Ideal GFX Settings

[OriginalGrubby]

So I've got a fairly mid range PC, and can run the game at 1440p on high with no issues, though I've noticed my fans are going full tilt when I run the game. If I alt tab things go back to normal.

Checking iCUE it looks like my GPU is getting up around 85 degrees with 100% load. While this isn't a huge deal, it would be nice to lower those temps a bit.

Outside of changing the resolution, any suggestions on which settings to adjust that won't end up making the game look like a bowl of sick, but will help lower these temps?

Specs:
7800X3D
Deepcool Gammax 240mm AIO
ASUS 3070 Dual
32GB 6000 m/t's mem
Game loaded on 990 Pro
Case is a Lancool II with 8 case fans

Yes, 8 fans is overkill, but I've found having more fans spinning at a lower RPM will move just as much air and keep things just as cool than having 5 fans spinning at a higher RPM. It also makes it near silent when doing most things. It's really only been X4, DCS, and FS2024 that have really gotten the fans to ramp up.

Thanks!

[Jakaya]

Hi, I'm running the game at 3440 x 1440 at 140Hz, so I'm not sure how this will look on lower resolutions, but my game looks great. The reason I'm stating this is due to the lack of AA. For other users with lower resolutions, a little bit may help, but note that AA can be really performance-heavy, especially in combination with volumetric fog.

My Graphics Settings:

Display:

• AA: None
  
• Upscaling: None
  
• Nvidia DLSS: Off
  
• VSync: On
  
• Colour Correction: Off
  
• Gamma: 80
  
• FOV: 90

Graphics Quality:

• Texture Quality: High
  
• Shadows: High
  
• Soft Shadows: On
  
• SSAO: High
  
• Glow Quality: High
  
• UI Glow Quality: High
  
• UI Glow Intensity: 100
  
• Chromatic Aberration: On
  
• Distortion: On
  
• Parallax: High
  
• LOD: 100
  
• Effect Distance: 100

Reflections & Fog:

• Radar: High
  
• Screen Space Reflection: Medium
  
• Reflection Probes: High
  
• Volumetric Fog: High
  
• Cockpit Glass: 100

So this may not be comparable, as I have 6 fans on the front with a 360mm radiator for liquid cooling of the CPU, and the GPU is vented through a 260mm. Max temp is 65°C max 40% for the RPM.

[Mowglia]

Originally posted by OriginalGrubby:

So I've got a fairly mid range PC, and can run the game at 1440p on high with no issues, though I've noticed my fans are going full tilt when I run the game. If I alt tab things go back to normal.

...

Outside of changing the resolution, any suggestions on which settings to adjust that won't end up making the game look like a bowl of sick, but will help lower these temps?

7800X3D isn't mid range. People say X4 is CPU heavy, so the 7800X3D is a good start :)

Obviously it's your GPU, and I'm not sure what can be done about that.

Just as an observation, I use an RTX 4090 and the fans still spin up hard sometimes - I doubt there's any stopping it completely on X4. Got no idea what my temps are, but even I'm worried my PC is gonna turn into a molten blob in summer playing games like X4.

If you play on a very small monitor/TV you could try anti-aliasing off, but considering you're concerned about the game looking bad then I'm going to assume graphical fidelity is something of a priority.

I can't recommend much that is going to help, but there are a couple of things.

1. Set volumetric fog to low; I would never have it higher than that.

2. You could try downloading the latest version of "nvngx_dlss.dll" so you're using DLSS 4 (kinda). Just name the original file "nvngx_dlss.dll.backup" and move the new file to the same directory.

Obviously set DLSS on, and then to something like "performance", and see what happens.

You can't force DLSS 4 on X4 from the Nvidia app yet, at least not outside of changing config files, but there are ways to do it.

You could use Nvidia Inspector or DLSS Swapper (or perhaps both) to force Transformer mode K. This will flag you in some anti-cheat engines, so maybe look into that before you do it (if it's a concern).

I have no idea whether the devs plan to update X4 for DLSS 4, and if so what their timeframe would be, but you can try it this way if you're curious.

I mean all we're trying to do here is get better performance/clarity, so you've got some headroom to dial other things back, and hopefully get the temps down a bit. I have no idea if this would actually work.

Anyway, if you (or anyone else) wants to try it, this guy made a pretty straightforward video explaining how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxN6qesUgN8