iRacing Graphics & FPS – Scottozy’s Recommended Settings

This guide is designed to help you get smooth, stable framerates in iRacing while still keeping very good visual quality. The exact “best” settings depend on your PC, but the principles below work for most modern systems.

The goal is simple: see the cars and track clearly, with no stutters, even in big fields and bad weather.

1. Decide Your Target FPS

Before changing anything, decide what you are aiming for:

  • 144 Hz monitor (for example 3840×1080 @ 144 Hz): aim for 120–144 FPS.
  • 60–75 Hz monitor: aim for a locked 60–75 FPS.
  • VR headsets: usually want 80–120 FPS depending on the headset.

A steady 90 FPS will always feel better than 200 FPS that keeps dropping to 60.

2. Basic iRacing Graphics Settings – Recommended Starting Point

Open iRacing and go to Options → Graphics. Use these as a good starting point, then fine-tune later.

Screen & Resolution

  • Resolution: Set to your monitor’s native resolution (e.g. 3840×1080).
  • Refresh rate: Match your monitor (e.g. 144 Hz).
  • Windowed / Fullscreen: Fullscreen or Borderless usually performs best.
  • V-Sync: Off for lowest input lag (only turn on if you get bad tearing).

Detail Settings (Good Balance)

  • Cars: High
  • Car Textures: High
  • Pit Objects: Medium
  • Grandstands: Medium
  • Crowds: Low or Off (easy performance gain)
  • Objects: High
  • Opponent Cars: Medium or High (depends on grid size)

Shadows & Lighting

  • Shadows: Medium
  • Shadow Maps: Medium
  • Headlight Strength: Medium
  • Environment / Track Detail: High
  • Shader Quality: High

Mirrors

  • Mirror Quality: Low or Medium
  • Number of Mirror Cars: 3–6 (more = more GPU load)

Mirrors are surprisingly expensive. If FPS is low in traffic, try reducing mirror cars first.

3. Advanced Options – Anti-Aliasing, Reflections, Particles

These options can look amazing but can also kill FPS if pushed too far. Here is a safe baseline.

Anti-Aliasing (AA)

  • AA Mode: 4x or 8x (start with 4x)
  • If image is still jaggy, consider adding a small amount of AA in the NVIDIA Control Panel instead of maxing it in iRacing.

Reflections

  • Mirror Reflections: Low or Medium
  • Track Reflections: Low
  • Car Reflections: Low

Reflections are one of the heaviest settings in iRacing. If FPS drops at night or in rain, lower these first.

Particles, Crowds & Extras

  • Particles: Medium
  • Particle Detail: Medium
  • Smoke: Medium
  • Crowds: Low or Off
  • Sharpening / Post-Processing: Low or Off if you want maximum clarity & FPS.

4. What to Lower First If FPS Is Too Low

If your FPS is not hitting your target, change one thing at a time so you can see what actually helps.

Problem Things to Lower First
FPS drops mainly in heavy traffic
  • Number of Opponent Cars
  • Mirror Cars
  • Car Detail / Car Textures
FPS drops at night or rain
  • Shadows & Shadow Maps
  • Reflections (Track / Car / Mirror)
  • Headlights / Effects
General stutters everywhere
  • Crowds & Grandstands
  • Object Detail
  • Particles & Smoke
GPU usage 99% all the time
  • Anti-Aliasing (AA)
  • Resolution scale (if using)
  • Reflections

5. Example Setup – Ultrawide 3840×1080 @ 144 Hz

Here is a sample configuration that works well for a mid-to-high end PC with an ultrawide 3840×1080 monitor and a modern NVIDIA GPU:

  • Resolution: 3840×1080
  • Refresh Rate: 144 Hz
  • V-Sync: Off
  • Cars: High
  • Car Textures: High
  • Objects: High
  • Grandstands: Medium
  • Crowds: Low or Off
  • Shadows: Medium
  • Shadow Maps: Medium
  • Reflections: Low
  • Mirror Cars: 4–6
  • AA: 4x
  • Particles & Smoke: Medium

From here, you can slowly increase visuals until you get close to your target FPS, or decrease a few heavy settings if you race in full 30+ car grids all the time.

6. Checking Performance In-Game

In iRacing you can see important performance info directly on screen:

  • Press F to show the frame rate meter.
  • Watch for big drops or “red” values when the grid is full.
  • Use a test session with AI cars to simulate a busy race start.

If the sim is smooth there, it will usually be smooth in real races too.

7. Windows & NVIDIA Control Panel Tips

A few system tweaks can help keep your FPS more stable:

Windows

  • Set Windows Power Plan to High Performance or equivalent.
  • Close unnecessary background apps (browsers, launchers, etc.).
  • Make sure your graphics drivers are reasonably up to date.

NVIDIA Control Panel (Simple Tips)

  • Set Power management mode to Prefer maximum performance for iRacing.
  • Set Low Latency Mode to On or Ultra if you prefer lower input lag.
  • Do not force very high levels of additional Anti-Aliasing here unless you have headroom.

8. Official iRacing Documentation

iRacing’s own manuals and help pages change over time. For the very latest official information, please refer to:

  • The iRacing User Manual in the iRacing UI.
  • The iRacing forum for graphics and hardware discussions.
  • Patch notes and release documents after each new build.

This page is meant to be a practical, real-world guide. Use it as your baseline, then tweak to suit your PC and driving style.