Vortex Gaming

· Before starting optimization, back up your current settings so you can restore them if problems arise.
· Completely reset the game to default settings to resolve bugs and compatibility issues.
· Right-click Rust in your Steam library, go to 'Properties', then disable 'Steam Cloud'.
· In the 'Installed Files' tab, click 'Browse' to navigate to the Rust installation folder, then copy the 'cfg' folder to your desktop.
· To reset game settings, delete all files within the 'cfg' folder. This will reset all settings, key bindings, and commands.
· After deleting files, return to Rust settings in Steam and click the 'Verify integrity of game files' button to restore game files.
· To restore previous settings, drag the backed-up 'cfg' folder back into the Rust folder and replace the files.

· In audio settings, turn off music volume to focus on the game.
· Set Field of View to maximum to see more of what's happening at the screen edges.
· Disable 'Head Bob' and 'Hurt Punch' options to prevent screen shake when running, picking up items, or taking damage.
· If game tips are distracting, you can turn them off.
· Change Nudity settings to 'Underwear'.
· Disable all settings except 'Show Blood'. Turning off 'Show Blood' makes it difficult to perceive when you've taken damage.
· In the Physics tab, set 'Max Gibs' to 0, then open the F1 console and enter 'effects.maxgibs -1'. This removes particles generated when destroying building blocks or deployables, allowing you to instantly see inside during a raid.
· Disable all RGB settings.
· In the Audio tab, set Master Volume higher than Game Sound Volume to better hear headshot sounds. (e.g., Master 0.8, Game Sound 0.6 or 0.7)
· Lower other sound settings to 0.2 to reduce distractions.
· In the User Interface (UI) tab, lower the UI Scale to take up less screen space, and change the crosshair to your preferred shape (dot preferred).
· Enable 'Hide text while in ADS' to prevent text from being obscured while aiming down sights.
· In the Controls tab, only adjust mouse sensitivity and aim mouse sensitivity. It's common to set aim sensitivity to double your regular mouse sensitivity (e.g., mouse sensitivity 0.4, aim sensitivity 0.8, 800 DPI).
· In the Accessibility tab, change the tree marker color to orange to easily find trees even at night.

· In the Screen tab, set your resolution. Choose the highest resolution if you have a balanced CPU/GPU or a 2K/4K monitor. If you have a good CPU but a weak GPU, or use a 1080P monitor, lowering it to 1600x900 can increase FPS by over 50 with almost no noticeable difference in quality.
· Set Screen Mode to 'Fullscreen'.
· Set the FPS limit to match your monitor's refresh rate to reduce stuttering and make the game smoother.
· Disable VSync as it caps FPS.
· Turn off 'Limit FPS in background' and turn on 'Limit FPS in menu' to prevent unnecessary FPS consumption in menus.
· In the Graphics tab, set 'Render Scale' to 1. Setting it to the minimum will severely degrade game quality.
· If you need maximum FPS for PVP or have a low-spec PC, set 'Shader Level' to minimum to sacrifice quality for a 5% FPS boost. Otherwise, set it to 3 for more natural textures.
· Disable NVIDIA DLSS and NVIDIA DLAA.
· Enable 'NVIDIA Reflex Mode' to reduce input lag, and disable 'NVIDIA Reflex Latency Marker'.
· Set 'Pixel Light Count', 'Max Shadow Lights', and 'Particle Raycast Budget' to their minimum values. These settings are currently non-functional and only reduce FPS.
· Enable 'Soft Particles' to remove light around fires and sharpen the image (no FPS impact).
· Disable 'Clouds'. This is an unnecessary option that reduces FPS by about 20 when enabled.
· Set 'Draw Distance' to 1500. This is the optimal setting, allowing you to see as far as possible while maintaining FPS.
· 'Water Reflections' and 'Water Quality' consume a lot of FPS, so disable both.
· Always enable 'Grass Displacement'. It makes it easier to find weapons or items in the grass and does not affect FPS.
· Disable 'Precise Terrain Billboards'.
· For Texture Quality, choose 'Quarter Resolution' if you need maximum FPS for PVP or have a very weak GPU. Otherwise, use 'Half Resolution' to improve quality (FPS drop is not significant).
· Disable both 'Anisotropic Filtering Mode' and 'Level'.
· The 'Parallax Mapping' setting does not work in the game and reduces FPS, so disable it.
· Set Shadow Quality to 'Medium'. Entering 'graphics.shadowmode 2' in the F1 console sharpens shadows without FPS loss. If your GPU memory is less than 4GB, set it to 'Low'.
· Set 'Decor Quality', 'Grass Quality', and 'Terrain Quality' all to 0. These three settings can provide advantages in certain situations.
· Set 'Max Tree Meshes' to 100 and 'Tree Quality' to 125 for the best quality without FPS loss. If your GPU is very weak, set both to their minimum values.
· Set 'Object Quality' to 100. This allows you to see through tree branches and improves building textures.
· Set 'Lod Bias' to 1. Values lower than this prevent you from seeing distant animals or some objects, while higher values only reduce FPS.
· Set 'Particle Quality' to 0.
· In the Image Effects tab, you have two options. If you want beautiful images, use settings that add effects like shadows and sunlight (slight FPS loss). If you want maximum performance, use only minimal settings.
· For Anti-aliasing, you need to find the setting that works for you. In most cases, it's best to turn it off, but you can try FXAA anti-aliasing.
· In the Experimental tab, disable the first two settings and enable 'Automatic Processor Affinity'.
· Set 'GC Buffer' to maximum. Allocating more memory reduces stuttering when moving around the map.

