If you’re playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC with an RTX 30 or RTX 40 card, you can comfortably hit a smooth 60 FPS by combining the right preset with DLSS 4 and, optionally, Pico upscaling. Nixxes’ port ships with DLSS 4 (including Multi Frame Generation), AMD FSR 4, Intel XeSS 2, and Guerrilla’s Pico upscaler, so you have plenty of headroom even at 1440p and 4K.
In short: aim for High or Very High, use DLSS Quality or Balanced on RTX 30/40, enable Multi Frame Generation on RTX 40‑series if you want extra FPS, and treat Pico as a solid alternative when you prefer a softer look. With those pillars set, you can tweak a few heavy options (shadows, volumetrics, reflections) to lock your frame rate.
Quick setup: 60 FPS in 5 steps
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Set resolution to 1080p on RTX 3060/3060 Ti, 1440p on RTX 3070/3080/4070, and 4K on RTX 3080 Ti/3090/4080/4090.
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Choose the High preset for 1080p/1440p or Very High for stronger GPUs at 1440p/4K.
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Under Upscale Settings, pick DLSS and set it to Quality (or Balanced if you dip under 60 FPS).
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On RTX 40‑series, turn on DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation at 2x for extra headroom and enable NVIDIA Reflex.
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If you still see drops, lower Shadow Quality, Screen‑Space Reflections, and Volumetrics by one step before touching textures.
You can swap DLSS for Pico at any time; Pico works on all supported GPUs and can be combined with frame generation, but tends to run slightly slower and look softer than DLSS based on early testing.
What the official specs tell you
Sony and Nixxes outline clear targets for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC: 1080p60 at Medium, 1440p60 at High, and 4K60 at Very High, all with 16 GB RAM and modern 6–8 core CPUs. Third‑party breakdowns line up with this, putting RTX 3070‑class GPUs at 1440p High and RTX 4080‑class hardware at 4K Very High for stable 60 FPS.
That means:
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RTX 3060 / 3060 Ti: great 1080p60 High candidate, 1440p if you lean on DLSS.
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RTX 3070 / 3070 Ti / 4070: 1440p60 High or Very High with DLSS Quality or Balanced.
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RTX 3080 / 4070 Ti: 1440p60 Very High or entry‑level 4K60 with Balanced/Performance upscaling.
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RTX 3080 Ti / 3090 / 4080 / 4090: 4K60 Very High with DLSS Quality and frame generation if you want more than 60 FPS.
Because the port is tuned to be relatively friendly even to mid‑range hardware, you’re usually turning things down for consistency, not just for raw survival.
DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation explained
On PC, Death Stranding 2 supports DLSS Super Resolution and DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation on compatible RTX GPUs. DLSS Super Resolution runs on all RTX cards, while DLSS 4 frame generation is enabled for newer GeForce RTX hardware, and NVIDIA Reflex can be toggled to reduce end‑to‑end system latency.
For a 60 FPS target:
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On RTX 30‑series:
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Use DLSS Quality at 1080p/1440p as your default, switch to Balanced or Performance only if you’re dipping under 60.
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Leave frame generation off; standard DLSS already gives you a sizable uplift.
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On RTX 40‑series:
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Start with DLSS Quality and 2x frame generation at 1440p or 4K; this smooths out busy scenes and keeps cutscenes fluid.
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If input latency feels off, you can enable Reflex and experiment with lower FG multipliers or turn FG off for more competitive play.
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NVIDIA confirms you can also upgrade DLSS Super Resolution to DLSS 4.5 through the NVIDIA app overrides, which can reduce shimmering and sharpen the image further if you’re sensitive to reconstruction artifacts.
A practical example: on a 1440p RTX 4070 build, DLSS Quality plus 2x Multi Frame Generation lets you keep Very High settings while rarely dropping under a perceived 60 FPS, even in weather‑heavy regions.
How Pico upscaling fits into the picture
Pico (Progressive Image Compositor) is the in‑engine upscaler built for the Decima engine and used on PS5, now exposed as an option on PC. The PlayStation Blog confirms Pico can be used on all supported GPUs and combined with the game’s frame generation modes, regardless of vendor.
Early PC performance testing finds:
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Pico Quality/Balanced/Performance profiles deliver FPS close to their DLSS equivalents but are on average about 5% slower than DLSS.
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DLSS Quality looks sharper and more detailed, while Pico Quality is noticeably softer and more forgiving.
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Some testers have run into occasional crashes when rapidly switching Pico presets, so it’s worth applying a setting and restarting if you see instability.
For RTX 30/40 players, that leads to a simple rule of thumb:
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Use DLSS when you want the sharpest image and best performance.
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Use Pico when you prefer a more console‑like, softer image or are troubleshooting visual artifacts.
Specific settings to turn down first
Once you’ve picked your preset and upscaler, the last step is shaving off the worst offenders without making the game look flat. Death Stranding and Death Stranding 2 share similar performance characteristics here.
If you’re still dipping below 60 FPS:
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Lower Shadow Quality from Very High to High: this usually frees a noticeable chunk of GPU time with minimal visual impact during normal play.
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Reduce Ambient Occlusion / Global Illumination by one step instead of turning it off outright.
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Drop Screen‑Space Reflections to Medium or High, which keeps surfaces convincing while cutting back on the heaviest ray‑marching.
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Turn down Volumetric effects and weather detail in stages; these can hit both GPU and CPU in busy storms.
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Keep Texture Quality high if you have 8 GB or more VRAM, which matches the recommended spec and avoids muddy assets.
From real play, a balanced 1440p RTX 3070 build might look like: High preset, DLSS Quality, Shadow Quality on High, reflections on High, and volumetrics one notch down, giving you a clean 60 FPS feel with only minor visual concessions.
Is DLSS 4 plus Pico “worth it” for most players?
For most RTX 30/40 owners, the combination of DLSS 4 and the game’s generous presets makes Death Stranding 2 an easy 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, and very manageable at 4K with a stronger card. DLSS Quality is the default recommendation if you care about image clarity, while Pico is a good option if you enjoy the softer PS5 look or are running on non‑RTX hardware on the same PC.
The trade‑offs are straightforward:
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DLSS: best sharpness and performance on RTX GPUs, minor reconstruction artifacts in motion.
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Pico: slightly slower and softer, but more consistent with the console presentation and available across vendors.
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Frame Generation: big FPS boost on newer RTX hardware but comes with extra latency and occasionally lower 1% lows, so it’s ideal for cinematic exploration, not for twitch play.
