DOOM: The Dark Ages brings the most thrilling and fast-paced action set in a grim medieval world. To enjoy the game settings at their peak, modifying the right settings based on your device plays a crucial part. Whether you are playing on a powerful PC build or on the portable Steam Deck, adjusting graphics and performance options can make a huge difference in graphics, resolution, and VFX. The guide below will help you choose the best DOOM: The Dark Ages for both PC as well as Steam Deck, so that you can play your game smoothly without any lag or distractions.
How to optimize Doom: The Dark Ages settings for PC and Steam Deck
Best Settings for PC (High-End to Mid-Range Systems)
BEST Optimization Guide | Doom: The Dark Ages | Max FPS | Best Settings
For PC, the main goal is to achieve smooth gameplay while enjoying stunning graphics.
To achieve a balance between performance and visuals, consider the following graphics settings for PC:
- Resolution: Use 1920x1080 (Full HD) or 2560x1440 (QHD).
- Refresh Rate: Match monitor maximum.
- V-Sync: Turn it off if you want to reduce input lag.
- Graphics Preset: Set to High or Ultra, depending on your GPU, for a detailed environment.
- DLSS Super Resolution: Quality
- DLSS Frame Generation: 2x
- Nvidia Reflex Mode: On
- Motion Blur: On
- Motion Blur Amount: Low
- Motion Blur Quality: High
- Shadow Quality: High
- Reflections Quality: High
- Chromatic Aberration: On
- Depth of Field: On
- Sharpening: 1.50
- Light Quality: High
The setting mentioned above provides a smooth gameplay experience for most PCs with a base NVIDIA GTX 1660 or RTX series GPU and AMD alternatives.
Best Steam Deck Settings
The Steam Deck always has a limited graphics setting; focusing on performance is our main key. We need to maintain 40-60 fps for better gameplay.
- Resolution: 1280x800 (native Steam Deck resolution)
- VSync: Off
- Present From Compute: On
- Field of View: 90
- Graphics Preset: Set it from Low to Medium.
- Anti-Aliasing: FXAA
- Texture Quality: Medium
- Motion Blur Amount: Low
- Motion Blur Quality: Low
- Shadow Quality: Low
- Reflections Quality: Low
- Lights Quality: Low
- Particles Quality: Low
- Decal Quality: Low
- Water Quality: Low
- Ambient Occlusion: Off
- Framerate Cap: 40 FPS (using SteamOS performance overlay)
- FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR): On (for improved image quality)
Adjusting these settings ensures smoother performance while preserving visual quality on the smaller screen. Currently, Doom: The Dark Ages does not run well on the Steam Deck, but it is playable if you can get it to launch. Once the system requirements were released and it became clear that the game would require a ray-tracing GPU. An 8GB VRAM card as the minimum requirement is also a push for the handheld.
Tuning DOOM: The Dark Ages settings for your platform enhances both gameplay and immersion. High-end PCs benefit from ultra settings and high frame rates, while the Steam Deck performs best with optimized low-to-medium presets. By fine-tuning resolution, graphics details, and performance options, players can enjoy a responsive and visually stunning DOOM experience on any hardware.