The objective is to lock the Unit Detail to High while aggressively managing SSAO and VFX to prevent the CPU from stalling when magic effects and thousands of models collide.
1. The “Preferences.script” Engine Tweak
Before touching the in-game settings, we need to modify the preferences.script.txt to ensure the engine correctly identifies your hardware’s thread count and VRAM limit.
File Path:
%AppData%\The Creative Assembly\Warhammer3\scripts\preferences.script.txt
| Key Setting | Value | Technical Purpose |
gfx_unit_size | 3 (Ultra) | Critical: The game is balanced for Ultra. Lowering this changes gameplay physics. |
gfx_unlimited_video_memory | false | Set to false to prevent the game from over-allocating VRAM and causing paging stutters. |
number_of_threads | [Your Threads] | Manually setting this (e.g., 16 or 24) helps the task scheduler avoid core parking. |
2. Advanced Graphics: The “Stability” Sweet Spot
To get a repeatable, professional-grade benchmark result in 2026, use these specific overrides rather than the “Ultra” preset.
- Anti-Aliasing: FXAA or Off. TAA in Warhammer III introduces a significant “blur” during camera movement which can artificially lower the benchmark average by increasing the pixel-processing cost per frame.
- Shadow Quality: Ultra (but disable Screen Space Shadows). Standard shadows are GPU-bound, but Screen Space Shadows add a massive CPU-side pass that can cause micro-stuttering during camera zooms.
- VFX Quality: Medium. High/Ultra VFX causes a frame-rate “tank” ($F_{drop} > 40\%$) the moment a wizard casts a spell or artillery fires. Medium keeps the effects sharp without the massive particle count.
- Unit Detail: Ultra. Since this is a Total War game, you want the units to look good. This setting is surprisingly well-optimized for the GPU’s geometry pipeline.
3. Benchmarking 101: Battle vs. Campaign
The “Battle” benchmark specifically tests your CPU’s ability to handle draw calls and the GPU’s rasterization speed.
| Result Metric | Target Range | Analysis |
| Minimum FPS | >45 FPS | Anything lower indicates a CPU bottleneck during the “Charge” phase. |
| Average FPS | 80+ FPS | The standard for a smooth 144Hz G-Sync/FreeSync experience. |
| VRAM Usage | <80% Total | If you hit 95%+, your Texture Quality is too high, leading to asset-swapping hitches. |
4. Solving the “Stuttering 95th Percentile”
If your average FPS is high but the benchmark feels choppy, check your Cloth Simulation.
- The Fix: Set Cloth Simulation to Off. In Warhammer III, cloth physics often run at half the framerate of the game, which creates a “visual stutter” even if your FPS counter says 100. Turning this off synchronizes the unit animations with the global framerate.