Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings (2026)

The best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC settings come down to one slider: Texture Pool Size. Set it to match your VRAM (Low or Medium on 8 GB cards, High on 12 GB, Ultra or higher on 16 GB and up), use DLSS, FSR or XeSS on Quality, keep Shadow Quality one step below maximum on 8 GB GPUs, and only enable path tracing on a 16 GB card from the RTX 4070 Ti Super class upward. Most other settings cost very little; PCOptimizedSettings measured just a 7% frame-rate gap between the Low and Supreme presets on an RTX 4090, so the game rewards smart memory management far more than slider-slashing.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle runs on id Software’s id Tech 7 engine, the same family behind Doom Eternal, and MachineGames built it with hardware ray tracing as a baseline. That makes it unusual: every PC needs a ray-tracing-capable GPU, but the game runs smoothly on modest hardware once VRAM limits are respected. This guide explains the real menu options, gives recommended settings for entry, mid and high-end GPUs, covers path tracing and its costs, and attributes every performance figure to the outlet that measured it.

Verdict at a glance

• Best overall setup: High or Ultra preset, Texture Pool Size matched to VRAM, DLSS or FSR Quality, path tracing off.
• Best for 8 GB GPUs: Medium Texture Pool Size at 1080p (Low if you see stutter), Shadow Quality Medium, Hair Quality Low, no frame generation.
• Best for path tracing: 16 GB GPU or more, Full Ray Tracing with Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Quality or Balanced plus Frame Generation.
• Biggest single risk: setting Texture Pool Size higher than your VRAM can handle, which causes sudden frame-rate collapses.
• Setting you can max for free: most effects, including Volumetrics and Decal Rendering Distance, cost only a frame or two per PCOptimizedSettings.

Official system requirements

Every tier lists “GPU Hardware Ray Tracing Required”. Cards without RT hardware, such as the GTX 10 and 16 series and Radeon RX 5000 series, cannot launch the game.

The game requires an SSD. Players report that the path tracing option does not appear in the menu at all on GPUs with less than 12 GB of VRAM.

Understanding Texture Pool Size

This is the setting that confuses most players. Indiana Jones does not have a conventional Texture Quality option. Instead, Texture Pool Size reserves a block of VRAM for streaming textures. A bigger pool keeps more high-resolution textures resident at a distance; a smaller pool streams lower-detail versions for faraway objects. Close to the camera, textures look sharp at nearly every setting.

One RTX 5080 owner on the Steam forums summed it up: even at Medium, textures around the player still look good, because the setting controls pool size rather than texture quality. Another player reported Medium gives normal VRAM usage with almost no visible difference unless you play at 4K and inspect distant details.

How much VRAM the game uses

PCOptimizedSettings recorded up to 15 GB at 4K Supreme without path tracing, about 13 GB with the texture pool lowered to Very Ultra, and under 12.5 GB at Ultra. Even 1080p and 1440p used over 13 GB at Supreme. With path tracing, usage rose to 17 GB at native 1440p, 16 GB with DLSS upscaling and 19 GB with frame generation; at 4K the figures were 18.6 GB, 17 GB and 20 GB. Upscaling reduces memory use by roughly 1 GB, while frame generation adds about the same amount back.

What each setting costs

PCOptimizedSettings measured individual settings on an RTX 4090 with a Core i9-12900K. Deltia’s Gaming identified Texture Pool Size, Shadow Quality, Decal Rendering Distance, Reflection Quality, Volumetrics and, surprisingly, Hair Quality as the settings with the most effect on performance and memory, especially on mid-range cards.

PCOptimizedSettings explains the path tracing levels: Full enables ray-traced sun shadows, reflections and indirect global illumination; High drops the path-traced indirect lighting; Medium also drops the path-traced reflections. The game is predominantly GPU-bound, and the outlet observed only about 1% CPU-related deviation even at 1080p.

Recommended settings by GPU tier

Entry-level GPUs (8 GB)

Entry cards are where results vary most, largely because testers used different Texture Pool Size values. Windows Central measured the RTX 4060 8 GB at 56 fps on the Ultra preset at 1080p and 72 fps with DLSS, while the RTX 3060 12 GB reached 66 fps and 86 fps. ComputerBase, as reported in a ResetEra thread, saw the RTX 4060 and RX 7600 at only about 30 fps at 1080p even after lowering textures, because they ran out of VRAM. The difference between those results is memory management.

