While it might seem reasonable to enable every single graphics setting in a game (if your GPU supports it), some settings are better left alone. From visual distortions and post-processing effects to techniques aimed at minimizing artifacts, numerous settings ruin your gaming experience instead of improving it. Disabling them is almost always better, and you don't even need to worry about downgraded visuals, since many of these effects do little to add to the experience. As a bonus, you'll probably see an FPS boost in your games by disabling some of them, so it's a win-win in most cases.

VSync

We are not in sync with VSync

VSync, or vertical synchronization, is helpful in avoiding screen tearing in games. It works by capping your GPU's framerate to your monitor's refresh rate, so that it never outputs more frames than your monitor can render. This eliminates unwanted artifacts on the screen, but it also introduces input lag, making the game feel sluggish. Modern monitors have VRR technologies like FreeSync and G-Sync can replace VSync, taking care of screen tearing without a latency overhead. However, your game might still have VSync enabled in the graphics settings.

You can disable VSync to enjoy all the frames your GPU is sending your way. FreeSync or G-Sync, as applicable, will modulate your monitor's refresh rate to stay in line with the GPU's output, so screen tearing should not be a concern. You can also explore settings like Nvidia Reflex and AMD Anti-Lag to minimize the total latency. These settings are used to reduce render lag, i.e, the delay between the time a frame is generated and when it's displayed on the monitor.

Lens flare

No Michael Bay movies for me, please

Lens flare is one of those effects that can be subjective, but I believe it objectively comes in the way of my gaming experience. I feel most games overdo it by boosting almost every single point of bright light to make the scene more "cinematic." It's one thing to use it sparingly to convey select story beats, but a completely different thing to use it on every occasion possible. Besides, lens flare can also hamper visibility when you're trying to make out enemies or navigate your surroundings in a fast-paced situation. Disabling it will not make your game look dull by any means, and you'll probably not miss it. It's certainly one of the effects that made its way from movies to games, and isn't seen as much anymore. However, in the titles where it's present, make sure to get rid of it before you start your campaign.

Film grain

It has no place in modern photorealism

Film grain is a post-processing effect that is somehow still present in modern games. It was intended to impart artificial noise to the image to mimic the retro aesthetic of conventional film. Instead of enhancing the visuals, however, all it does in modern games is wash out the colors and change the scene for the worse. It doesn't make things more "realistic," but rather comes off as a half-baked attempt to make the scene look more grounded. It's one of the first things I disable after launching a game for the first time, along with the next item on the list.

Motion blur

I'm not a fan of blurred scenes

Motion blur was a workaround implemented in games of the early 2000s, intended to mask excessive jitter when you moved the camera. It was necessary to compensate for insufficient hardware, but you don't need it anymore in modern titles. All it does now is make the image messy when you look around, introducing needless blur when all you want is a smooth, clean image. It is somehow still present in the graphics options in almost every game, but I make it a point to disable it every single time. It can even cause eye strain and motion sickness in some players, so it's hardly a harmless setting. If the objective of having motion blur in modern titles is photorealism, it's sadly failing spectacularly.

Path tracing

Full ray tracing still isn't everyone's cup of tea

Ray tracing might still be justified in some games where it makes a genuine difference to the visuals. However, path tracing pushes things too far in terms of the hardware cost to sustain it. Modern games are increasingly adopting path tracing as default, making it ever more difficult for most PCs to run them at playable framerates. The titles where you have the option to turn it off, such as Cyberpunk 2077, you can clearly see that the difference between RT Ultra and path tracing settings isn't worth the trade-off in performance. The game already looks stunning with ray tracing. You don't necessarily need path tracing to make it look realistic. You can disable it without a huge hit to the immersion. It's not always possible to escape path tracing, especially in the latest titles, but that's something gamers need to live with.

Not all graphics settings improve your experience

While a powerful GPU allows you to dial graphics settings to 11, you might still want to disable some of them to improve your gaming experience. Settings like motion blur, lens flare, and film grain can actually make the image worse than before. And VSync is unnecessary if your monitor's VRR technology is already capable of tweaking the refresh rate on the fly. Advanced rendering techniques like path tracing can enhance the visuals in some cases, but the performance penalty is almost always too high.