After tediously searching the net, going through mods and posts, and testing on my system – I’ve arrived at what I think is the Ultimate Graphics & Stutter Free Mod Guide. Optimising Windows and GPU driver settings together with selected mods from the community and my customised INI compilation, will hopefully give you the best visual quality with stutter-free experience!

STEP 1- Windows Update - make sure everything is updated.

STEP 2 - Make an exception/exclusion for FFVII Remake/Steam folders on your antivirus -

For Windows Defender go to:

Double click Windows Defender at taskbar > Virus & threat protection > "Manage settings" under 'Virus & threat protection settings' > under 'Exclusions' click "Add or remove exclusions" > Add exclusion - Folder > Add "STEAM" folder and then add "FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE" folder in Documents/My Games.

For other antivirus programs follow their respective guide on how to add exclusions.

STEP 3- Update graphics card drivers to the latest version.

STEP 4 - Optimise graphics card driver settings for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade –

If using Nvidia GPU make sure the following settings are set –

In Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Global Settings > Go to "Power management mode" - select "Prefer maximum performance" > "Preferred refresh rate" - "Highest available".

Go to “Program Settings” tab under “Manage 3D Settings” > Select “Final Fantasy VII Remake (ff7remake.exe)” from program list > Scroll down to "Vertical sync" – “On”.

If using GPU from other vendors follow their respective guide.

STEP 5 - Click "Start" button in Windows > type "sleep" and click on "Power & sleep settings" on top > Click "Additional power settings" under Related Settings > Make sure "High performance" is selected. If the game manages to run smooth you can try reduce to "Balanced" setting to see if it works after (just to save a bit of power).

STEP 6 – Max out in-game settings (make sure to set Framerate to 120fps).

STEP 7 | PART 1 - Download required mod files.

• Download FFVII Hook – INI Dev Console Unlocker[www.nexusmods.com]

Description: Unlocks the dev-console, giving access to console commands & easy changes to the games CVars - along with allowing loose INI files to be loaded in from the games config folder.

• Download FFVII Remake Exe - 1.0.0.2[mega.nz]

UPDATE - The game was updated on 26 Feb 2024 which requires a simple fix to enable the Dev Console Unlocker so it can load the settings from the INI file as the original author has yet to release an update after the patch. Download the 1.0.0.2 version of game's exe above and replace the file in End\Binaries\Win64 folder. See mod install section below for details.

Note: If FFVII Hook has been updated to latest version, FFVII Remake Exe - 1.0.0.2 is not needed.

• Download FF7 Remake HD Project using the links below. Use 7-Zip[www.7-zip.org] to unzip and combine the .7z parts (total 4 links, 13 parts).

FF7 Remake HD Project - Links Part 1[drive.google.com]
FF7 Remake HD Project - Links Part 2[drive.google.com]
FF7 Remake HD Project - Links Part 3[drive.google.com]
FF7 Remake HD Project - Links Part 4[drive.google.com]

Description: A mod that upscales 20000+ textures, plus many other features.

Note: As running the upscaled textures with the souped up INI settings requires a beefy system, some stuttering can be expected during specific situations such as changing areas – but only lasts a second or less so doesn’t affect gameplay as it’s still pretty smooth the rest of the time (during my testing even in Slums area). If wanting butter smooth gameplay without upscaled textures, you can just leave the “FF7 Remake HD Project” mod out.

• Download Engine [L1ONH3ART] INI File[mega.nz]

Description: Custom INI tweaked for a balance between the highest visual quality and performance, suited for the below system specs and above –

Test System: Gigabyte Aorus Master 3070 8gb VRAM, Intel 3970x 4.5ghz (OC) 4C/8T, 32gb DDR3 (8gb x 4), Samsung 860 EVO SSD, ASUS PG329Q 1440p 175hz.

• Download Input INI File[mega.nz]

Description: Allows Developer Console to be run in-game to check INI settings by pressing “P” (without quotes) on keyboard.

Note: Use Google Chrome to open Mega.nz links as it automatically decrypts the files for access.

STEP 7 | PART 2 – Install mods.