Start with the Medium preset, Texture Pool Size Medium, Shadow Quality Medium and Hair Quality Low, and use DLSS or FSR on Quality. If you see texture artefacts or sudden stutter, drop Texture Pool Size to Low. PCOptimizedSettings found that at 1440p, an RTX 4060 class card averaged 61 fps with DLSS Performance after lowering shadows, reflections and water to High.

Reasons to pick this setup: stable 60 fps at 1080p with textures that still look sharp up close.

Reasons to skip: a 12 GB RTX 3060 can run High texture pool and higher shadows.

The catch: frame generation is impractical on 8 GB cards because it adds around 1 GB of VRAM use.

Mid-range GPUs (12-16 GB)

The recommended specification targets this tier: RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB or RX 7700 XT 12 GB for 1440p High at 60 fps. Modern mid-range cards beat that comfortably. On 12 GB cards, keep Texture Pool Size at High and avoid combining Supreme with frame generation, which can trigger massive performance drops on cards like the RTX 4070 Super at 1440p. On 16 GB cards such as the RX 9070 or RTX 5070 Ti, Ultra texture pool is safe.

Reasons to pick: near-maximum visuals at high frame rates.

Reasons to skip: path tracing on 12 GB cards forces too many compromises to be worth it.

The catch: 12 GB cards sit right on the edge at 1440p High, so watch VRAM use after big patches.

High-end GPUs and path tracing

Path tracing transforms the lighting but costs heavily. PCOptimizedSettings measured an RTX 4090 dropping from 90 fps to 38.6 fps at 4K Supreme with Full path tracing. The outlet recommends a 16 GB GPU starting with the RTX 4070 Ti Super for path tracing. One RTX 5080 owner reported 90-100 fps in the Vatican at 4K with Texture Pool Size Medium, Shadows High, everything else maxed including path tracing, Ray Reconstruction on, DLSS Quality and 2x frame generation, using about 15.9 GB of VRAM.

Reasons to pick: the most realistic lighting in the game, with ray-traced shadows, reflections and bounce light.

Reasons to skip: if you want high refresh frame rates without frame generation, rasterised Supreme looks excellent and runs far faster.

The catch: on 16 GB cards you must lower Texture Pool Size to make room for path tracing, which is a trade worth making.

Practical tips

• Leave about 10% of VRAM free; the game becomes unstable when the pool overflows.
• Update GPU drivers before playing; id Tech titles are sensitive to driver versions.
• Install on an SSD, which is required.
• Do not force a higher texture pool through config files on 8 GB laptops; players report the game refuses to start.
• Use DLSS Ray Reconstruction with path tracing on GeForce cards for cleaner reflections and lighting.
• Native resolution gives the best ray-traced global illumination quality, so on very fast GPUs DLAA is worth trying.

Upscaler choice by GPU

Laptops and handheld PCs

Laptop GPUs often carry less VRAM than their desktop equivalents, which makes Texture Pool Size even more important. Owners of RTX 4060 laptops report the setting locked to Medium at 1080p with DLSS Quality, and PCOptimizedSettings found the RTX 4060 laptop GPU delivered similar results to the desktop card at 1080p only with the texture pool lowered and DLSS on Balanced. Plug in the charger, select the performance power profile, and confirm the game runs on the dedicated GPU. On handheld PCs with RDNA 3 integrated graphics, the game is below its minimum specification, so expect low settings, aggressive upscaling and modest frame rates.

Quick tuning checklist

1. Update your GPU driver and the game.
2. Pick the preset for your tier from the table above.
3. Set Texture Pool Size for your VRAM and keep about 10% free.
4. Turn on DLSS, FSR or XeSS at Quality.
5. On 8 GB cards, lower Shadow Quality to Medium and Hair Quality to Low.
6. Enable path tracing only on 16 GB high-end cards, then lower the texture pool to make room.
7. Add frame generation only when you have VRAM to spare.

Common mistakes

• Treating Texture Pool Size like a texture quality slider. Higher values do not make close-up textures sharper; they only use more memory.
• Enabling frame generation on 8 GB cards. It adds VRAM use and causes stutter.
• Lowering every setting to Low. The preset gap is small; you lose visuals for little gain.
• Trying to run the game without an RT-capable GPU. It is a hard requirement.
• Running Supreme pool plus path tracing plus frame generation on a 16 GB card. That combination can exceed 19 GB.

