Cities: Skylines 2 – Best Settings [High FPS & Performance]

Learn everything there is about the performance issues in Cities Skyline 2 and the best settings to ensure a stable experience.

Reports suggest that Cities Skylines 2 is not performing as expected on PC. Initially, you will encounter challenges in achieving a consistent gaming experience, but I have found the Best Settings in Cities Skylines 2 for both graphics and gameplay to achieve consistent FPS.

I’ve tested Cities: Skylines 2 on the following PC specifications:

  • CPU: Core-i5 12400f
  • GPU: RTX 4070
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4
  • Storage: 2.5TB SSD
  • Operating System: Windows 10
Key Takeaways
  • Cities Skylines 2 requires an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X for CPU, Nvidia GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 480 for GPU, and 8 GB of RAM to run.

The following settings put the most load on your PC affecting performance:

  • Depth of Field Mode
  • Motion Blur
  • Depth of Field Quality
  • Volumetric Quality Settings
  • Dynamic Resolution Scale Quality
  • Shadow Quality
  • Level of Detail

  • Cities Skylines 2 is reportedly facing performance challenges on PC, but developers Colossal Order have promised patches to improve the situation. Right now I recommend low to medium settings to run the game smoothly.

Cities Skylines 2 Best Settings

Basic Graphics Settings Cities Skylines 2
Basic Graphics Settings in Cities Skylines 2 [Image by eXputer]

Tip: I recommend waiting for Virtual Texturing to process after launching the Cities Skylines 2.

Here are the Best Settings you can apply to get the best performance in Cities Skylines 2:

Screen Resolution Native Resolution 
Display Mode Fullscreen
VSync Enabled
Depth of Field Mode Physical
Dynamic Resolution Scale Quality Automatic
Anti-aliasing quality High SMAA
Clouds Quality Settings High
Fog Quality Settings Enabled
Volumetric Quality Settings Disabled
Ambient Occlusion Quality  High
Global Illumination Quality High
Reflections Quality High
Depth of Field Quality Disabled
Motion Blur Disabled
Shadow Quality Disabled
Terrain Quality Settings High
Water Quality Settings High
Level of Detail Medium
Animation Quality High
Texture Quality Settings High

Wait For Virtual Texuturing To Process

Virtual Texuturing
Virtual Texuturing [Image Credit: eXputer]
This technology optimizes the usage of video memory for textures. Please be patient while these textures are being processed. While the Cities Skylines 2 is in the process of updating these textures, you might notice that the buildings appear dark or display some other graphical glitches. 

The duration it takes for your computer to apply the updated textures varies depending on your hardware, but typically, it doesn’t exceed one minute and often happens much faster. Hop into your city with the Best Settings in Cities Skylines 2 when Virtual Texturing is processed. 

Windows Optimization

These Windows settings might not give you a huge difference if you are on PC, but you will see an improvement of 2 to 8% in Cities Skylines 2 by changing some of these settings. However, if you are gaming on Laptop, you definitely need to tweak these settings for better performance in Cities Skylines 2

  1. Turn On Game Mode
  2. Switch To High-Performance Power Plan 
  3. Close Unnecessary Background Programs
  4. Using Dedicated GPU

For In-depth Info on How To Optimize Windows For Gaming, read our article.

Wrapping Up Cities: Skylines 2 Settings Guide

Before we wrap this guide up, here are some comparison images between different graphics settings of Cities: Skylines 2: 

  • Cities Skylines 2 Dynamic Resolution
    Dynamic Resolution

After pouring hours and effort into playing Cities Skylines 2, I found myself struggling with constant stutters and occasional FPS drops. But things turned around when I decided to tinker with the Cities Skylines 2 settings. Making those adjustments made a noticeable improvement in my gaming experience.

The developers, Colossal Order, increased the system requirements for the city-building sequel long before the launch of Cities Skylines 2.

However, more recently, they acknowledged that they didn’t reach the performance goal they were aiming for on PC. They’ve assured players of forthcoming patches to enhance Cities Skylines 2 performance.

You can even further improve Cities: Skylines 2 performance by checking out our Nvidia Control Panel settings guide and AMD Radeon’s best settings.

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Arham is a Guides Writer at eXputer with a penchant for exploring new realms in gaming. He loves conquering major AAA titles like Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, and Cyberpunk. He has also accumulated 300+ hours on Valorant! Arham is dedicated to aiding fellow gamers on their quests by curating guides through his personal experience. Feel free to get in touch with Arham on his gaming profiles on Steam and Xbox.

Experience: 1+ Years || Mainly Covers Guides.

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