Extract and copy the following files to their respective destinations –

• xinput1_3.dll – “…Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE\End\Binaries\Win64”

• ff7remake_.exe – “…Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE\End\Binaries\Win64”

Create a new folder within Win64 and backup the game's latest version of the exe to the folder. Move the downloaded version 1.0.0.0 to Win64 folder and replace the new version with previous one. Reverting to the previous exe doesn't affect gameplay. To check if Console is working in game press "P" on keyboard once the game loads & check if an overlay text box loads in the bottom left corner.

• Engine [L1ONH3ART].ini & Input.ini – “…Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor”.

Rename “Engine [L1ONH3ART].ini” to “Engine.ini” (make sure ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ in Windows folder options is Unchecked.

If “WindowsNoEditor” folder doesn’t exist, create it.

You can also create your own INI file by opening up Notepad and pasting the code lines as above found Here[pastebin.com].

Once done, save it as Engine.ini (remove the “.txt” at the end).

• FF7 Remake HD Project mod – Copy the “HD Project” folder to “…Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE\End\Content\Paks\~Mods”.

Create the “~Mods” folder if it doesn’t exist.

Note: 3DM Skyboxes only work in DX11 and requires additional procedures to activate, so if not wanting to use them leave the "3DM" folder out.

STEP 7 | PART 3 – Optional tweaks

• To run in DX11 mode:

Right click the game in Steam library > “Properties” > In “Launch Options” type "-d3d11" (without quotes).

Remove "#" and [Space] for "r.SetRes=2560x1440f" in “Engine.ini”, and change the resolution to monitor’s native one.

Disable all options under “# DX12” section in “Engine.ini” by putting a “#” or “!” (without quotes) at the start of each line.

• If System RAM is lower than 16gb and noticing performance issues such as large FPS drops/excessive stuttering – the following may help:

Lower “r.Shadow.WholeSceneShadowCacheMb” to 200 or 512.

Lower “s.IoDispatcherCacheSizeMB” to 512 or 1024.

You can adjust “r.Streaming.PoolSize” and “r.Streaming.MaxTempMemoryAllowed” according to GPU model / VRAM available. Try and maintain the same ratio (of course you can test whatever values you like and see how your system responds) :

“r.Streaming.PoolSize” - ~56.25% of total VRAM (too low/high values can result in lower fps/stutters/texture loading issues).

“r.Streaming.MaxTempMemoryAllowed” - ~16.66% of “r.Streaming.PoolSize” (too low/high values can result in delayed/no texture loading/stutter/fps drops).

UPDATE - With the FFVII Remake HD Mod installed, I was running into stutters in Chapter 8 : Budding Bodyguard, from train station onwards. Setting the following has significantly minimised them -

“r.Streaming.PoolSize=5120”

“r.Streaming.MaxTempMemoryAllowed=768”

Having trialled multiple combinations, a value difference of 4352 (ie. 5120-768) seems to be optimal. It minimises stutters and doesn't cause FPS to come to a crawl from ~120 to 30/40. Please note this is my observations testing on my specific system so it may not work for everyone.

• Intel Hybrid CPUs:

If your system uses an Intel Hybrid CPU, you can adjust the process to run only on P-cores. By default it initialises on all CPU cores available and it may not be optimal for framerate.

Example: For a CPU having 8 P-cores go to Task Manager (CTRL + Shift + ESC) > Details > ff7remake_.exe > right click and select 'Set affinity' > Must have it selected on the first 0-15 virtual cores (2 virtual cores for 1 physical for hyperthreading).

It is not great to disable E-cores because P-cores will be bloated by OS and other programs in return.

You can also add this line in the arguments of the properties of the game in Steam (should work with most games):

"C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c start "" /affinity FFFF %command%" - 'FFFF' is for 8 cores, 'FFF' for 6 cores.

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Special thanks to:
stoker25[www.nexusmods.com]
Altezeinid2[www.nexusmods.com]
deltron171[www.nexusmods.com]
Makusensu

Check out their mods and give them some kudos!


# L1ONH3ART