Products Mentioned in This Guide

These are specific models from the VRAM, GPU tier and system requirement advice discussed above for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G (REV2.0) Graphics Card, 3X WINDFORCE Fans, 12GB 192-bit GDDR6, GV-N3060 Video Card

Included for 'Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings' as a representative home product in this roundup; selection reflects the product set returned for this topic.

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An entry-tier card whose 12GB of VRAM allows a High Texture Pool Size, which is why it beat the 8GB RTX 4060 in some of the tests cited above.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5070 Gaming OC 12G

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5070 Gaming OC 12G Graphics Card, 12GB 192-bit GDDR7, PCIe 5.0, WINDFORCE Cooling System, GV-N5070GAMING OC-12GD Video Card

Included for 'Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings' because the listing adds cooling or gel-infused layers, which is the attribute this article compares.

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A mid-range pick for the High or Ultra preset with DLSS Quality and a High Texture Pool Size at 1440p.

GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC 16G

GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC 16G Graphics Card, PCIe 5.0, 16GB GDDR6, GV-R9070XTGAMING OC-16GD Video Card

Included for 'Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings' as a representative home product in this roundup; selection reflects the product set returned for this topic.

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Listed in the high-end column; its 16GB of VRAM fits the Ultra to Supreme Texture Pool Size range with FSR 4 Quality.

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming OC 16G

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming OC 16G Graphics Card, WINDFORCE Cooling System, 16GB 256-bit GDDR7, GV-N5080GAMING OC-16GD Video Card

Included for 'Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings' because the listing adds cooling or gel-infused layers, which is the attribute this article compares.

View on Amazon →

A 16GB high-end card for the path tracing setup: Full Ray Tracing with Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Quality or Balanced and Frame Generation.

CORSAIR Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2 x 16GB) 6000MHz

CORSAIR Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2 x 16GB) Up to 6000MHz AMD Intel RAM

Included for 'Best Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC Settings' as a representative home product in this roundup; selection reflects the product set returned for this topic.

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The recommended and full ray tracing tiers both list 32 GB of system RAM.

How we compared

We compared settings using the official system requirements, independent measurements from PCOptimizedSettings, Windows Central, ComputerBase and Digital Foundry, analysis from Deltia’s Gaming, and owner reports from the Steam community. We did not bench-run these settings ourselves. Per-setting costs come from PCOptimizedSettings’ RTX 4090 testing and are larger on 8 GB hardware where VRAM is the limit.

Sources

• Bethesda and MachineGames: official PC system requirements
• PCOptimizedSettings: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle settings optimization guide, including path tracing and low-end GPU guides
• Digital Foundry: Indiana Jones PC analysis and ray tracing breakdown
• Windows Central: RTX 4060 VRAM performance coverage
• ComputerBase (via ResetEra PC performance thread)
• Deltia’s Gaming: Indiana Jones PC optimization guide
• Guru3D, Tom’s Hardware and PCGamesN: system requirement and ray tracing hardware coverage
• Steam community discussions on Texture Pool Size and path tracing

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Texture Pool Size do in Indiana Jones?

It reserves VRAM for streaming textures. Higher values keep more distant textures sharp but use more memory; close-up textures look good at most settings.

What Texture Pool Size should I use on 8 GB?

Medium at 1080p, as Digital Foundry recommends. Drop to Low if you see stutter or texture artefacts.

Can I play without a ray tracing GPU?

No. Every tier of the official requirements lists hardware ray tracing as required.

Why is path tracing missing from my menu?

Players report it is hidden on GPUs with less than 12 GB of VRAM. The official full ray tracing minimum is an RTX 4070 12 GB.

How much does path tracing cost?

PCOptimizedSettings measured an RTX 4090 falling from 90 fps to 38.6 fps at 4K Supreme with Full path tracing.

Is the game CPU-heavy?

No. PCOptimizedSettings found it predominantly GPU-bound, with about 1% CPU-related deviation even at 1080p.

Should I use frame generation?

On 16 GB and larger cards with path tracing, yes. On 8 GB cards, no, because it adds about 1 GB of VRAM use.

Why does the RTX 3060 12 GB beat the RTX 4060 in some tests?

Because of VRAM. Windows Central measured the 3060 12 GB ahead of the 4060 8 GB at 1080p Ultra, since the 4060 runs short of memory.