• Field of View: 103 [Max FOV is recommended in fast-paced games like OW 2]
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Dynamic Render Scale: Off [This setting is basically dynamic resolution, and we don’t need this to influence our resolution]
• Render Scale: Custom
• In-Game Resolution: 100% [Reducing this will cause the game to look blurry]
• Frame Rate: Custom
• Maximum Frame Rate: Depends on the Refresh Rate of your Monitor [Set it to 144 if you have a 144hz monitor]
• Vsync: Off [Why would I want to deliberately cap my framerate]
• Triple Buffering: Off [Never turn it on. Triple buffering adds latency and is used for smoother-looking Vsync. Furthermore, this setting essentially gives you 3 frames of input lag]
• Reduce Buffering: On [Overwatch 2 defaults to 1 frame of input lag. Reduce buffering eliminates that 1 frame at the cost of FPS, which in itself has an effect on your input lag. So unless your PC is struggling hard, keep this on]
• Nvidia Reflex: Enabled + Boost [Reduces delay by a huge margin. Use this, only if you are using some similar to the GTX 1660. GTX 1050 Ti users, you can disable this]
• Go to ‘Graphics Quality’
• Graphics Quality: Medium
• High Quality Upsampling: AMD FSR 1.0 [Adds a nice touch of sharpening to the visuals. Makes things look clearer]
• Image Sharpening: 0.30
• Texture Quality: Medium [I noticed no difference between “Low” and “Medium”. But setting this to “High” did affect performance]
• Texture Filtering Quality: Low – 1X [The good thing about the art style of Overwatch is that, you can set everything to the lowest possible setting, and the game still won’t look bad. This allows you to get high fps without sacrificing much in the visual department]
• Local FOG Detail: Low [Trust me, amidst all the action, you won’t even get time to notice the difference. OG OW players know]
• Dynamic Reflections: Off [Reflections tend to be heavy, and they have no place in PvP titles]
• Shadow Detail: Low [Now, if it was one of those PvP games, where you can actually spot the shadows of your enemies, and track them, then I would have asked you to set this to a higher setting. But, Overwatch is not that kind of game]
• Model Detail: Medium [Model Detail affects the details of the models of your opponents, as well. So, I cannot set this to ‘Low’, as you might not even be able to recognize what characters your opponents are using]
• Effects Details: Low [You will be seeing a ton of effects on your screen. “Low” is perfect in this case]
• Lighting Quality: Medium [Personal preference. Doesn’t affect performance]
• Antialias Quality: Low – FXAA [After trying FXAA, and all the different variations of SMAA. I will say, that I find FXAA to be the best AA setting here]
• Refraction Quality: Low [Controls the quality of light bending effects for semi-transparent surfaces. The Shield of Reinhardt is a good example. Turning this setting to high will allow the shield to look more tangible as it will handle light elements much more realistically. Shouldn’t have a huge impact on FPS]
• Screenshot Quality: 1X Resolution [This setting affects the quality of screenshots that you take in-game]
• Ambient Occlusion: Low [Adds soft shadows to crevices and objects that are in proximity to one another, improving image quality]
• Local Reflections: Off [As I told you, I don’t like reflections in PvP games, as they tend to have high impact on the performance]
• Damage FX: Default [Personal preference]
• Go to ‘Details’
• Display Performance Stats: On
• Show Framerate: On
• Show Network Latency: On

Specifications of Test system

I decided to test Overwatch 2 on an entry-level GPU like the GTX 1650, because I believe is, running a game on a medium-end gaming rig is the best thing to do if you want to find out the best combination of graphics settings for the game. There is no point in running benchmarks on gaming rigs with high or enthusiast-level graphics cards like the RTX 3080s, 3090s, RX 6800 XTs, etc. Because, let’s be honest, every single game will run smoothly on an RTX 3080.

We all know what the GPU market is like at the moment. How many users are really sitting with those GPUs? According to the latest Steam Hardware Survey, the top 5 most used GPUs at the moment are GTX 1060, 1050ti, 1650, RTX 2060, and GTX 1050. Anyway, let’s move on to the performance analysis.

Overwatch 2 – Performance Analysis [Updated October 9, 2022]

I tested the game on 4 GPUs, in total. Which includes the GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1650, RTX 3060 Ti, and the RTX 3070. And I don’t remember experiencing any sort of hiccups. Overwatch has always been a well-optimized title. So, this wasn’t really a shock to me. Though, I was expecting the GTX 1050 Ti to struggle a bit. But that GPU didn’t disappoint at all. I was easily getting more than 100 FPS, all the time, using the settings given above.

Overwatch 2 is one of the most optimized games I have witnessed this year. Even with all the action that goes on the screen, all at the same time, this game seldom starts showing fps issues. I have already put out a video running this on 1440p at ultra settings on the RTX 3060 ti, and it runs flawlessly. Check out the video:

Now, for people thinking, about how the game looks when running on the graphics settings recommended in this article, here is how it looks:

And, if you want to check out the performance of Overwatch 2 at maxed-out settings, then I have run the game on an RTX 3060 Ti. Check it out:

For more Overwatch 2 Guides, keep an eye on Frondtech! Happy Gaming!

That’s all, folks!

Last Updated on December 29, 2023

Shoaib

Shoaib, 30, is a simple guy who loves to play video games, and enjoys new cuisines sporadically. He has been gaming since he was 7 years old, and with an experience of 22 years, under his belt, there is not a single AAA game in this world, that he hasn’t played. Despite being a MBA Graduate he decided to follow his passion. And because of his love for gaming, Frondtech came into existence.