· Press Win + R, type '%temp%', and delete temporary files. Clean this folder at least once a month to keep your system tidy.
· Empty the Recycle Bin to clean your system.
· Right-click 'This PC', go to 'Properties', then open 'Advanced system settings'.
· Open 'Performance Settings', go to the 'Advanced' tab, and change the 'Virtual memory' size.
· Set the initial and maximum size of virtual memory based on your RAM capacity. For example, for 32GB RAM, enter 32768MB. If you have free space on other drives, you can allocate additional memory to reduce lag and stuttering.

RAM Capacity	Virtual Memory (MB)
1GB	1024
2GB	2048
4GB	4096
8GB	8192
16GB	16384
32GB	32768
64GB	65536
128GB	131072

· Type 'Graphics settings' into the search bar, turn off the corresponding option, then add Rust to the graphics performance preference and select 'High performance' to save.
· Go to 'Game Mode settings', turn on Game Mode, and disable all Game Bar and capture-related settings.
· Disable mouse acceleration. Type 'Mouse settings' into the search bar, go to 'Additional mouse settings', then in the 'Pointer Options' tab, uncheck the 'Enhance pointer precision' checkbox and apply.

· Open the NVIDIA Control Panel.
· In the 'Adjust image settings' tab, drag the slider to 'Performance' instead of 'Quality'.
· In the 'Manage 3D settings' tab, select your graphics card for 'OpenGL rendering GPU'.
· Set 'Power management mode' to 'Prefer maximum performance'.
· In the 'Adjust desktop size and position' tab, select 'Full-screen', choose 'GPU scaling' instead of 'Display', and ensure the corresponding checkbox is selected.
· Select the highest refresh rate and click 'Apply' to save changes.

· Press the Start button, go to 'Settings', and open 'Windows Update'.
· Check for the latest updates, install them if necessary, and then restart your PC.
· After the update is complete, click the 'Pause updates' button multiple times to prevent Windows from automatically installing updates without your permission. This can cause FPS drops during gameplay.
· Update your NVIDIA drivers. Type 'NVIDIA' into the search bar, click 'Drivers', and if available drivers are found, download and install them.
· Save all settings and restart your PC to complete the optimization.